You have invested a lot of effort, money and hours of work in creating your company website and yet the number of visitors remains low? Then you may have made one or more common SEO mistakes . Here we show what you can do wrong with search engine optimization. Don’t worry, we will of course give you useful tips on what to look out for in order to achieve a good ranking !

The top ten most common mistakes in search engine optimization:

The list of possible SEO mistakes is long. However, we have limited ourselves to the ten most common reasons for a bad ranking and put together a top ten. Let’s start troubleshooting:

1. Long loading times

Before starting the content, it is important to check whether the company website loads quickly enough or whether it tests the patience of visitors and search engines. Make sure not to place any code-scaled and uncompressed images and do not use unnecessary scripts on the website. There are many helpful tools to always have control over the loading times of the page. Never forget: A fast loading time is rewarded with a good ranking and delights website visitors. After all, life is too short to wait for a company website to load, isn’t it?

2. Inappropriate keywords

There is a simple rule: no keywords , no search engine optimization. Choosing the right search terms with which you want to be found on the Internet is extremely important. The keyword, service and the content of the company website must match each other. Example: the hairdressing salon. If you want to be found under the search term “balayage”, do not link the keyword to the haircut page. After all, your potential customer wants to add color accents and not have her hair cut. Even Long Term Keywords are a great way to several related concepts to each other. Decide on keywords that actually work be queried by your target group . Technical terms, product names, etc. that may be apt but unpopular are common SEO mistakes.

3. Keyword stuffing

Have you found great keywords that you now want to use generously at every opportunity? Not a good idea! An unnaturally high density of search terms is noticeable to both the search engine and the reader. Stuffing titles, descriptions and content with keywords is anything but beneficial for the ranking of a company homepage. Anyone who thinks that they are misleading Google with keyword-loaded content is mistaken and will be relegated to the bottom ranks of the search engine due to manipulation. Write your website copy for your readers, not Google!

4. Missing titles and descriptions

Page title and meta description, also simply called title and description, have no direct influence on the Google ranking . So you simply left them out and focused on pure content. A popular SEO mistake lurks here! The first time a website receives attention in the Google results list. Here you have to stand out, be creative and at the same time have page titles and descriptions that keep what they promise. An interestingly formulated page title with a keyword arouses curiosity and tempts you to click on the page. You can also get potential customers to visit your website with a call-to-action in the description. Important: Each meta description must be individual and the title must match the subject and content of the page!

5. Hidden content

Some think they can trick the search engine. Some have already burned their fingers on hidden content . Texts that are only visible to bots and play SEO texts for the search engine for a better ranking are now recognized and punished by Google . For manipulations, such as white text on a white background, you risk not only a warning, but also a ban from the search engine. The following applies here: Honesty lasts the longest and woe to anyone who thinks they have found a shortcut in search engine optimization. Save yourself this unnecessary SEO mistake and refrain from tricks and manipulations of all kinds – sooner or later they will be discovered.

6. Bad content

Fill in a few lines with selected keywords and you’re done. Do you recognize the text on your company homepage? This is an SEO mistake that is made time and time again and is rightly in the top ten. People have been preaching for years: content is king! And yet too little and bad content belongs one of the most common mistakes in search engine optimization. In addition to the right keyword, the content must offer the reader added value, invite them to linger on the page and be well structured and understandable. Interesting headlines, links to trustworthy sources and internal pages as well as a varied and well-filled text are the alpha and omega of good content. Give readers exactly the information they need to find out about a product or company. Rely on high-quality content in an appropriate length – the visitors to your company website and the search engine will thank you!

7. Duplicate content

You have interesting, engaging and high-quality content on the company website. SEO Mistake: It’s Not Yours! Duplicate content is a problem for search engine optimization that should not be underestimated. If different URLs with the same content are found, you can say goodbye to a good ranking. The same applies to duplicate content on your own website. If a company homepage can be reached with or without www, Google already evaluates the page as duplicate content. Write your own content, focus on individuality , treat every single page with unique content and do not copy texts from other websites ! Easy to avoid that SEO mistake, right?

8. Missing ALT / TITLE tags on pictures

Pictures say more than a thousand words and therefore you have filled the company homepage with suitable and beautiful pictures . That’s a good step in the right direction, but did you add ALT and TITLE tags to the images ? You can’t see it anyway, many think. Short and concise descriptions of the images have a positive influence on the findability of a website. They also ensure accessibility . Why? The content is read out to blind visitors and meaningful image descriptions are simply part of it. So don’t do without them because they are not visible at first glance! You are doing the search engine and website visitors a disservice.

9. No or unimportant headings

Just start writing, present your product or service in the best possible light, and you’re done. Do you recognize yourself in it? The next popular SEO mistake lurks here, however : Missing headings that structure the content in a meaningful way . From H1 to H4, the headlines play an important role in search engine optimization. Google scans web pages just like the visitor for important search terms, relevant content and useful information. Good headings, in the best case with the keyword, make reading easier, structure the content and are of great importance for findability .

10. Neglected homepage

You have now set up a company website that meets your requirements, has entered all the information and has simply released it onto the World Wide Web? A common SEO mistake is leaving the website to its own devices. If you neglect the regular maintenance and updating of your homepage, you will quickly receive a receipt in the form of a poor ranking. Make sure that there are no dead links on the page, that you always provide up-to-date information for visitors and that you always keep an eye on the technical structure. Invest a little time regularly in your company homepage, because visitors and search engines are more attentive than you think.