Businesses managers and website owners today need to have some basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) knowledge whether they work with an internal SEO team or hire an SEO agency to get top Search Engines rankings. Based on years experience optimizing websites for search engines, we have put together a list of the most problematic and common on page SEO issues. Find out if your site is suffering from any of these on page SEO issues.
TOP 10 SEO Mistakes Is Your Website Search Engine Ready? Why is your website not ranking at the top of Google for relevant keywords within your industry? Are there any hidden on-page SEO issues? Are you ranking for keywords, but still don't get relevant traffic and conversion? Business managers and website owners today need to have some basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) knowledge, whether they work with an internal SEO team or hire an SEO agency, to get top search engine rankings. Based on years of experience optimizing websites for search engines, we have put together a list of the most problematic and common on-page SEO issues. Find out if your site is suffering from any of these common mistakes:
1 - Your site is not optimized for the right keywords Many website owners want to choose common keywords because they attract more traffic. However, unless you have a substantial marketing budget, you will not achieve first page rankings with these highly competitive keywords. Instead, start with a comprehensive keyword analysis; then optimize your site for niche specific keywords that will get you first page rankings and also convert well. Then build on that foundation to capture more generalized and high search volume keywords.
2 - Your site lacks keyword rich content Search Engines, and Google in particular, love sites with good content and frequent additions of new pages to the website. This will also increase the frequency of Google revisiting your site. A smart strategy for developing a keyword rich and comprehensive site is to develop a resource section with each page targeting a specific keyword phrase.
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3 - You did not optimize your title and H1 tags Often websites use the same branded phrase in every title tag across the entire site. Instead, each title tag should focus on a specific keyword phrase that you have identified during your initial keyword analysis. The same is true for H1 tags. Your H1 and title tag should revolve around the same keyword theme. Some designers think that it is easier to use images as headers instead of H1 tags because they have more control over the content's appearance. This might look nice, but it does not help search engines to understand your page content.
4 - Your dynamic URLs are difficult to read Search engines use URLs to identify relevant pages, so you want to pay attention to your URL structure as well as your page content. Many content management systems (CMS) use dynamic strings of numbers and letters for each page. This makes it difficult for search engines to index and identify your pages. Instead, choose a CMS that allows you to create static URLs that include keywords in your URL string. Avoid using too many variables in your URL structure; they can dilute the specificity of the page.
5 - Your site has a poor inner page linking structure More often than not you stumble upon a site that features one horizontal navigation across the top without any contextual links between pages. This poor inner link structure not only makes it harder for visitors to navigate your site, but also hurts your SEO efforts. Read through your web pages and place contextual links to related articles in the body content on your site.
6 - Your site is built using Flash Flash can give your site a sleek design, but using Flash instead of text makes it harder for search engines to read your pages. If you absolutely want flash on your site, use it on specific areas of your pages, but no 100% flash sites! A lesser issue is having a Flash navigation, even if your site isn't completely Flash based. Search engines won't be able to follow it.
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7 - Your site relies too heavily on graphics Search engines understand text. Most of them cannot read images at all. If your site relies solely on graphics, then it is almost impossible for search engines to locate relevant content. Your site might look great, but it will not rank - period.
8 - You focus too much on meta tags Once upon a time, search engines relied on meta tags to find relevant content. Today though, this is no longer the case and most search engines give them little weight at all. Include accurate keywords in your meta tags that describe each page's content and use n... [download for more]
