10 SEO Mistakes Bloggers Should Avoid
SEO is vital to any successful blogging campaign, therefore it should be implemented in the right manner. SEO itself is quite intricate for numerous reasons, but mainly because Google uses an algorithm, which takes several factors into account when ranking a webpage, and these factors keep changing it.
There are virtually so many SEO myths that it has become very difficult to know what’s actually true. But here are 10 SEO mistakes you should avoid.
1. Buying links
If your blog is already popular, you might get a short-term boost by buying links, but you’re taking a risk here. Paid links are sometimes flagged by Google’s search engine experts. You may wonder, how will they ever catch me? Well, Google’s bots and a special team at the company search for questionable linking patterns every single day.
The old fashioned method of comment linking manually is recommended and your blog will still be able to grow, albeit at a steady pace. Over time, the end results will be worthwhile. If you are however settled on purchasing links, do not use the same anchor text for all of them. So mix it up a bit.
2. Duplicate content
Many bloggers try to target the same topic with a variation of essentially very similar keywords. For instance, “make money on Facebook” and “making money with your Facebook” are quite similar, and creating a completely different page for each keyword won’t add much value to your blog.
How much can you really play with topics or keywords that are essentially identical? If you can’t, then you’ll probably end up writing the same content for both keywords, which poses a risk of a search engine penalty.
Instead, you should try to penetrate one original topic or keyword in detail and make an effort to strengthen each post.
3. Chasing PageRank
PageRank is important for any website’s success because the higher the PageRank you have, the better you rank in search engines and the more visitors you’ll get. However, it’s definitely not the only metric that’ll help you improve your blog’s success.
Furthermore, Google has mentioned previously that PageRank is just one of two hundred indicators used to crawl and rank a website. Instead, you should focus on your analytics, ROI and relevancy, as recommended by Google itself.
4. Leaving title tags automated
The title tag is undeniably one of the most important aspects when it comes to search engine rankings. Beginner bloggers usually write a post with a long title that describes the topic in too many words. First, you want to keep the title rather short, not more than 60 characters. But more importantly, you should focus at optimising the title tags.
For example, if you write a post titled “What Is a Niche Blog and How Do I Create It?” your title tag should be targeted more towards a keyword. Perhaps, something like “What Is a Niche Blog?” with “a niche blog” being a possible keyword.
You would surely want to check the popularity of the respective keyword with a keyword tool, such as Google Adwords, before optimising for it. Consider changing it and you may enjoy a better placement in the search engines and as a result, more visitors.
5. Sacrificing content for looks
While many bloggers depend on content to grow their blog, there are some who become obsessed with the design of their blog.
Well, if you don’t have an appealing design, some visitors won’t be attracted to your website. However, using too many graphics or images will overcrowd your page and slow it down. This will also prevent search engine bots from being able to crawl your pages at a desirable faster rate.
6. Using free hosting blogs
Blog services that offer free hosting can offer a decent platform and an excellent value. However, they are not flexible enough to be able to install plugins, themes and other extensions you truly desire for superior SEO results.
All it takes is to register your own domain and purchase an inexpensive hosting plan. It’s worth a few bucks per month to have total control over your blog. The power of independence can reap great rewards when your blogging operation grows.
7. Keyword stuffing
Probably one of the most common SEO mistakes is keyword stuffing. It’s not only unethical, but also will hurt your search rankings.
If you really want to rank for a bunch of keywords, create a separate page for each keyword and optimise for it accordingly. Instead of using hidden or duplicate text, focus on creating useful pages that have your keywords implemented in them as part of the content. Trying to manipulate a search engine like Google is a big no-no.
8. Writing little content
Many websites, especially blogs, suffer from posts that are too short. How great can a piece be if it’s written at just 400 words?
Writing extremely short posts hurts reader loyalty, plus your page could be considered as low quality when it comes to SEO rankings.
9. Not doing SEO correctly
There’s not only one right way to optimise your posts for the search engine, but there are general proven methods you can use. For example, in regards to link building, several bloggers make the mistake of only linking to the homepage. Instead, you should build links that also point to your top, most popular posts.
There’s always something new to learn about SEO, so make sure your optimisation knowledge is up to date by reading articles or guides from qualified authors.
10. Forgetting the ALT tag
While Google reportedly doesn’t place a big emphasis on ALT tags, other search engines such as AOL, Bing and Yahoo do. The truth is, that a picture is just an image file if it’s not optimised for a keyword. So to optimise it, use the ALT tag when inserting your image in a post. You will definitely see better results.
Also, consider naming the file of the image as your keyword or at least to a defining term.
SOURCE: Hongkiat
