You’ve logged countless hours tweaking your website, creating on-point visuals, making sure your navigation is user-friendly, and crafting consumable content for your audience. Yet somehow, things just aren’t going as well as you’d hoped.
The truth is that optimizing your site’s content is key to better conversions and engagement, but most businesses are making critical mistakes that are hurting both along with search ranks. Ready to dive into some of those mistakes and learn how you can fix ‘em? Keep reading, fair friend.
You Didn’t Optimize for Mobile First
Oopsie. A hair under 60% of all web traffic stems from mobile these days. Surprised? It’s true, and it means that if you don’t optimize your website for those users, you’re basically ignoring them. Not good when you’re trying to build a brand and grow an audience!
Not to mention, Big G (otherwise known as Google) gives precedence to sites that are mobile-friendly in the SERPs, which means your site rankings could well tank if you’re not keeping your mobile audience in mind.
To fix it:
- Use a website design that’s mobile responsive so that it can adapt itself to different devices and screen sizes.
- Optimize image sizes so that they load faster.
- Ensure your fonts are easily readable on all screens, especially the smaller ones.
You Focus Too Much on Keywords Instead of User Intent
Sure, sure. Relevant keywords are important; there is no disputing that. However, it’s not the only driver of content optimization; it’s equally vital to understand keyword intent, too. The Google algorithm has evolved mightily over the years, which means these days, it prioritizes context and user experience. Keyword stuffing has never been wise, and these days, it’s a good way to leave your site dead in the water because now you can be heavily penalized in site rank.
To fix it:
- Informative, high-quality, relevant content is the name of the game, my friends. Think insanely useful to your audience, and you’re on the right track.
- Create content aligned with keyword intent. What are some questions and needs of your audience that could be addressed with this keyword and the content created around it?
- Try the long tail. Phrases and long keywords that match very specific interests and searches can be highly helpful in attracting engagement and conversions.
You Neglect Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Think of these two things as the way you help the search engines accurately assess and understand your content and how it relates to the user search queries. Not to mention the impact they have on click-through rates and whether a user decides to make a visit to your site or not!
To fix it:
- Optimize your title tag with keywords that are clear and relevant, and compelling. The goal is to get users to click and explore!
- Create a meta tag that’s concise and informative, also with relevant keywords, so that your users know what they are getting.
You Forget About Those Pesky Internal and External Links
Both of these are essential for a well-optimized website, along with a stellar user experience. Internal links help guide your audience around your site with efficiency, while external links are your street cred of sorts to search engines, showing that your content is relevant and trustworthy.
To fix it:
- Sprinkle your content with internal links that are relevant, and point people to other kick-ass content to consume.
- Add intentional and relevant external links to trustworthy and authoritative websites. This sends search engines the message your content is valuable and worthwhile.
You Ignore Analytics
Content and website analytics are important when you want to understand your audience better and how they are interacting with it. You can learn valuable intel about audience preferences and behavior, as well as pain points that you can then create content to address.
To fix it:
- Analyze your content on a regular basis. Look at metrics that show your content could be underperforming, like time on page, conversions, and bounce rates.
- Take that intel and use it to make data-driven decisions to inform your content strategy and tweak and refine as needed.
Ideally, you should be tweaking and optimizing your website on some kind of schedule. Pay attention to the details and make your user experience priority number one. Stay updated on current best practices and the latest trends, and avoid the mistakes we’ve outlined for you here. Do those things, and you’ll have a well-optimized website that serves your audience well and draws in new people like Gangbusters!
Need more website advice? StellaPop can help your site, making the user experience simple and clear! Talk to us!
