The most common SEO mistakes can be easily avoided.

There’s no question that ranking higher than your competitors on Google is a must. But, what if you don’t know the SEO tips and tricks that will get your e-commerce site to the top? If you’re missing out on clicks, you’re probably also missing out on sales.

Whether you’re just getting started with a new website or improving an existing site, this complete guide provides useful tactical suggestions for stepping up your SEO game.

These days, reaching the first page isn’t enough. You must rank #1. In the past, you could get away with a keyword-packed page, but natural language search has made keyword stuffing almost obsolete.

Without a clear, well-defined SEO strategy, you can spend a fortune on paid search and ads and not achieve the results you hoped for.

There are many benefits of SEO for your business. By improving your SEO, you can work to expand your visibility on the search engines. This helps you reach and engage more potential customers. By creating more engaging and effective SEO-focused content, you can increase your chances of bringing in more targeted organic traffic.

1. Your site is not indexed

You can have the best website in the world, but if it’s not indexed by Google, it might as well not exist. When Google indexes your site, it adds it to its database so that it can be shown in search results. If your site is not indexed, it won’t show up in search results, and you won’t get any traffic from Google.

To check if your site is indexed, type “site:yourwebsite.com” into a Google search. Don’t forget to check it after the MVP development. If your site is indexed, it will show up in the search results. If it’s not, you will get a message saying that there are no results. If your site is not indexed, you can submit it to Google using the Google Search Console.

2. Your site is not mobile-friendly

Mobile is no longer the future of marketing. It is the present. And if your website is not mobile-friendly, you are missing out on a huge audience.

In 2018, Google switched to mobile-first indexing, meaning that the mobile version of your website is now the most important. If your site is not mobile-friendly, it will not rank well in search engine results.

There are a few ways to make your website mobile-friendly. You can use a responsive design that adjusts to different screen sizes, or you can create a separate mobile version of your website.

3. You’re not using the right keywords

If you don’t know what keywords you should be targeting, you’re missing out on a lot of potential website traffic.

Keywords are the words and phrases that your potential customers are searching for online. For example, if you’re a dentist, you might want to target keywords like “dentist near me,” “teeth cleaning,” and “dental implants.”

To find the right keywords for your website, start by brainstorming a list of keywords that are relevant to your business. Then, use a keyword research tool like Google’s Keyword Planner to find out how many people are searching for those keywords and how difficult they are to rank for.

Using tools like an Instagram highlight viewer can also give insights into popular keywords and phrases used by competitors and influencers in your industry.

Once you have a list of keywords, make sure to use them in your website copy, meta tags, and image alt tags. This will help search engines understand what your website is about and show it to people who are searching for those keywords.

4. You have poor quality content

Your website is a direct reflection of your business. If you have low quality content, it will be difficult to get your website to rank highly in search results. You can improve your content and craft high-quality content by hiring content writers.

Content is king when it comes to SEO. The more high quality, relevant content your website has, the better it will perform in search results. This is because search engines want to provide their users with the best possible results, and high quality content is a big part of that.

If you want to improve your website’s SEO, take a look at your content. Is it relevant and high quality? If not, it’s time to make some changes.

5. You’re using duplicate content

Duplicate content is content that appears on the internet in more than one place. This can be problematic because search engines don’t know which version of the content to index or show in search results.

If your website has a lot of duplicate content, it can be hard for search engines to figure out which version of your content to show in search results. This can lead to a decrease in search traffic.

To avoid duplicate content issues, make sure that all of the content on your website is original and unique. If you have multiple versions of the same content, use a canonical tag to tell search engines which version is the preferred version.

6. You’re not using title tags and meta descriptions

Title tags and meta descriptions are not visible on your website but are visible in search results.

They are also used by search engines to understand what your page is about and to decide how to display your page in search results.

A title tag is an HTML tag that specifies the title of a web page. Title tags are displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs) as the clickable headline for a given result, and are important for SEO.

A meta description is an HTML tag that provides a brief summary of a web page. Meta descriptions are displayed on SERPs just below the title of a page.

7. You’re not optimizing your images

Images are a great way to break up your text and make your content more visually appealing. But if you’re not optimizing your images for SEO, you could be missing out on a lot of potential traffic.

Make sure you’re using alt text to describe your images. This is a short description that tells search engines what the image is about. It’s also what will be displayed if your image can’t be loaded.

You should also make sure your image files are named descriptively. Instead of using a generic file name like “image123.jpg,” use a descriptive file name like “seo-tips-for-beginners.jpg.”

Finally, make sure you’re using the right file format and size for your images. Large image files can slow down your website, which can hurt your SEO. Use an image compression tool to reduce the file size of your images before you upload them to your website.

Consider consulting with a digital marketing agency to ensure your image optimization aligns with the latest SEO best practices.

8. You have a poor backlink profile

Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. Google sees backlinks as an endorsement of your website.

If your website has a lot of backlinks from high-quality websites, Google will see your website as an authority in your industry and rank it higher in the search results.

But if your website has a lot of backlinks from low-quality websites, Google will see your website as spammy and rank it lower in the search results.

You should regularly audit your backlink profile to make sure that you only have backlinks from high-quality websites. If you find any low-quality backlinks, you should disavow them using Google’s disavow tool.

Conclusion

The truth is that SEO is a science and an art, and it’s always changing. That’s why the best thing you can do for your business is to hire a professional to handle your SEO strategy.

At ReachLocal, we offer a range of SEO services to help you improve your website traffic and get more leads. Contact us to learn more about our services or to get started with a free consultation.