7 Common SEO mistakes you need to be aware of and how to avoid them

SEO is one of the most talked about terms in any brand’s digital marketing strategy. The fact is that, if it’s done well, it can help your website appear at the coveted top page of Google search results.

On the other hand, if it’s neglected, it can condemn your website to digital obscurity, making it very difficult for possible customers to find your business.

Bearing this in mind, in this post we’ve listed the 7 most common SEO mistakes you should avoid in order to be successful with your digital marketing strategies. Check them out!

What is SEO?

SEO is the acronym for Search Engine Optimization, which corresponds to a series of techniques aimed at improving websites, blogs, and pages with the purpose of making them easier to find in search engines, such as Google.

SEO strategies are critical so that websites can gain prominence and visibility. After all, users use search engines to find the information, products, and services that meet their needs.

Therefore, being well-positioned in these search results increases the chances of getting more online recognition and consequently, improving your earnings.

But why is appearing on Google’s top pages so important?

Actually, most people don’t go beyond the results that appear on the first search result page. That way, being placed on the first page means that you’ll be seen by as many users as possible.

Therefore, the idea of well-applied SEO strategies is to increase organic traffic to your website.

In other words, making people find your page more easily, without having to resort to paid ads.

In the long run, good SEO ensures a constant organic flow of users to your website, without needing to pay for advertising.

7 common SEO mistakes to be avoided in your SEO strategy

Now that you know how the SEO is critical for your website, you need to pay attention to certain crucial points in your strategy.

Making certain mistakes might not only make your efforts to build a good SEO strategy fail, as well as being severely punished by Google.

And these punishments contribute to turning your website into a ghost for search engines. If getting on the first pages of Google is already hard, imagine doing this with a penalty that drops you to the twentieth page or worse.

Therefore, check out the 7 most common mistakes you need to avoid at all costs in your SEO strategy.

1. Low-quality content

Over the years, Google’s algorithm has developed to such an extent that now it’s able to interpret the quality of the content posted.

This means that posts or pages with information that is irrelevant to the subject covered on your website, few written words or lack of illustrative images, are classified as low-quality content.

So, be very careful with your text structure. Always try to make it as complete and rich in information as possible. Moreover, don’t forget about the images and the structuring of titles and subtitles.

2. Duplicate content

Worse than having low-quality content on your website, is posting duplicate content. Search engines might consider a text as being forged or plagiarized according to the following situations:

• Content copied from other websites and pages;
• Duplicate content of your own website.

In the first case, the punishment is usually more severe, because Google identifies that you plagiarized content already posted on other pages. However, this is one of the most common SEO mistakes.

Therefore, there’s no use in filling your website with news that have already been posted hoping this will bring you more accesses.

The second case, on the other hand, is very common and occurs when more than one path leads to the same page.

This might be the result of a few problems with your website’s coding, which must be checked and corrected in order to avoid search engine misinterpretation.

3. Lack of website structure optimization

Optimized or responsive sites usually score better in Google’s ranking, resulting in better search positions.

In general, an optimized site is a fast site, with the lowest loading time possible. This is usually a result of web-optimized images.

Another point that matters a lot for Google is the page optimization aimed at mobile devices, such as cellphones and tablets, i.e., responsive sites.

Nowadays, most internet access is done on these devices. Therefore, having a website ready to be viewed on this type of display carries a lot of weight.

4. Absence of links

One of the great champions in the list of top SEO mistakes is the absence of internal and external links.

This is one of the greatest problems leading to a bad ranking in search engines, since it’s one of the most significant criteria for Google to consider content relevant.

Try to include hyperlinks that point to pages inside your own website and also to external pages that have something to do with your post. This is one of the most important steps for any SEO checklist!

5. Choosing the wrong keywords

Planning your keywords is another decisive point in SEO strategies. If you want Google to find your website, you need to think about the terms that people use to find you, right?

In this sense, planning and choosing good keywords is an important part of building a website with optimized content.

Take into account the need to converge your customers’ search terms with the services that your business offers, and obviously, with the content of the post in question.

6. Lack of concern with the meta-description

The meta-description is that small summary that appears below all Google search results. It is essential for the search engine, especially to influence users to click on your link.

Always think about developing clear meta-descriptions that contain terms and keywords that are relevant to the subject. Thus you can indicate, on the results list, that your link is relevant and should be accessed by users.

7. Outdated content

Older blogs usually have content with good access, but after years of posting, they will certainly have outdated information. The Google bot sees this as a problem, since it prioritizes updated content, which it considers more relevant.

In order to get around this situation, simply identify which texts bring the most traffic to your website and analyze everything written in them. If you find that you need to update the information, do it!

Investing in a good SEO strategy guarantees greater visibility and therefore, increases the chances of converting users into customers.

So, be very careful and always make sure you are not making these common SEO mistakes listed in this post!

Did you enjoy this article? If so, you should also read our post on what your SEO day-to-day should be like in order to achieve the top Google positions.