5 Technical SEO Mistakes You're Probably Making And How To Fix Them

Running a successful website is dependent on the quality of SEO, among other things. Sadly, this topic is a mystery for many people. It looks too difficult and challenging, but SEO is actually easy to understand. True, it takes a lot of time and patience to do it right but is worth the hassle. One of the most crucial factors of a successful SEO setup is avoiding mistakes. With that in mind, here are 5 technical SEO mistakes you’re probably making and how to fix them!

Broken links

The best way to boost your SEO score is to keep track of broken links. All websites use internal and external links to drive traffic and increase profit. Broken links are links that are expired. They do not lead to any content. That’s when you get a 404 Page Not Found message. Some websites even don’t have a 404 page, and the user just gets a default browser page notifying him or her that the page does not exist.

A few of these links will not cause major issues. However, they are weeds that need to be removed before they spread all over the place.

Tracking broken links is easy these days. First of all, you can use Google Analytics. The application is completely free, and not only can it track broken links, but it also provides useful data on your website. The best practice is to set e-mail alerts as soon as a broken link appears.

There are a few ways to resolve this issue. For example, you can search for similar content online, and replace the broken link with a working one. Furthermore, you can create content yourself, and link to that page. Finally, you can simply remove the link.

However, the option that I always recommend is to make sure that you never get broken links in the first place. Always make sure that you link to verified websites, that have a lot of traffic and users.

Another situation where you can get broken links is due to the bad link structure. If you don’t name your links properly, or change the URL of the page but not update the string in the structure, the result will be the same.

While we are on the subject of links, it is crucial to say that you should never overcrowd your content with links. Your goal is to keep users on your website, not send them somewhere else.

Using the wrong keywords

Keywords are bread and butter of every website. They are responsible for the visibility of the content you post. Using proper keywords is made easy today with the help of Google Ads and similar apps. This handy app will analyze your content and website, and find the best matches for keywords you need to include in your SEO.

However, it is still crucial to understand how keywords work, and what are some common technical SEO mistakes you are probably making.

Keywords mostly consist of words and phrases that people usually search online. When thinking about keywords, you should always think about your content. If you were a customer looking for that piece of content, how would you search it? Why would you type it in the browser engine?

Furthermore, it is also important to look for keywords that will connect with quality and cornerstone content.

One mistake that you should avoid is using words that are too common. If you get thousands of results when searching for a keyword or a phrase, your content might not fight its way to the top.

Next, people also use too complicated or long keywords. Another mistake is if you try to forcefully include exact keywords in your content without any logic. Always stay true to your targeted audience, and look for keywords that relate to your content.

Alt tags, Title tags, and broken images

Evey browser thoroughly scans your website for alt tags, title tags, captions, and a lot more. Even though images are more related to marketing, they can cause substantial SEO problems.

Alt tags help engines to figure out what’s on photos on your website. That is how they categorize them. Having keywords in alt tags is a smart approach. It is also crucial that alt tags describe in detail what’s on the photos. They also help people who have eyesight issues.

A poorly written alt tag will send a wrong message to the browser, and it will not connect with your content. It is even worse to leave the alt tag blank. In the same manner, search engines use title tags to identify your pages. Having a misleading title tag will send wrong information to the user.

When it comes to broken images, they are harmful in the same manner as broken links.

Forgetting to include meta description

The meta description is like an ID of the page. It contains all the essential information for the browser and the users. It influences CTR, also known as Click Through Rate, and it is crucial that it is written well. Also, just like for alt tags or title tags, leaving meta description empty will not lead to anything good.

Not auditing your website on a regular basis

The machine must always keep running. It is a cruel and harsh world, but it is how it is. You always need to add new content, make updates, and work on your website. It will not run itself. The biggest issue people make is to relax and neglect a website that shows good results, thinking that nothing will go wrong.

Taking care of SEO is a challenging and time-consuming task. You must not think of it as of a single task, but a group of multiple projects. That is known as a complete SEO package. You must pay attention to all the branches, not just one or two.