6 common SEO mistakes that web owners are still making

Web design and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can sometimes be uncomfortable companions, and this is because a lot of web designers don’t always consider SEO when creating their design.

But both SEO strategies and web design are more connected than many people think.

While you could hire a very talented web designer to create your company website, their focus might be on the design of the site rather than how their design will affect your site’s SEO.

Even today with a lot more awareness around the importance of SEO, there are still a few web design mistakes that are needed to be avoided if you want to boost your SEO.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones:

Contents:

1. Low-quality content

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It is no secret that Google and the other major search engines love websites full of content. Having plenty of fresh content added to your website regularly can make your site look more trustworthy and legitimate than a website with skinny content or one that doesn’t post fresh content regularly.

However, it is not just the volume of content and frequency at which you post, but also the quality of your content that counts. The impression that a user has of your site is important so you need to make sure that your content is relevant, useful and offers value to your visitors.

If you don’t offer your users engaging content, they will quickly click away to a site that offers more value and probably won’t bother visiting your site again because they don’t value what you have to offer.

This is why you need to post regular high-quality content and understand how to utilise your content to improve your user experience.

2. Too much or too little text

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While having too much low-quality content can hamper your SEO efforts, so can having too little text. While humans are very visual beings that can be drawn into your site with lots of high-quality images, using too many images won’t help your user in terms of information delivery.

Yes, beautiful images and eye-catching graphics can draw a user to your site, but they may find it frustrating to navigate if you don’t include enough text to guide them around or tell them what to do next. This can lead to an increased bounce rate and a decrease in your overall user numbers.

Finding the right balance between visual images and text is important. We already know that using video is a great tool to enhance your B2B marketing, but you need to backup your video content with valuable written content too. 

The text you use also helps the major search engines understand what your site is for and how to rank your site within your niche.

3. Design inconsistencies

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Web design inconsistencies will act to confuse your users and make it difficult for them to navigate your website. If your site causes your users to become frustrated, they will leave and never bother to return. This can ruin your SEO strategies.

You can help your user to explore your site by keeping your website menu consistent. If you keep the top of the page the same throughout your website pages, it will make it easier for your users to navigate to different sections and read through your content. 

No matter if they click a different category or switch page, when the top of the page design remains the same it gives your users a sense of consistency that they can rely on. You can also use design, or design thinking, to inform your marketing and SEO strategies.

4. Poor keyword research

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Keyword research is a vital element of your SEO strategy. Using relevant keywords is important here so you should try to discover the best keywords to rank for to help boost your site traffic. Although Google’s updates have downplayed the importance of keywords, they are still important in your SEO strategy.

Keywords are still a useful tool towards bringing new leads to your site and engaging them with your content, but be careful not to over-stuff your content with keywords to an extent that it makes your content hard to read and unattractive. It’s not enough to simply choose the most popular keywords and add them to your text – they need to make sense.

5. Using an unsecured website

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These days web users are hot on security so if your website is unsecured and is missing an SSL certificate, this will be a huge red flag to your users. You may well offer some outstanding content, but if you don’t offer a secure experience your SEO efforts are futile.

Another thing often missed here is that many browsers and anti-virus software will block visitors from accessing websites that don’t carry an SSL certificate. This means that your site will be invisible to potentially thousands of users simply because your site lacks an SSL certificate.

6. Mobile-friendly website

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With over 63% of internet users using mobile devices to surf the web, and numbers increasing steadily since the COVID-19 pandemic, your site needs to look good and be usable on a smartphone.

There are still hundreds of thousands of businesses using old web designs that while are desktop-friendly, fail miserably when accessed by a smartphone or tablet. Making sure your website is designed properly using SEO friendly and mobile-friendly technology is essential here to ensure you don’t get left dead in the water by your direct competition.

Using a mobile-friendly website design that is not fully optimised will also negatively affect your SEO efforts and rankings. You cannot afford to neglect your mobile users, so if you have a business website that is a few years old, it is time to get a major overhaul to ensure you are not missing out on a huge slice of the mobile market.

Conclusion

Many SEO mistakes can be avoided. The best way to continue to grow your company is by using creative design and technology that are going to enhance your SEO efforts rather than hamper them. 

We are here to help bridge that gap between you and your customers. You can use our services to create a compelling digital experience to engage and excite your users through website personalisation, optimise your website, website accessibility, improve your SEO, raise your brand awareness and build trust with your customers. 

It is important to get the foundation of your business website design right, so whether you want us to build you a brand-new site from scratch, or you need help updating your existing site to boost your SEO efforts, do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your needs.