7 Deadly SEO Mistakes
We take it for granted that you do not want the search engines to consider you a sinner, God forbid! Therefore, we want to guide you through the path of knowledge and the redemption of SEO so that you can finally see the light.
" The road to hell is paved with good intentions ." This famous phrase perfectly describes the efforts of any newbie in the world of SEO. If you follow our blog, you should already know that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is crucial to generating more traffic to your website, which translates into more potential customers for your business. Sure, as a dedicated owner of an incredible website, you've already taken many actions to improve the way search engines perceive and classify your page. Although we know that your intentions are the best, without knowing it, you may be committing some deadly SEO mistakes. For example, you probably know that the keywords (keywords in English) are intended to open the sacred doors of paradise, represented by the first page of Google. But did you know that if you add more than the account you can ruin your SEO strategy and get adverse effects?
We take it for granted that you do not want the search engines to consider you a sinner, God forbid! Therefore, we want to guide you through the path of knowledge and the redemption of SEO so that you can finally see the light. Here are the commonly committed 7 Deadly SEO Mistakes :
01. Keyword Stuffing
Fill the stomach with kilos of pizza on a Saturday night sounds like a flat but it is likely that sooner or later you regret. As in other situations in life, balance is the key. The same applies to the use of keywords when creating a good SEO strategy. The keywords are phrases of two to five words that we add to the content of our website so that the search engines can identify what the whole page is about. Where to put them? In the texts, between the metadata (consult our next sin), in your URL if possible, in the descriptions of your photos and in any place where you can insert them without being forced.
Many website owners are overly aware of the importance of keywords and place them everywhere. Thus, it is possible to find things like: "You love the best tacos in New York. We know you love the best tacos in New York. You know we know you love the best tacos in New York. And your mom also loves the best tacos in New York. " I never imagined what would happen to me, but I just choked on the tacos ...
Your content should not sound artificial to readers because believe it or not, search engine algorithms are "trained" to read texts just like human beings do. If the search engines warn that you are overusing the keywords, they will punish you by sending you to a horrible place: Google page 10.
02. Laziness of metadata
Do not be fooled by the adorable lazy bears. Laziness is a trait that the gods of Google do not appreciate at all. An SEO strategy requires time and effort. If you think of your website as a book, no writer would stop giving a name to one of the chapters out of laziness. The same can be said about the metadata of your web page, which is nothing else than your titles (the blue line in the Google results) and your descriptions (the informative text written in black below). Since this is the first thing that people see in their search results, titles and descriptions have the power to persuade users to click on your link and not on the next result ...
For this reason, metadata is important, not only on the homepage but also on the rest of the pages -including your blog posts, do not be lazy! But you should not worry, this task is not as complex as it sounds as long as you carry out the correct procedure. Regarding the titles, keep them in a dimension less than 60 characters and make sure that your trade name appears there. If we analyze the case of the tacos, a correct title would be Fabulous Tacos | Homemade Mexican Food | NY. The descriptions, on the other hand, must have a maximum of 160 characters and have to describe the content of your pages in an attractive way. Important Note: these short lines of text are your launch pad to scale positions in Google. Do not be lazy and dedicate the time they deserve
03. Anger of the search engine
If SEO were a religion, one of the first commandments would be: "You will not block search engines". If your goal is to be found on the Internet, you run the risk of unleashing the wrath of Google robots by not allowing them to enter your website. But what does this mean? In order for your web page to appear in the results, it must be tracked (scanned) and indexed (saved) by the search engine robots. In this way, when someone "googles" something, the search engine can easily offer a list of pages that it takes from a huge group of relevant and indexed web pages.
The indexing process may take some time, especially if your website is new. But you should not worry because there are some ways you can get Google to index your web page quickly. One of them is to verify your site with Google Search Console and then send a sitemap to Google. Luckily, if you are a Wix user and have your own domain, you will be covered thanks to Wix SEO Wiz, the function with which you can index and verify your website in just one click!
Important: Indexing is only the first step in optimizing your page. That it has been identified and "saved" by Google does not mean that it will automatically appear among the best results. Because SEO takes time and things do not happen overnight. However, rest assured that if you work with consistency to improve your page and publish the changes regularly, you will see how, little by little, your page progresses in the results.
04.URL Pride
It's not good to brag but if your URL is optimal and identifies you, well, you can be proud. It is about attracting people's attention to your pages but you should not use unusual characters like (#? * &%) Because they could have the opposite effect. Think about it: you would never go to a formal meeting with a fluorescent pink shoe unless you were an eccentric textile designer. Well, the same goes for your URL, which should be clear, professional and presentable. Like you. And because? Well, having an unattractive URL from the visual point of view between the results of the search engine can cause users to not even approach that web page and, therefore, send a signal to the search engines that your page it is not a relevant result (besides being an absolute "sinner"). Remember that your pride is the prejudice of Google.
Luckily Wix automatically gives your URL a clear and professional appearance. The only thing left to do is choose the best possible domain name for your web page. If you really are serious about your business and SEO, we recommend that, if you still do not have it, you will get a custom domain. But before getting involved with the purchase of the domain, think carefully about how you want to call on the Internet. We advise you to try adding a keyword or some indication of what you do as a professional or service to your business name. Choosing the right domain name is a very important step for the SEO of your page and they depend on it reaching the Google Olympus, so you better do it right.
05. Mobile Envy
"The green-eyed beast will put his horrible gaze on all those SEO sinners who do not have an optimized mobile version of their page." Imagine the consternation of the users who visit your page and realize that they must zoom in on each item to see it correctly or they can not even click on a link ... surely they will leave the page as soon as they enter, which is terrible for your SEO.
Google searches from mobile devices today represent more than 50% of the total. Surely you do not want one of every two people to have a bad experience on your page. Not to mention that since Mobilegeddon exists, search engines like Google have started to favour sites that have a friendly mobile version and reward them with a better position in the search rankings from smartphones and tablets. We know how important it is to have a website optimized for mobile and that is why our platform allows you to adapt your site with ease so that it looks amazing from any mobile device. Thanks to Wix, you will not fall into the sin of envy anymore. Optimize your web page so that it adapts to mobile devices and you will see how the foam rises among search results.
06. Avarice of images
The images are a great tool to brighten the view of your visitors while they browse your page. But there is a small problem: search engines cannot "see" your photos. That is why we are so insistent that you should be generous with the descriptions of your images and make sure that you add the alternative texts (Alt text) to each of them.
Alt text is the textual description of your images, is what you explain them. Originally they were created to help people with visual disabilities to understand the photos they found on the web. But it also turns out that that same alt-text help Google bots recognize what is shown on the screen. As a gesture of gratitude for using them, you will be rewarded with a better SEO, both for your website in the general search results and for each of your images in Google Images. Do not be greedy and share your descriptions with the world! Before delving into this, learn how to add Alt text to your web page.
07. Lust in the content
We have all fallen into this sin at some point in our lives - whether it's a school work or a CV - but when it comes to your website, lusting for someone else's content is not recommended. It can be difficult to resist but it is absolutely necessary that you create your own original content since duplicate texts will cause you a serious problem with Google. Why is this a great sin? If search engines find duplicate content on your page, they will not know which version to index in their database or which of them should appear in the results. This can cause great confusion and therefore complicate more and more the possibility of reaching the first page of Google.
The best way to climb steps in the rankings of results is to create a natural, new and valuable content to be happy both visitors to your website and search engines.
Natural: the content must be relevant to the theme of your website and connect naturally with the rest of your page. For example, the taco restaurant menu must contain ... tacos!
New: the content must be updated permanently and be related to the main purpose of the web page. For example, adding a delicious recipe for a fish taco.
Valuable: the content must provide unique and relevant information to the reader. For example, the location and the hours when your restaurant is open.
Attachments
