Stupid SEO Service Slip Ups

Avoid These SEO Service mistakes

We help our clients improve their business visibility, using many SEO techniques. You’d be amazed at how many SEO service mistakes are made. Not only are they avoidable, but they can be very costly. Here are a few of common SEO mistakes we solve:

1. Robots.txt

When a designer is creating a new website, it’s common to block search engines from indexing pages. This makes sense as you want to formally unveil your creation once you’ve dotted all the I’s and crossed your Ts. When your website is in stealth mode, you add the robots.txt file. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received a call from companies complaining that there website isn’t showing up in organic search. The culprit? SEO Service providers not removing the robots.txt code as well as other settings that tell search engine bots your site is ready for the the viewing public.  This mistake is so common even agencies aren’t immune. We’ve counseled several well-known online marketing agencies on this gaff. The code could appear for the entire site or specific pages.

2. 404 Errors

If your website has had some major reworking of content — adding or deleting of sections and pages — then it’s common for 301 redirection errors. Getting links from other quality sites is SEO gold. A 301 Redirect is a little like telling the post office you’ve moved. If you don’t tell search engines the new location, previous links will break and users will get a 404 Error. Beyond embarrassing, it’s very costly. You’ve just flushed hard-earned equity away forever.

3. Broken Links

This is the flip side to a 404 Error. If your website links to a quality site’s page, then you can run the risk of a broken link if they don’t put the proper 301 redirects on their end. In WordPress there’s a simple Broken Link plugin that can help monitor your outbound links. Too many broken links on a website is a warning signal to search engines. This is a task that should be routinely managed by your SEO Service provider or Webmaster.

4. Poorly Written Page Titles & Meta Descriptions

Organic SEO caters to two audiences: the human and search engine bots. Optimizing for keywords can help search engines understand your content, but if humans don’t click on your SERP link then it’s moot. Review Google Analytics to see which pages have the highest bounce rates. This is an indication that your page title and meta description doesn’t match the webpage content. Your page title and meta description is like a mini ad. It sets up an expectation. If a visitor lands on your page and quickly leaves means you (or your SEO Service provider) have more work to do. It does your business no good if you rank but your click through rates are poor. It’s the equivalent of getting a prospect into the door only to have them turn around and flee the building.

5. Duplicate Content

Content that appears multiple times on a website is an SEO no-no. What we mean here is an exact match. It also applies to Title elements. Search engines can penalize sites when identical copy appears on more than one page. We’ve also seen old versions of a website still indexed with Google or Bing. If you’ve redesigned a site, be sure to archive the old one.

There are many other common SEO mistakes. These made our top 5. Do you have one to add?