4 Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid

SEO-MistakesFollowing the latest “SEO Best Practices” can present several challenges for online marketers. With search engines constantly adjusting their algorithms, SEO strategy is forced adapt and adjust just to keep up. It’s easy to keep on top of the latest techniques while disregarding simple SEO mainstays. The following are SEO practices that should be avoided.

Mistake #1:  Not Optimizing Images

Optimize images can easily be over looked, however, adding just a few target keywords allows for search engines to better understand what the image is and how it’s relevant to the page content. An image file name of “…/04458.jpg” does not contain quality SEO value, however, “…/womens-blue-t-shirt-04432.jpg” incorporates descriptive keywords. Additionally, including alt text and a short description helps search engines find your images in relevant searches and improves your site’s accessibility.

Mistake #2: Producing Content to Increase Keyword Rankings

Having quality content on a site is never a mistake. The issue begins when large amounts of mediocre content is created for keyword ranking reasons. While this used to be effective, there’s little evidence that search engines reward you just for having specific keywords on your site. Sometimes less is more! Creating insightful and valuable information for a visitor can attract more attention through various channels than something thrown together just for search engines to sniff out.

Mistake #3: Not Setting Up Canonicalization for Duplicate Content

When creating an SEO strategy, eliminating duplicate content should be high on your list. However, there are situations where this can’t be prevented. If you have similar or identical content that will be accessed using different URLs. Identify which page your visitors should be seeing in search engine results and then properly implement a canonical to help search engines identify that content related and not a duplicate.

Mistake #4: Disregarding Pages Not Being Indexed

Pages that are broken, blocked, or missing are most likely excluded from search results for a simple reason. Make sure to pay attention to URL’s that read as 404 or that are being redirected. Identify why they are registering the way they are and ensure that these pages don’t have value to your visitors and or search engines. A high number of 404s may lead to bounce rate increases and indicates that visitors are looking for content and are unable to reach it.

Although common, these SEO mistakes shouldn’t be disregarded. A regular SEO site audit can help identify some of these oversights and help keep your overall SEO strategy on point.

 

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