You’ve put a lot of time and attention into ensuring your website looks great and runs well, only to find that nobody is using it. Are you familiar with this?
You probably have encountered this if you’ve worked with websites for any period of time. No, a scene from Field of Dreams did not occur here. The simple fact that you have constructed something does not guarantee that customers would come to your business.
To make sure a website and its pages can compete for traffic on a search engine, developers and marketers put a lot of effort into it.
Our SEO checklist is a terrific option whether you’re just getting started or have seen a major decrease in traffic. Continue reading to learn about some typical SEO mistakes that businesses do that result in millions of dollars in lost sales each year.
1. Your Pages are Tagged NoIndex
I’ll start by directly instructing search engines not to display your webpages in the search results by using a noindex tag. However, if a noindex tag is used, search engines like Google won’t ever index the page.
I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman who has a successful retail firm a few years ago. During our talk about internet marketing, I asked him how many people visited his website.
His response confused me. Who knows how this reputable and long-running growth hacking business could have gotten such little online exposure? Every page on his website had a noindex tag applied to it incorrectly, as we saw.
Why? I’m not sure what the solution is. Even after the issue was fixed, the number of calls and emails to the business increased. Following the modification, the website’s pages immediately regained their rankings.
A company could lose hundreds of dollars in sales if it doesn’t spot this simple mistake. As a result, you should keep track of your traffic each month and investigate any unusual drops in it.
2. Your Website Is Not Mobile Friendly
Crawlers are used by Google and other search engines to determine a webpage’s topic. For example, they examine the page titles, headings, keywords, and links to other pages.
Google uses the data it gathers when a user searches for a particular phrase to decide which webpages to display.
Google’s bots previously only examined a website’s desktop version, but the search engine company said in 2018 that it will start indexing mobile – friendly websites.
Remember that this aspect of the change wasn’t as significant for more recent, responsive websites that display the same content to both mobile and desktop viewers.
The websites most likely to be impacted by this are older ones or those designed specifically for mobile devices.
On the other hand, another aspect of the update examined how users felt while using their mobile devices. Even responsive websites would require optimization to be competitive.
On mobile devices, factors including font size, legibility, and proximity to buttons or links would now be considered as part of this process. Each website would have a mobile score based on many indications.
3. Don’t be Afraid of Long-Tail Keywords
The generic or seed keywords that only contain one or two words are the antithesis of this.
Long-tail keywords are phrases that forgo conciseness in favour of specificity. In other words, a searcher will notice that it employs more descriptive words but gets right to the point.
Consider stacking keywords to resemble a bell curve. Long-tail keywords are found at the bottom of the bell, whereas short, popular keywords are found closer to the top.
Your firm should be specifically targeted by your long-tail keywords. Although there will be fewer searches made using them, the users will be highly qualified clients.
The trick is to avoid utilizing search words that nobody will enter into a search engine. Between impossible and very popular extremes, at least a few terms may be found in practically every category.
The goal is to create a list of lengthy search phrases that are both commonly used to increase conversions and are detailed enough to draw in your ideal customer.
4. Improve your Content
Similar businesses to yours are racing for the same keywords to show up in the search results for terms they think would help their business. This means that you must create an exceptional page if you want to appear on the first few pages of Google’s search results for a certain topic.
If you want to improve the organic traffic to your website, first create a content marketing strategy. You want a subject on which you can write with some authority.
If you sell gardening equipment, for instance, you could start a blog on gardening. Alternatively, if you’re a carpenter, you may showcase some of your work on a DIY blog.
You must write about subjects that interest your target audience and are popular with search engines.
Therefore, even if you write the best essay on the subject, no one will click on your links if there aren’t enough individuals searching for that issue. You should write on a subject that lots of people are searching for in order to receive even a little portion of the traffic.
5. The Layout of your Site has Changed
It is not unusual for a website change or redesign to result in a drop in visitors. A change in the website’s structure is typically to blame for this. Links fail without anyone noticing when a page or menu item is deleted or moved, especially on huge websites with hundreds of pages.
Redesigning an item requires caution. Your most well-liked content should remain on your website for as long as possible. If updates are required, make them, but don’t get rid of them.
And even if you aren’t redesigning, to be precise. Before deciding to remove a page or change the site’s layout, you should always analyse your website’s analytics.
6. The Speed of Your Website Is Poor
This section has been specifically dedicated to page speed because it is so important for search engine rankings. With the help of Google’s own debugging tool, many of the issues that cause a website to load slowly can be resolved.
By using Google’s Page Speed Insights to evaluate your website, a speed score is produced. One of two speed scores—one for mobile and one for desktop—is available.
Use this tool, which offers guidance on how to do so, to make your page load more quickly. But remember that this is a compromise.
A perfect score is nice, but it’s not always feasible. This is essential if you manage an eCommerce website with apps. Even a straightforward pop-up advertisement for a sale will slow you down a bit.
