Maintaining a website that is made on WordPress may seem in times easier for many if we talk about SEO. However, this is not exactly the case. Often, a few SEO mistakes are made because we think that the platform is fully optimized and generally handles its own Google ranking.
Yet this is where most people make their first mistake. Despite being one of the most commonly used web platforms, WordPress needs a little bit of extra tweaking to really give good and quality results. In this article, we at Grow Easy Digital Agency will share with you which are the most common SEO mistakes and how we can tackle them.
SEO Errors - Incorrect page structure
Failure in trying to rank a page well may be in its infancy. Often we notice a wrong structure, such as a lack of order of categories and tags, and this invariably leads to consequences. These most often translate into low traffic and almost no engagement.
If we can make it easier for users with the right arrangement of tags and categories, it will also affect the user bounce rate.
When structuring your page, you need to remember that the simpler and clearer it is made, the easier it will be for Google to understand exactly what the site is about. This will accordingly lead to better results and higher search engine rankings.
SEO errors - The site does not have an XML map
This is one of the most common SEO mistakes. A sitemap is the best possible way to show any search engine exactly how many pages are contained on your site.
Creating a sitemap should be no problem at all for anyone using WordPress. It's full of extensions that you can use for free.
Our advice is this - if Google says something is useful for your SEO - take it. It's been argued for years that XML sitemaps help make your site crawl faster. And that's exactly right.
Keyword overload is one of the most common SEO mistakes
It is common to see text on a page of a website that contains the same specific word a huge number of times. This is usually the exact keyword that is attempted to rank the page in question.
Don't let this happen! It is important that the keyword is written a moderate number of times. Search engines may be machines, but they are not that stupid. They understand when a keyword is written more times than necessary on a page. In turn, repetition leads to consequences, both from Google and visitors. No one wants to sit down to read text where they'll encounter the same word on every line. Right?
Duplicate Meta Title and Meta Description
It is extremely important not to make such SEO mistakes. Meta Title and Meta Description are very important for crawlers. It is through the title and description that you give that they are able to understand what they are looking for on your page.
Think carefully about your Meta Title and Meta Description. Create unique texts for each page. This way, you'll be properly guiding your visitors and the robots at the same time.
SEO mistakes - Copy – Paste
The worst idea you can have is to duplicate content! The text on every single page of your website should be 100% unique. We regularly find the same content on two different sites. With you, this shouldn't happen as there's no way you'll make it to the first pages of Google.
Copying content can also lead to further problems. If the owner decides to report you to Google, it will lead to dire consequences and sending your site out of the top 10 pages. Google is fair to these things and punishes any offender severely. For this, we can advise you to simply take your time and create unique text to use on your site.
Google also often reports duplicate text between internal pages on a site. Make sure each page has author descriptions of what you are offering.
Bonus tip: Beware of broken links
Be very careful about broken links on your pages. One such link leads to confusion for both users and search engines. They try to find the information you offer, but it is missing.
If you are a user who opens a "broken" link, what will you do? You will probably close the page and not come back. Search engines follow exactly the user's path. If the user remains dissatisfied, the search engines take this into account and a new penalty point follows directly.
SEO mistakes are made, but they can be fixed. Keyword optimization is one of the most powerful "weapons" you can have, as long as it is used correctly. Otherwise, the "weapon" turns against you. In case you are not convinced of its qualities, you can always turn to the team at "Grow Easy Ltd". Our digital agency specialises in keyword optimisation, contact us and find out how we can help.