The SEO Mistakes You Could be Making in 2019
SEO is a multi-faceted method. It’s also ever-changing which requires constant upgrades and knowledge of the latest algorithms. Failing is somewhat inevitable, but you can reduce the blow if you know some pitfalls you may encounter this 2019.
A mistake often goes unnoticed in SEO. Only when the results are obvious that the website owner will recognize that’s something is wrong. Some are easy to fix while others will need the help of the experts.
To give you an idea, here are some of the common mistakes you might commit to your SEO:
1. You publish ‘thin’ content
Just imagine your pages as a sandwich spread. The thinner the filling gets, the blander the taste will be. But if you’ll concentrate the spread in the middle, it will be tastier and fulfilling to eat.
Thin content is a prevalent issue among big websites. For the sake of producing content, poor pages are published. In this case, Google crawlers perceive the poorly constructed page as thin content. This is bad news for your SEO.
2. You let broken links linger
You should fix broken pages as soon as possible, especially if there are backlinks pointing to it. These 404/401 pages aren’t healthy for the internet and it’s also not a good thing for your website.
If we’re going to talk the language of the web, a page is non-existent until another page links to it. But if Google crawls this page and finds out it’s directing to a broken page, it will piss the crawlers. Search engines don’t like wasting their resources and time.
3. You use poor keywords
The problem with keyword search and usage nowadays is that many marketers don’t really understand what competition is. The use of keywords should be based on your domain authority.
For example, if your domain authority is less than 30, experts recommend that you target keywords with monthly searches fewer than 100. You have to learn the basics before taking the ranks of bigger websites.
The rule of thumb: always target low competition keywords and start from there.
4. There are duplicate content on your site
Somewhat related to thin content, duplicate content is usually a way of website owners to optimize the same keyword for multiple pages. However, this will also lead to keyword cannibalization which isn’t something Google wants.
Duplicate content won’t just affect certain pages. It can also jeopardize your entire site if you keep using it as a way to over-optimize certain phrases.
The solution? Take time to write fresh content with different keywords.
5. You make things complicated
Most SEO newbies would over-complicate their efforts with the hope that they can gain organic traffic in the least possible time. But remember that Google can spot a forced way to gain its ranking favor.
Let’s take this example: your poorly constructed website gets 150 backlinks in just five months. For such a small and thin site, that number of backlinks can raise an eyebrow.
Remember, backlinks aren’t the only way to get traffic. You have to focus on the bigger picture and improve the quality of the content your site offers. One by one, test your SEO strategies and work your way from there.
