Seven huge, yet common SEO mistakes to avoid in 2023

It is casual to marque mistakes erstwhile doing SEO for a website. I’ve adjacent caught myself making anserine mistakes present and there. That being said, it’s important for webmasters to cognize what immoderate of the atrocious things to bash are erstwhile it comes to SEO.

Sites with nary mistakes basal a amended accidental against the large guys. Sites that person galore backlinks, but person immoderate problems successful the markup tin rapidly ascent successful the hunt results erstwhile the SEO boo-boos are fixed. Luckily for webmasters, astir of these mistakes are highly casual to hole and tin beryllium wholly fixed wrong minutes.

For those with hunt engines regularly crawling their sites, the changes tin beryllium made hunt engine-side astir instantly. Those with somewhat little crawl rates volition people person to hold longer, but the changes volition person their benefits successful time. I privation to adhd besides that this nonfiction volition beryllium reflecting the changes successful SEO successful caller years arsenic meta keywords, for example, are decidedly not arsenic important arsenic they erstwhile were.

Here are the astir communal SEO mistakes and however to lick them:

SEO mistake #1: Nothing to read

The problem:

You person either filled an full leafage up with thing but images OR you are utilizing improvement methods that aren’t crawler friendly, for illustration a tract that uses thing but flash. The hunt motor has nary substance (or anything) to read.

You whitethorn person a well-written and keyword affluent nonfiction that whitethorn beryllium beautifully displayed successful flash oregon images, but the hunt engines whitethorn not beryllium capable to work it. Therefore, you won’t fertile precise good for your keyword affluent article.

The solution:

According to Google’s authoritative webmaster guidelines,

“Try to usage substance alternatively of images to show important names, content, oregon links. The Google crawler doesn’t admit substance contained successful images. If you indispensable usage images for textual content, see utilizing the ALT property to see a fewer words of descriptive text“.

Also, I would urge you to ever spell for much plain substance connected your website. And conscionable due to the fact that it is called plain substance doesn’t mean it has to look plain. There are immoderate precise beautifully designed sites that are easy readable by hunt engines. You don’t person to sacrifice quality truthful that the hunt engines tin crawl your site.

SEO mistake #2: Nondescript URLs

The problem:

You mightiness person a large webpage connected your website with a keyword affluent statement connected let’s accidental strawberry cheesecake. You spell successful extent connected your nonfiction astir however fantastic and deliciously moist your cheesecake look is. Your URL, nevertheless conscionable says www.somesortofsite.com/node61. Search engines spot value not lone connected the URL, which should picture your tract successful immoderate way, but besides connected the slug which, successful this case, I’ve called node61.

The solution:

Get a URL that describes your site. If you person a website connected affiliate marketing, for instance, effort to get thing similar https://affiliatemarketing.com. If you constitute an nonfiction astir affiliate selling tips, insights oregon immoderate else, marque definite the slug represents that someway truthful that the URL volition beryllium thing similar that 1 of this nonfiction astir affiliate selling programs. There are galore ways to bash this depending connected the contented absorption strategy you use. You tin configure WordPress to automatically springiness you a descriptive slug based connected the rubric of your nonfiction oregon you tin besides input your ain slug.

SEO mistake #3: Meta keywords obsession

The problem:

You are spending excessively overmuch clip researching and uncovering the BEST keywords to usage successful your meta tags.

The solution:

Don’t walk excessively overmuch clip doing this.

According to Neil Patel, the co-founder of Crazy Egg and Hello Bar:

“Meta keywords are nary longer applicable successful today’s SEO. Google whitethorn determine to alteration the rules successful the future, but for now, you don’t person to discarded your clip connected it“.

“If you’re a WordPress user, there’s nary request to adhd much tags that you deliberation are applicable to your content,” helium added.

While determination are inactive galore webmasters who inactive deliberation the opposite, they are decidedly not arsenic important arsenic they were successful the past. they were truthful important successful the past, that I adjacent inactive person an nonfiction connected thing but meta keywords! Now, however, meta keywords mean overmuch little than they did successful the past. I indispensable confess that I DO inactive input accusation into those cute small metadata fields, but I bash not walk astir arsenic overmuch clip connected that arsenic I utilized to. You shouldn’t either. Get immoderate speedy tags and a bully small statement successful determination and telephone it a day. Basically conscionable acceptable it and hide it.

SEO mistake #4: Missing alt tags

The problem:

No “alt tags” connected your images.

The solution:

Add alt tags to each of your images. By doing this, you’re giving hunt engines accusation astir what’s successful the photo. You don’t person to picture the full picture, but astatine slightest enactment thing descriptive there!

According to Google:

“… If you indispensable usage images for textual content, see utilizing the ALT property to see a fewer words of descriptive text”

Everyone likes to cognize what’s successful a photo, adjacent if they can’t spot it. Many radical bash not person the clip to input alt tags for each azygous small icon oregon portion of the design. It isn’t truly indispensable to person alt tags connected ALL images, conscionable the important ones. The alt tag statement is becoming much and much controversial, but it doesn’t wounded to adhd them and personally, I’ve noticed a quality since adding them.

SEO mistake #5: Using HTML alternatively of CSS

The problem:

Everything connected your tract is HTML. You emotion HTML and can’t get capable of it.

The solution:

If your tract plan is successful HTML, you’re committing a cardinal improvement sin. What twelvemonth is this – 1997? Site plan should beryllium written successful CSS. Why is this a problem? Search engines tin person trouble differentiating what is plan and what is contented if your tract is written strictly successful HTML.

Another trouble faced by those whose sites aren’t successful CSS is painstaking process of making changes to a layout.

SEO mistake #6: No backlinks

The problem:

Your tract has nary backmost links.

The solution:

A site’s on-page SEO truly helps, but off-page SEO is what’s going to bring it to the top. Websites request backmost links and prime backmost links.

According to Patel:

“When deciding however to fertile your website, Google, Bing, Yahoo, and different hunt engines look astatine however galore links pb to your tract (and the prime of those links)“.

“The much high-quality, trustworthy, and authoritative sites linking to you, the higher your blog posts and income pages volition look connected hunt effect pages,” helium added.

In fact, 1 of the astir important portion of SEO is backmost links. It’s important to besides enactment your keywords successful your backlinks. It’s important for backlinks to beryllium natural… oregon astatine slightest look natural, truthful webmasters indispensable instrumentality attraction successful not creating excessively galore backlinks close away.

Too galore backlinks successful a abbreviated span of clip looks fishy and sites person been penalized for this. Take it slow. Add a caller backlink present and there. Taking it dilatory allows you a batch of abstraction to dabble a small – to spot what works and what doesn’t without a large concern of clip oregon money.

SEO mistake #7: Bad keywords

The problem:

You’ve picked a large keyword, but you person 50,387 backmost links and inactive don’t fertile for the keyword.

The solution:

You’ve picked immoderate atrocious keywords. If you’ve already got a ton of backlinks and you privation to enactment successful your niche, you’ll astir apt bring a batch much postulation successful with “ahem” somewhat little competitory keywords.

Every niche has those highly competitory keywords, but those with a small creativity and research, you tin come up with immoderate bully keywords – ones that radical hunt for often, but is thing for which your website tin rank.

---

Jacob McMillen is simply a copywriter, selling blogger, and inbound selling consultant. He tin beryllium recovered connected Twitter @jmcmillen89 and LinkedIn arsenic Jacob McMillen.

Subscribe to the Search Engine Watch newsletter for insights connected SEO, the hunt landscape, hunt marketing, integer marketing, leadership, podcasts, and more.

Join the speech with america on LinkedIn and Twitter.