SEO Best Practices: 3 SEO Mistakes to Avoid

#1 Ignoring HTTP Status and Server Issues
HTTP status is the most common SEO mistake!

The most critical technical issues with a website are often related to its HTTP status.

These include status codes like Error 404 (Page not found), which indicate the server’s response on the back of a request from a client, such as a browser or a search engine.

When the dialogue between a client and a server – or, in simpler terms, a user and your website – gets interrupted and breaks down, so too does the trust the user has in the site. Serious server issues may not only lead to lost traffic because of inaccessible content, but they may also damage your rankings in the long run if they leave Google unable to find any suitable results on your site for the searcher.

Mistakes Affecting Your HTTP Status:

•  4xx errors: 4xx codes mean that a page is broken and cannot be reached. They can also apply to working pages when something is blocking them from being crawled.
•  Pages are not crawled: This occurs when a page cannot be reached for one of two reasons: 1) the response time of your website is over five seconds, or 2) your server denied access to the page.
•  Broken internal links: These are links that lead users to pages to a non-functioning page, which can damage UX and SEO.
•  Broken external links: These are links that lead users to pages that don’t exist on another site, which sends negative signals to search engines.
• Broken internal images: This is flagged when a picture file no longer exists, or its URL is misspelled.

#2 Under-Optimizing Meta Tags

Your meta tags help search engines identify the subject matters of your pages to connect them with the keywords and phrases used by searchers. Creating the right title tags means choosing the relevant keywords to form a unique and click-worthy link for users in the search engine results pages (SERPs). The meta descriptions give you additional opportunities to include keywords and related phrases. They should be as unique and tailored as possible – if you don’t create your own, Google will automatically generate them based on the keywords in users’ queries, which can sometimes lead to mismatched search terms and associated results.

Common Meta Tag Mistakes

• Duplicate title tags and meta descriptions: Two or more pages with the same titles and descriptions make it difficult for search engines to properly determine relevance and, in turn, rankings.
• Missing H1 tags: H1 tags help search engines determine the topic of your content. If they are missing, there will be gaps in Google’s understanding of your website.

#3 Having Duplicate Content

Duplicate content has the capacity to damage your rankings – and potentially for a while. You should steer clear of duplicating any kind of content from any kind of site out there, whether they are a direct competitor or not.

Look out for duplicate descriptions, paragraphs, and entire sections of copy, duplicate H1 tags across multiple pages, and URL issues, such as www and non-www versions of the same page.

Steer clear of these mistakes by actively reviewing your website and performing regular SEO audits,  this will definitely lead your SEO rankings to improve!

Read more: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/10-common-seo-mistakes/178734/

Read more: https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2019/11/14/seo-mistakes-to-avoid-in-2020/