Avoid These 5 SEO Mistakes to Improve Your Website’s Performance
If you're running a business or a website, you’ve probably heard the term “SEO” (Search Engine Optimization) thrown around. SEO is what helps your website rank higher on search engines like Google, making it easier for potential customers to find you. But many websites are unknowingly making mistakes that hurt their SEO, preventing them from ranking as high as they could. The good news is, these mistakes are easy to fix! Here are 5 common website mistakes that could be holding back your SEO and how PGH Digital can help you solve them.
Slow Page Load Times
You know how frustrating it is when a website takes too long to load. Chances are, you leave before it even finishes loading. Well, it turns out that Google feels the same way. When your website takes too long to load, not only will visitors leave, but Google may also push your site lower in search results. This is because Google wants to provide users with the best possible experience, and fast-loading sites are part of that.
How to Fix It:
Optimize images: Large image files can slow down your site. Compress them to reduce their size without losing quality.
Reduce the number of elements on your page: Too many images, videos, and files can drag down your page speed.
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN helps speed up your website by storing copies of your site on servers around the world, so visitors get your content faster.
At PGH Digital, we can conduct a full-speed audit of your website and fix any issues that may be slowing it down. Speeding up your website is an important part of SEO and will help improve both your user experience and search engine rankings.
Not Mobile-Friendly
In today’s world, more people are using smartphones and tablets to browse the web than ever before. If your website isn’t designed to look and work well on mobile devices, you’re likely losing potential visitors. Google also knows that more people are searching on mobile, so it uses mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor. Websites that aren’t mobile-friendly can get pushed down in search rankings, meaning fewer people will find you.
How to Fix It:
Responsive design: A responsive website design ensures your site automatically adjusts to fit the screen size of any device, whether it’s a phone, tablet, or desktop.
Mobile-friendly features: Make sure buttons are easy to tap, text is legible, and your images scale properly on mobile devices.
Check mobile page speed: Just like desktop pages, mobile pages need to load quickly.
At PGH Digital, we specialize in responsive web design, ensuring that your website is easy to use and looks great on all devices. When your site is mobile-friendly, it not only helps with SEO but also gives visitors a better experience, which leads to more engagement and conversions.
Not Using Heading Tags Correctly
Headings (like H1, H2, and H3) are used to organize content on a webpage, making it easier to read and navigate. But they also play an important role in SEO. Search engines like Google use headings to understand the structure of your content and determine what your page is about. If you're not using headings correctly, it can confuse search engines, making it harder for your page to rank.
How to Fix It:
Use one H1 tag: This is the main title of your page, and it should clearly explain what the page is about (for example, "Best Lawn Care Services in Pittsburgh").
Organize content with H2 and H3 tags: Use H2 for subtitles and H3 for smaller sections within your content. This helps organize the page and makes it easier to read
Don’t use headings just for style: Headings should describe the content, not just make things look pretty.
Our team at PGH Digital can review your website’s content to ensure your headings are used properly. By fixing heading tag issues, we can help Google understand your pages better, improve your SEO, and make your content easier for users to navigate.
Duplicate Content
Duplicate content is when the same content appears on multiple pages of your website or on other websites. Google doesn’t like this because it’s confusing—it doesn’t know which version of the content to rank. Having duplicate content can hurt your SEO and even result in penalties, lowering your ranking on search engines.
How to Fix It:
Avoid copying content: Write unique content for each page of your website. Don’t copy from other websites, and make sure each page has original text.
Use canonical tags: If you must have duplicate content (like in product descriptions), use a canonical tag to tell Google which version of the page should be ranked.
Regular content audits: Regularly check your website for duplicate content and remove or modify it as needed.
At PGH Digital, we offer content audits to find any duplicate content on your website. We can help you update and remove any duplicates to ensure your content is original and optimized for SEO.
Lack of Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your site. Think of them as “votes of confidence” in your content. Google sees these votes and uses them to determine how trustworthy and authoritative your website is. If your site doesn’t have any backlinks, it will struggle to rank well.
How to Fix It:
Create valuable content: The best way to earn backlinks is to create high-quality content that others want to link to.
Reach out to other websites: You can also ask other businesses, bloggers, or influencers in your industry to link to your website.
Guest blogging and partnerships: Writing guest posts on other websites and collaborating with others in your industry can also help build backlinks
At PGH Digital, we specialize in building high-quality backlinks to improve your website’s authority and rankings. We help with outreach, content creation, and link-building strategies to increase the number of reputable sites linking to you.
If you’ve noticed any of these issues on your website, don’t worry! PGH Digital is here to help. We specialize in SEO and can fix these common problems to improve your search engine rankings. Our team will audit your website, fix technical issues, optimize your content, and build backlinks to help you rank higher on Google and attract more visitors.
SEO can be complicated, but we’re here to make it easier for you. Contact PGH Digital today to get started on improving your SEO and driving more traffic to your website!