SEO Horrors: 10 Mistakes That Will Haunt Your Website

Frightening Fact: 96.55% of All Pages Get Zero Traffic From Google

According to Ahrefs, 96.55% of web pages get no traffic at all from Google. And only 1.94% get between one and ten monthly visits.

With Halloween around the corner, it’s the perfect time to talk about the SEO horrors that could be haunting your website. In this blog, we’re going to expose the scariest SEO blunders and more importantly how you can survive them.

Duplicate Content: The Curse That Confuses Google

• What It Is: Duplicate content occurs when identical or very similar content appears on multiple pages.
• Why It’s Terrifying: Search engines don’t know which page to prioritise, and that confusion can tank your rankings. Duplicate content can lead to reduced visibility or not being indexed at all.
• How to Survive: Always create unique, original content for each page. If you absolutely need similar content across pages, use canonical tags to guide search engines to the preferred version.

Slow Site Speed: The Traffic-Killing Nightmare

• What It Is: When your website takes too long to load, it’s like sending visitors into an endless, haunted house hallway.
• Why It’s Terrifying: Slow load times frustrate users and lead to higher bounce rates. Google uses site speed as a ranking factor, so a slow site could be buried in search results.
• How to Survive: Compress images and reduce file sizes. Use a content delivery network (CDN) and enable browser caching. Minimise and optimise your code to ensure faster loading times.

Orphan Pages: Ghost Pages No One Can Find

• What It Is: Orphan pages are like ghosts – unlinked, unseen, and forgotten. These are pages that exist but aren’t connected to any other page on your site.
• Why It’s Terrifying: Search engines might not find or index them. Visitors can’t easily navigate to them, reducing your site’s overall usability.
• How to Survive: Regularly audit your internal links to ensure no page is left orphaned. Use tools like Screaming Frog to find orphan pages and add them back into your site’s structure with internal links.

Broken Links: The SEO Dead Ends

• What It Is: Broken links are like leading your visitors to a locked door – except behind this door is a dreaded 404 error.
• Why It’s Terrifying: It disrupts user experience, which can damage your credibility. Search engines frown upon broken links, and it can negatively impact your SEO.
• How to Survive: Regularly use link-checking tools to identify and fix broken links. Redirect broken links to relevant, live pages, or update them with valid URLs.

Black Hat SEO: The Dark Arts of the Web

• What It Is: These are sneaky, unethical SEO practices like keyword stuffing, cloaking, and buying links. They may seem like a shortcut to ranking, but they can backfire in a big way.
• Why It’s Terrifying: Google’s algorithms are getting smarter every day. Using black hat tactics could result in penalties or even getting de-indexed completely. Your site’s reputation and trustworthiness take a hit.
• How to Survive: Stick to white-hat SEO practices like creating valuable, user-centered content and building organic backlinks.

Mobile Unfriendliness: A Horror Show for Google and Users

• What It Is: In today’s mobile-first world, a site that doesn’t work well on phones or tablets is doomed.
• Why It’s Terrifying: Google uses mobile-first indexing, which means if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, your rankings will suffer. Users will bounce fast if your site doesn’t display properly on their device.
• How to Survive: Use responsive design to ensure your site adapts to all screen sizes.

Missing or Misused Meta Tags: The Forgotten Element

• What It Is: Meta tags are like signposts that tell search engines what your page is about. Missing or poorly written meta tags are a huge missed opportunity.
• Why It’s Terrifying: You lose out on potential ranking boosts and clicks from search results. Meta tags help search engines and users understand the content on your page.
• How to Survive: Write clear, concise meta titles and descriptions that include relevant keywords. Make sure each page has a unique meta description to maximise visibility in search results.

Thin Content: The Barren Wasteland of SEO

• What It Is: Thin content offers little value to users and is light on information.
• Why It’s Terrifying: Search engines prioritise high-quality, in-depth content that satisfies user intent. Thin content leads to poor rankings and high bounce rates.
• How to Survive: Focus on creating valuable, well-researched content that addresses your audience’s questions or problems. Keep updating and expanding your content to keep it relevant.

Keyword Cannibalisation: When Your Pages Compete Against Each Other

• What It Is: This happens when multiple pages on your site target the same keyword, causing them to compete with each other in search rankings.
• Why It’s Terrifying: Instead of boosting your rankings, you dilute the power of both pages, and search engines don’t know which one to prioritise.
• How to Survive: Consolidate similar content into one comprehensive, authoritative page. Make sure each page targets unique, specific keywords to avoid overlap.

No HTTPS: A Security Nightmare

• What It Is: HTTPS secures the connection between your website and its visitors. Without it, your site is vulnerable to attacks and shows a “Not Secure” warning that scares users away.
• Why It’s Terrifying: Google prioritises HTTPS sites, so you could be penalised without it. Users lose trust in your site and may bounce immediately.
• How to Survive: Get an SSL certificate and switch your site to HTTPS. Make sure all internal links and resources point to HTTPS versions to maintain security across your site.

Don’t Let SEO Horrors Haunt Your Website

From slow site speed to broken links and orphan pages, these mistakes could be draining your website of traffic. But don’t fear, by taking the right steps, you can boost your rankings. Start fixing them today, and watch your traffic improve, just in time for Halloween!