These days, calling the “internet” the “world wide web” is an understatement. After all, there are well over a billion websites in existence right now. Luckily, search engine optimization, or SEO, helps to put you front and center on Google searches. But if you’re neglecting the need for optimization, you’re effectively hurt your chances of being found online.
Not including product descriptions
If pictures paint a thousand words, do you still need to add product descriptions on your website? Absolutely! Remember, Google’s search crawlers rely on the textual elements of your website to make sense of it. If there are no descriptive texts on your website, Google and search engines can’t properly classify your page, and it is less likely to appear during search queries.
Using the manufacturer’s product descriptions
A lot of people conclude: “Well, if my website lacks product descriptions, why don’t I just copy the one from the manufacturer’s site?” While this is indeed a quick and easy solution, it can wreak disastrous consequences on your SEO ranking. Search engines always check for duplicate content in the cyber world, and copy-pasting manufacturers’ product info to your site might cause it to be flagged as an untrustworthy source.
No outbound links
As the saying goes, no man is an island. Likewise, no website is the sole repository of all information about a given topic or issue. This is why it’s a good idea to link out to authoritative sites that expound on a particular matter. It sends a signal to Google that you’re going above and beyond the call of duty to give your readers all the information they need to better understand something.
All those broken links
Over the years, you’ve probably experienced a website redesign or two. While redesigns can drastically improve user experience, a lot of times people forget to update their link structure, leading to a host of 404s. When your site has a lot of these broken links, Google interprets it as an old, neglected site.
Non-evident URLs
Contrary to popular belief, good SEO doesn’t just apply to content that appears on your page—it applies even to details such as your URL link. In general, try to make your URLs self-evident, meaning that people can easily glean your page’s content just by its URL. If it helps user experience, it helps your SEO ranking.
By knowing and avoiding these common slip-ups, you stand a better chance of landing on the first page of Google searches. Should you need expert advice about SEO in Cincinnati, don’t hesitate to contact a reliable digital marketing firm.
Sources:
13 Super-Easy Ways to Immediately Improve Your SEO, JeffBullas.com
7 Critical SEO Errors of E-commerce Websites, KissMetrics.com
