It’s an SEO No, No, No!
Everyone makes mistakes from time to time and luckily, it’s relatively easy to turn an epic error into a learning experience, particularly when it comes to SEO. Search Engine Optimisation experts like UA Media web designers in Lancaster are often the first port of call for companies who can’t keep up with all the latest SEO updates and algorithms and businesses who are wondering why their websites simply aren’t gaining the rankings they were hoping for.
One of the main reasons why websites can underperform or get hit by Google penalties is content. So, even if your company’s homepage looks like a work of art, it will never reach its full potential unless you check your content is ticking all the relevant SEO boxes.
Today, our team of Lancaster web designers takes a look at the most common, content-related search engine optimisation mistakes and provides easy ways to fix them.
1. Brainstorm your keywords
Rushing to put a website or webpage together is a common mistake, particularly if you’ve got a new and exciting product or service to sell to your customers. So much so, in fact, that people often end up ‘shoving’ in keywords at the last minute, which does nothing for your content’s readability let alone its success in search engine rankings. Keywords should actually be one of the first things you consider before constructing a new site or page to ensure you don’t forget vital and relevant keywords that will help to generate traffic to your website and make sales. One of the most useful tools for keyword generation that’s used by the majority of professional web designers is Rank Tracker. It’s easy to connect to Google Analytics accounts, and can help you quickly track and research important keywords for your website.
2. Duplicate content
If there’s one thing search engines are highly allergic to, it’s duplicate content. We’re not talking about instances where one company ‘lifts’ another company’s content and uses it as their own (although this is also a huge no-no). We’re referring to sections of your site that may, without you realising, feature duplicate content. For example, if your site has both a UK and US version, the ‘About Us’ section may well contain many of the same paragraphs. To get around this problem, you can either put a redirect in place or you can use the rel=canonical tag to tell Google that Page A should be treated as if it were Page B.
3. Cut back on Flash content
Web designers like UA Media know that Flash content looks attractive. However, it’s nigh on impossible for search engines to read non-HTML content. So, if your website relies heavily on Flash content, the likelihood is, you’ll be struggling to achieve decent page rankings. Our advice is to determine which areas of your site you wish to rank highly, and create HTML versions of your content.
4. Please Panda
What’s black and white and hungry for great content? Google’s Panda algorithm, of course. Since Panda was rolled out in 2011, websites with ‘shallow’ or ‘thin’ content have suffered. If there’s one sure-fire way to ensure your site’s copy is engaging, powerful, user-friendly and well-written, it’s to enlist the help of a professional copywriting team.
If you’d like more help with correcting content-related SEO mistakes or you’d like to find out more about our web design and copywriting services, give UA Media web designers a call today. For more detailed information about our copywriting service please visit our dedicated copywriting website
