Are you about to launch a new website but wondering if there are any common SEO problems you should correct before you go live? If yes, then you're in the right place!
Search optimization is undoubtedly the most effective method to quickly elevate your brand. It is a key strategy for improving visibility, increasing sales, and driving traffic.
Need proof? Well, here it is: an estimated 68% of all online experiences begin with Google or another search engine.
It's clear that search engine optimization (SEO) can enhance visibility, leading to increased sales and engagement, which is essential for new businesses. However, competing with others who are also trying to rank high and adhering to SEO best practices is often more challenging than it seems. Today, I am going to discuss the top 7 common SEO issues a new website owner faces and how you can make things right.
Let's get started!
1. Poor Keyword Research
Let's make one thing clear: it's nearly impossible to rank if you don't know who you are targeting or what they are searching for. Bad keyword research will lead to irrelevant content, which means a disengaged or non-existent audience.
I suggest starting by defining detailed buyer personas, which are essentially fictional profiles that define the goals and pain points of your audience. If you know what your audience wants, needs, and looks for online, you'll have a much better chance of getting people to land on your site.
Once you create your personas, here are three things you need to do next:
- Choose relevant, click-worthy keywords with a high search volume, specifically those that are associated with your business or products.
- Use long-tail keywords, which are very specific search phrases, such as "best accounting software for a small business." Your long-tail keywords will vary based on your specific situation.
- Optimize for voice search. Believe it or not, more than 50% of U.S. shoppers use voice search daily. You'll want to include conversational keywords that match how people naturally speak.
Source: WordStream
When you research keywords that fit the intention of your audience, you'll build a solid foundation for your SEO strategy. This is an excellent way to get your site to rank in the search results.
2. Poor Site Architecture
If users can't easily navigate through your site, there's a pretty good chance they'll leave without taking action. That's because a bad structure can confuse your audience, which will cause higher bounce rates; this is when a user leaves the page they land on without navigating to a second page.
When this happens, Google sees it as a negative signal and will decrease your visibility. While I know this doesn't sound good, there are ways to avoid this common misstep.
First, develop a clear and logical site structure that is easy for visitors and search engines to follow. Then, strategically use menus, landing pages, and other cues throughout your site.
You'll also want to categorize your key pages and posts, so they all make sense for readers. For instance, your blog should have different categories and tags. That way, people are able to naturally move from one article to the other.
Source: EduPointBD
You should also label URLs so search engines understand the main point of each page. This step helps search engines understand the purpose of your content.
Another way to improve your structure is to use plenty of internal links. A few relevant, well-placed links make it super easy for visitors to find new content on your site, which will improve their dwell time.
Ultimately, the goal is to fine-tune your site architecture and create the best experience possible for everyone so they'll stick around, become customers, and let Google know through their actions that your site is worth searchers' time.
3. Slow Loading Times
If your site takes forever to load, there's a good chance it's affecting your search position. While Google experts have stated that it has a minor impact as far as the search crawlers are concerned, it does seriously affect the average user experience.
For context, research shows that 53% of users are likely to leave a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load. This means you're missing out on a ton of potential customers and email subscribers.
Source: ThinkwithGoogle
The good news is you quickly improve loading times if you know what to do.
A great place to start is caching your site. This means that after someone visits your site for the first time, it will load much quicker in the future since a mostly loaded version is already saved and ready to go.
I also suggest using a content delivery network (CDN) to distribute your content across multiple web servers. This will ensure faster load times for users, regardless of where they live, which is crucial for selling globally.
These small but meaningful changes will lead to a faster, leaner site.
It's a good idea to use Google's own tool, PageSpeed Insights, to assess your performance and identify areas for improvement.
4. Ignoring Essential SEO Features
Sadly, many new website owners gloss over the SEO basics, like meta tags, descriptions, and schema markup. Failing to implement these three features alone makes it very hard for search engines to understand what the heck your site is about.
With this in mind, be sure to use major SEO features on every page.
For instance, every single part of your site should have crystal clear meta titles and descriptions. Use short and catchy titles and descriptions that include your target keywords so people and search engines have an easier time finding you.
Schema Markup helps search engines to more accurately understand the content on your new site. It may even make your site eligible for rich snippets, improving visibility.
Let's look at an example so you can see for yourself how big of an impact this could have on traffic and engagement:
Source: Screenshot by User
The above photo shows reviews, price, delivery status, stock, and return policy, all of which are present because of schema markup. Customers know exactly what’s going on before they click through, which makes them more likely to stay and become customers.
Meanwhile, this data gives the search crawlers more context around your page so they know how to rank your site.
Next, within your blog posts, landing pages, and other parts of your site, use headings tags, like H1, H2, etc., so your content is organized, easy to read, and easy to engage. This is a great way to keep people from bouncing early.
These are just essential SEO features that not only enhance your search visibility but make your site much more appealing to prospects and search engines.
5. Not Optimizing Images
Images help to keep your audience interested in your site, but if they are not optimized, they can slow things down, which, as we know, will hurt your SEO.
But remember, this is much more than a simple resizing. Here are some tips to remember:
- It's very important to compress images so you can reduce the file size without sacrificing quality. This step takes seconds but can have a massive impact on performance.
- Add alt text to each image. You'll want to describe what's going on in a way that includes keywords and details. This helps visually impaired users and also improves the understanding of search engines.
- Upload your videos off-site. If you have videos on your site, it will start to slow things down very fast. The best thing to do here is to upload your videos to YouTube. Not only will this help your reach, but it will also allow you to embed the video on your site without taking up a bunch of extra memory.
- Well-optimized images give a better user experience and faster load times, and they may even rank in image searches to drive extra traffic to your site.
6. Lack of High-Quality Content
Without valuable, interesting content on your site, users will have no reason to stay, and search engines will have little to index.
But create good content on a regular basis, and you can expect some pretty impressive results. Here’s some data so you can see how consistent, high-value content translates to more leads:
Source: BlogTyrant
It’s clear that good content is crucial for building authority in the eyes of an audience and improving your SEO strategy. With this in mind, you're going to need a plan where high-quality content is the cornerstone of your brand.
This includes publishing regular blog posts on topics that matter to your audience. Refer to your buyer personas, and I bet you can find many topics to write about.
You'll also want to create and showcase plenty of visual content, like videos, infographics, and visual guides. This step is so important because visuals are estimated to be 50 times more likely to drive organic traffic than plain text posts.
Once you start growing your customer base, start thinking about case studies and other types of content that will help you build trust with new visitors by leveraging the experiences of some of your first customers.
There's no doubt that content is the basis of SEO. So, invest in good content, and you'll keep your audience engaged while signalling to search engines that your site is of value.
7. No Social Sharing Options
The way I see it, if your site is missing social sharing buttons on your content and product landing pages, you're losing out on free exposure.
Let's say someone decides they really like your latest blog post. They decide to share it with their friends, one of which happens to be an industry influencer with a pretty sizeable following. They share your article, and suddenly, thousands of people are looking at your website. This is the amazing power of social media.
You can choose to add your buttons wherever you like, but we’ve found that placing them above the fold, much like the one in the example below, gets people primed to share as soon as they start reading.
Source: GrooveHQ
So, be sure to make it easy for people to share your content on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and everywhere else your audience spends time.
Beyond attracting people to your site, social signals also make it easier to build trust with everyone. Think of it this way: you're more likely to buy from a business if you see that they're out there talking to other customers and involved in the community, right?
Final Thoughts
SEO is a slow burn and takes time to master. You'll need to be patient, consistent, and willing to learn if you want to take your site to the next level.
Identifying issues early and correcting them will help you gradually improve your search results and have an excellent SEO foundation that will give your site traffic and authority in the future.
Invest in the best practices discussed today, regardless of whether you are a new business owner or even just a marketer looking to improve, and I believe you'll find success.
For more digital marketing news, check out our blog. To book an appointment, call 866-208-3095 or contact us here.
