If there’s one thing that’s going to be extremely important for brands to grow in 2020, it’s search engine optimization. Since the power of social media in driving traffic has reduced, Google started to become the primary source of referral traffic a couple of years ago, and it’s going to be more evident this year.
Every website has two main goals: driving traffic as well as increasing conversions. To achieve these, every website owner, digital marketer, and SEO agency has to keep up with all the latest and fast-changing algorithms of the search engine. You should also be aware of the most serious SEO mistakes for this year, which you must avoid if you want to stay ahead of the competition.
Here are some common mistakes that you should avoid in 2020:
5 SEO Common Mistakes To Avoid in 2020
1. Poor Structuring Of Internal Links
Poor internal linking is going to be a major SEO mistake this year. Basic linking errors are still prevalent on many websites despite having excellent content. You have to fix this issue if you want your website to continue growing. From 404 errors to duplicate content, correcting these errors means everything.
An SEO strategy will always have internal links as one of its most crucial elements. These communicate your essential webpages to the crawlers of the search engine. Internal links categorize the different pages in your website, too, and they do it based on keyword-optimized anchor texts. They also provide interactive materials or additional reading resources to your users while on your site. And, last but not the least, internal links spread the authority to those pages that have already gotten hidden deep in your website.
2. Unsatisfied Search Intent
Helpful pieces of content in your business blog that aren’t well-targeted are useless. Users who’ll reach your website won’t find them useful. Without taking search intent into account, all your efforts in coming up with great content may go into vain.
So, what’s search intent? Well, it’s the intent behind every user’s search action. You have to provide a solution through your website and content to satisfy this intent. Understanding the thought of the searcher when searching for something is crucial. Whatever is in their mind, they have to find an answer the moment they reach your website.
If someone searches “FB ads” on Google, for example, it means that they want to know what’s Facebook advertising. However, if that person searches for “Fb ads services”, then that user plans to hire a company that offers Facebook advertising services. These keywords have different intentions. That said, you won’t succeed with content about Facebook ads if you’re going to target users who have plans to use the services of a Facebook advertising company.
3. Not Using Image Tags
Users will find websites with brilliant images more engaging and stunning, and there’s no doubt about it. However, search engines won’t see them the same way users do. For the search engine, the brilliant images on your website are all invisible. It’s the reason why using image tags is essential. It’s a way for you to make images visible to the eyes of Google, Bing, and others.
Review each image on your website and make sure that all of them have alt tags. You can also add captions to your websites to make them more optimized for the search engines. One thing that you have to remember, however, is to be careful when including keywords to your alt tags. You can only use keywords as long as they’re appropriate and stick with the real description as much as possible.
4. Ignoring Structured Data And Internal Search Functions
Reaching the search engine results’ first page is an accomplishment, yes, but standing apart from the crowd is the real challenge.
How do you stand out? You can do it through structured data. Your listing will become the go-to choice for searchers since it will look more prominent compared to others. Structured data may even make it possible for you to feature above the first search result.
Like structured data, the search features of your website is another aspect that you wouldn’t want to ignore. Improved internal search functions will make it easier for your website visitors to navigate through your pages and look for relevant information.
For your searchers to find what they want precisely, try to optimize your listings and incorporate search into your website.
The types of structured data you can use on your website include events, books, addresses, FAQs or frequently asked questions, how-tos, and product reviews, among others. You can use any of these depending on the type of content you have.
5. Not Optimizing Your Website For Mobile Devices
Google now considers a website unfriendly for searchers if it isn’t ready for mobile devices, and it’s because nearly 50 percent of traffic comes from these gadgets. Having said that, you have to build your website for mobiles and ensure that it’s going to be responsive. Tapping into the mobile traffic means increasing the visibility of your website. Add to it the fact that mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor of Google search.
Conclusion
Be more conscious now that you know the common SEO mistakes that could be deadly for your website this year. Please take note, however, that the ones discussed here are only some of the many things that you have to avoid when doing SEO. Again, you’ll end up suffering if you have weak internal linking, don’t take search intent into account, don’t perform image tagging, ignore structured data and internal search functions, as well as if you don’t optimize your site for mobile devices.
