Is your website not getting the traffic you expect? It can be frustrating, especially when you know that without enough visitors, building your email list or selling products becomes a challenge. Many business owners and marketers underestimate how damaging low rankings can be for sales and engagement. If your website isn’t appearing in search results, here are five common SEO mistakes to investigate.
1. Choosing the Wrong Hosting Provider
Your hosting provider can significantly impact your website’s SEO performance. Over the years, all-in-one website builders have become increasingly popular, offering integrated hosting and easy website creation without the need to write any code. These platforms can be great for beginners who need a simple website, but their biggest strength is also their biggest flaw: all features, including SEO optimization, are handled within one platform. While this works for basic SEO, many users report that these platforms fall short when it comes to advanced SEO strategies. Their built-in SEO features often lack customization options.
Even if you use an open-source website builder like WordPress.org with a separate hosting provider, you must ensure your hosting is SEO-friendly. If it isn’t, all your SEO efforts could go to waste. If your website ranks poorly, begin by checking your hosting provider; Is it independent, or is it part of an all-in-one website builder? Research your hosting provider online or check forums like Reddit for user feedback on SEO performance. If issues are reported, it may be time for a change. For open-source platforms and custom websites (those built by a developer), switching hosting is relatively easy. However, if you’re using an all-in-one platform, you may need to rebuild your site and host it elsewhere. If your budget allows it, consider hiring a developer and designer to make the transition smoother.
2. Neglecting Website Responsiveness
A lack of responsiveness is one of the most common SEO mistakes to avoid . Responsive design ensures your website works well on all devices: desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. With 63% of global web traffic coming from mobile devices according to Statista and Exploding Topics, having a mobile-friendly website is crucial. If your website looks great on desktops but doesn’t function well on smaller screens, you could be turning away over half of your audience.
To check your site’s responsiveness:
- If you’re using a website builder: Many platforms offer tools to preview and adjust layouts for different screen sizes. Use these tools to make any necessary adjustments.
- If you have a custom website: If a developer built your site, ask for mockups showing how it appears across different devices.
Regardless of the platform you use, you can test your website responsiveness with browser extensions like Mobile Simulator (available on Chrome). It’s a free tool, though some features are locked behind the pro version. Once installed, activate it, navigate to your website, and test its appearance across various devices.
3. Ignoring Local SEO for Physical Businesses
Implementing a local SEO strategy is essential if you own a local business. Without it, you could miss out on potential customers in your area. Here’s how to optimize for local SEO:
- Target people in your area: Include your location throughout your website content. For example, if someone in North Miami needs a haircut, they’re unlikely to search for a barber in New York unless that New York barber is very famous. If you’re a barber shop owner in North Miami and don’t include your location in your content, you’re missing out on many potential clients. Be sure to mention your city or region in your website.
- Add maps: Display your business address on your contact or about page using maps feature to help users find you easily.
- Set up a Google Business Profile: Having a Google Business Profile is essential for local businesses. To create or manage your profile, visit the Google Business Profile Manager. Ensure your profile is complete, accurate, and optimized with relevant keywords and high-quality photos. Encouraging satisfied customers to leave positive reviews will improve your visibility in Google Maps and local searches.
4. Poor Use of Media
Media such as images and videos can enhance user engagement, helping to keep visitors on your site longer and increasing traffic. However, poorly optimized media can hurt your SEO. Here are some common SEO mistakes to avoid when using media on your website:
- Heavy media files: Large files slow your website’s load time, negatively impacting both technical SEO and user experience.
- Low-quality media: Blurry or pixelated images and videos can harm user trust and impact your rankings.
- Irrelevant media: Randomly placed images or videos that don’t align with your content can confuse search engines and hinder your SEO.
- Lack of visual hierarchy: Your media and branding should reflect a consistent visual hierarchy, helping search engines understand your content.
Don’t overload your website with media just for SEO purposes. You should maintain a good balance between media quality and size. You can compress images and videos to reduce file size and improve load times. Make sure your visuals are relevant, properly optimized, and aligned with your content and branding.
5. Outdated Content
Search engines prioritize fresh and accurate content. Regularly evaluating your content helps ensure it remains up-to-date and valuable to your audience. Some common mistakes to avoid in content management include:
- Failing to update content: Refresh old information to reflect current trends and facts.
- Not repurposing content: Convert your content into new formats, such as infographics, podcasts, or videos, to reach a wider audience.
- Keeping irrelevant content: Remove outdated or irrelevant content and introduce new material.
You don’t have to make all of these changes at once. Experiment with different strategies and see what works best for your audience. Remember, SEO is an ongoing process, and consistently updating your content is key.
Ready to Fix Your SEO?
If you’ve identified several issues on your website, don’t panic. These common seo mistakes are fixable in most cases. However, if your website continues to perform poorly despite addressing these issues, the root cause might be deeper. Consider conducting a full website audit to analyze on-page, off-page, and technical SEO factors, and develop a tailored optimization strategy.
If you need a more detailed review of your SEO performance, I offer professional audits with an in-depth analysis of your website. With my SEO and copywriting expertise, I can help refine your content and strategy to boost your rankings and overall performance. Feel free to reach out to discuss how I can support your website’s growth.
