Everyone wants to be in Google’s top spot, and there are good reasons for that. The further you drop from that coveted first position, the more your click-through rate (CTR) decreases. Few things cause your rankings to drop faster than SEO issues, both technical and on-page.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is improving your website so it ranks organically in search engines. While pay-per-click advertising (PPC) can instantly take you to the top of Google for a fee, SEO is more about playing the long game. It takes time to build a reputation for credibility, competition is fierce for the top of the first page of search results, and Google continues to update its algorithm. Whatever changes may come, SEO isn’t going anywhere, and with the right SEO help, you can come out on top.
A full-service creative marketing agency, Anchor Digital keeps on top of changes in the industry while staying true to the timeless principles that make up the foundation of good SEO. Whether you’re still at the stage of wondering if internal links help SEO or if you already have fairly strong results but feel you could be converting more, our SEO help is for you.
In this article, we discuss the most common issues you’re likely to be having with your SEO and how you can fix or even prevent them.
The Common Mistakes Made With SEO
Some SEO sins can hold you back and sink even an otherwise solid SEO strategy. Common SEO mistakes that you’re likely to make include:
Targeting the wrong keywords
The two biggest mistakes you can make with keywords are choosing the wrong ones or cannibalising the ones you have.
It’s common to target broad keywords with high search volumes. But this is a competitive approach, and a new site won’t outrank more established industry names. Targeting more specific long-tail keywords is often a better approach.
Cannibalisation happens when you have multiple pages trying to rank for the same keyword. Google isn’t sure which page to prioritise, and both pages suffer for it.
Generic or duplicate content
With so much content on the web, it’s important to stand out. You won’t do that without content that’s informative, unique and trustworthy. Content that’s too generic or, worse, copy-pasted from somewhere else won’t cut it.
Duplicate content is an SEO issue, too. This happens when a page shares the exact same content copied across from another page, e.g. a US/UK version of the same page or a templated page with a few references changed. Duplicate content causes the wrong version of a page to show up in search results, creates indexing issues and compromises your page rankings.
Under-optimised meta tags
Meta tags are snippets of code that give both web users and search engines concise information about what’s on your page. Title tags and meta description tags are two of the most prominent examples. Missing tags, duplicate tags and tags that are too long or too short are common causes of under-optimisation.
No mobile optimisation
As most Google searches are done on mobile, the search engine prioritises mobile devices. When your site lacks a responsive design that’s optimised for mobile, your rankings suffer.
Lacking links
Both poor-quality backlinks and lack of internal links can compromise your ability to rank, while black hat techniques like paying for links can result in strong penalties.
Image issues
Oversized or broken images or lack of image alt text can both hurt your ability to rank.
Slow loading
Load speed affects both how willing users are to interact with your page and how likely search engines are to rank it. The slow loading speed will hurt your results on both counts.
How to Fix SEO Mistakes
Here’s the good news: with the right SEO help, these issues can be fixed, and you can reap the results you want.
Create new and helpful content
Google’s August 2024 core update was designed to crack down on spammy, low-quality content. While regularly updating your website with fresh content will still help you achieve better rankings, it also needs to be authoritative according to Google’s standards. Creating helpful new content that answers users’ queries and measures up to Google’s E-E-A-T signals (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness) is an effective way to address lagging results.
Add and replace alt text tags
Alt text tags allow both visually impaired users and search engines to comprehend the content on your site. With the right alt text tags, you’ll rank better in search.
Fix broken links
Broken links negatively impact your user experience. If a user encounters several broken links in a row, it makes them more likely to leave your website. When you move or delete a page on your website, it breaks any links that lead to that page. To keep your web content fresh and your rankings high, regularly check and update your links or use the appropriate redirects.
Increase backlinks
The more quality websites link to your site, the better it looks in Google’s eyes. But don’t rely on black hat techniques like buying links to boost your rankings. Focusing on methods like digital PR and the skyscraper technique is more effective.
Compress your images
The best way to optimise your images for SEO is to make them as small as possible without compromising image quality. Tools and plug-ins like PicResize and Smush can make this a lot easier.
How to Avoid SEO Issues Occurring
Here are some techniques you can employ to reduce the likelihood of SEO issues occurring:
Use the right keywords
To find the right keywords, use a tool like Google Keyword Planner, prioritising long-tail keywords with less competition.
Focus on search intent
Search intent is the reason a web user goes looking for a product like yours. The three main kinds of searches are informational, commercial and transactional, and the intent determines the kind of content that will rank best, whether it’s a listicle or an informational blog post.
Optimise for mobile
Google prioritises mobile content, and there are several ways to make your site more mobile-friendly, including using shorter paragraphs and white space and optimising title tags and meta descriptions for mobile searches.
Make your site easy to crawl
All kinds of issues can cause crawlability errors, from unindexed pages to broken links to redirect loops. Luckily, the fix is fairly simple: check your crawlability score in Site Audit regularly to see a breakdown of problems to fix.
Use both SEO and PPC
Do Google Ads help with SEO? While running Google Ads neither boosts nor harms your SEO, the two strategies work well together. When you accurately track your rankings and organic traffic, you can use Ads to boost your visibility for certain keywords and use PPC to get to number one when organic methods alone won’t do it.
Hire an SEO expert or digital marketing agency
If this all seems like a lot to keep track of when you have your own business to run, an SEO expert or digital marketing agency can provide all the SEO help you need.
Get Help with Your SEO at Anchor Digital
Anchor Digital provides a range of SEO, content marketing, digital advertising and other creative services for purpose-driven brands on the rise. Our approach is strategic and collaborative, and we work alongside you to represent your brand voice and the story you want to tell. With our powers combined, we often come up with new and unexpected ways to achieve your goals.
With over a decade in the industry, our SEO services have achieved consistent results for the businesses we’ve worked with despite any ups and downs in the industry. We draw on our knowledge, experience, skill and common sense. Our content is written for humans, not bots, to achieve the best outcome for your business.
You don’t have to choose between PPC and SEO: both have their place in a successful digital marketing strategy. The right Google Ads campaign can double every dollar spent, and Anchor’s approach to Google Ads is to ensure you get your money’s worth. With our deep knowledge of both search engine history and buyer behaviour, we craft Google advertisements that both human readers and bots find appealing.
To find out more and for SEO help that gets you results, contact the Anchor team.
