Is Your SEO Strategy Hurting You?
SEO mistakes can be costly. They waste time, burn budget, and can even result in Google penalties that devastate your organic traffic. Many businesses unknowingly commit these errors, wondering why their rankings aren’t improving despite their efforts.
Technical SEO Mistakes
Slow Page Speed
If your site takes more than three seconds to load, you’re losing visitors and rankings. Google uses page speed as a ranking factor for both mobile and desktop. Compress images, enable caching, minimize JavaScript, and invest in quality hosting.
Not Mobile-Friendly
With mobile-first indexing, a non-responsive website is an SEO disaster. Test your site on multiple devices and fix any mobile usability issues flagged in Google Search Console.
Broken Links and 404 Errors
Broken internal and external links waste crawl budget and frustrate users. Regularly audit your site for broken links and fix or redirect them promptly.
Missing or Duplicate Meta Tags
Every page needs a unique title tag and meta description. Duplicate meta tags confuse search engines and reduce click-through rates. Generic auto-generated meta descriptions are almost as bad as missing ones.
Content Mistakes
Thin Content
Pages with little valuable content rarely rank well. Google wants to serve comprehensive, helpful content. If your page doesn’t thoroughly address the user’s query, a competitor’s will.
Keyword Stuffing
Unnaturally forcing keywords into content is a decades-old tactic that now hurts rather than helps. Write for humans first; include keywords naturally.
Duplicate Content
Having substantially similar content on multiple pages confuses Google about which to rank. Use canonical tags to specify preferred versions and ensure each page offers unique value.
Ignoring Search Intent
Creating content that doesn’t match what users actually want when searching a keyword is a waste. Always analyze the top-ranking results for your target keyword to understand intent before creating content.
Strategic Mistakes
No Link Building Strategy
Content alone isn’t enough. Without backlinks from authoritative websites, even great content may struggle to rank in competitive niches.
Ignoring Local SEO
Local businesses that don’t optimize for local search miss out on their most valuable traffic. Google Business Profile, local citations, and location-specific content are essential.
Not Tracking Results
If you’re not measuring rankings, organic traffic, and conversions, you’re flying blind. Set up Google Analytics and Search Console and review performance regularly.
Fix Your SEO
Brandastic audits websites for SEO issues and builds strategies that drive sustainable organic growth. Get a free SEO audit.
