5 simple misses that kill your website SEO
Google’s algorithm is very complex, with thousands of signals that will determine your website’s position on their results page. Some are very important, and some are out of your control. There are, however, some elements that are within your control that can kill your chances of being on the 1st Page (or any Page for that matter).
1. No SSL
Google was an advocate of encryption for a long time, but finally they took action in 2018 and started to promote websites with SSL within their search results. Whilst websites that do not carry out financial transactions online, would argue that there is no technical or security reason for them to have SSL, they will never win that argument with the Google Results Page!
If you do not carry out financial transactions, and feel grieved at having to pay for SSL, then look for a hosting company that offers you SSL for free.
2. Non-Responsive Design
Since mobile devices such as Tablets and Smartphones became major players in internet traffic, Google (and other search engines), started to promote sites that were designed using Responsive Design technology. Responsive Design means your website’s layout morphs to fit the device screen, so that the visitors do not have “Zoom-and-Pinch” to view your website content.
If you are still living with a Desktop only website, then it is time to get a new one. Converting your current website can be more expensive, or at best the same price as a new website, so whilst you are at it, why not refresh the look and content too.
3. Intrusive Pop-Ups
A few years ago, Google decided “Customer Experience” was important, and as such it judged pop-ups as intrusive and undesirable. It specifically went after websites where their pop-ups took over the entire screen and wouldn’t let visitors navigate, unless they took some kind of action, and moved them down the SERP.
With or without Googles action, this is just annoying and many people just get hacked off and click off. You are not winning any friends or fans, if your website is acting like a bully boy. You can still have a pop-up but a) do not make it the first thing that comes on the screen, and b) when it does pop-up, make it less obtrusive and certainly do not allow it to take over the whole page.
4. Old Content
Google (and other search engines) look for fresh content, as they rightly assume old content is less relevant. This might sound surprising as some subjects, such as history pages do not become less relevant to their subject matter over time. Never-the-less, search engines look for overall activity on a website, as well as looking for new pages for fresh content.
If you are not refreshing your content regularly, at least do some blogs or articles, to keep your website supplied with fresh content. It is common sense to assume, a website that has not had any new content for 5 years, is probably out of date!
5. Dodgy Links!
If you have links to other websites, make sure you check their target pages regularly. If links from your website go to a dead website or 404 error, you get marked down.
Additionally, if they end up in a website with a bad reputation (hacked, malware, illegal content, nudity, etc.), Google takes a dim view and your website will take a hit. So make sure you link to other sites with care, as even a “No Follow” marker will have limited impact on penalties.
If you are allowing comments on your blog, make sure you check any links people put in their comments, or better still do not allow links. Inserting links in comment sections is one of the favourite means of gaining unpaid links by dodgy, or lazy, SEO practitioners.
Summary
Getting your site to appear on the first page of Google is hard enough, but you won’t help your website if you do not follow some basic and common sense rules. You can improve your chances by taking some simple actions, but most importantly, websites are not “Fire-and-Forget”. Managing websites is like gardening, they need careful, constant, and tender care, otherwise you will end up in Tumbleweed Town!
For information SEO without the nonsense talk, Contact us for a no obligation first consultation.