There are certain trends and basic SEO errors that are continually repeated, and these make SEO more difficult than it should be. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 SEO mistakes to be aware of and avoid.
Thinking Great Content Will Rank Without Optimization
Content marketing is great, but it works better alongside SEO. Avoid thinking creating excellent content is a substitute for SEO. There are examples of amazing content that ranks without intentional optimization, but these are more exceptions than the rule. SEO will remain important in getting your page to rank and will also ultimately improve user experience.
Thinking Great Content Will Get Links Without Link Building
Thinking your content will get links without additional effort will very likely result in a large percentage of your content sitting stagnant on the site. You need formal and effective link building strategies to optimize and put your content out there.
Duplicate Content
Duplicate content is when the same content appears in more than one web page (URL) within the same or different domain (website). The problem with this is that search engines would find it hard to decide which content to index and this will lead to it likely not showing the webpage in search results. Some examples of duplicate content include: duplicate versions of the homepage, duplicate URL and different web pages having nearly similar content.
Poor Quality Site Structure
Most times website developers don’t integrate best SEO practices into website structures, therefore the site structure is unlikely to support search engine optimization. This is mainly because website developers are not exactly SEO specialists. It’s best to create your website structure in a way that’s easy and intuitive to navigate for users. Try to avoid burying high authority web pages in site architecture as this can lead to a dramatic loss of ranking. A flat site architecture can help you get more users to your site through search engines.
Unreasonable SEO expectations
You need to realize that SEO isn’t easy, fast or cheap. It’s advisable you try not to measure your SEO success solely or mainly based on ranking, according to Jeff Bullas. Other factors such as traffic, longer time visit, lower bounce rate, and more enquiries or sales are important factors you should also consider.
In addition, it’s important to realize that SEO does not make up for the fact that your website is not exceptional. For a successful SEO campaign, your website has to deserve it. So take a good look at your website and consider if your user interface is up to par, if your design isn’t dated, your prices are too high and if your content just plain sucks. Fix that, then do SEO to help achieve your optimization goals.
