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10 mistakes to avoid when optimizing your website

Website optimization can be achieved by avoiding 10 common mistakes. These relate to keywords, links and website speed.

If your website is full of flashy graphics, yet you are not getting a great response, you might be doing something wrong. The most common reason is that your website is not optimized for search engines. There are SEO tenchiques you need to use in order to rise in the rankings of Google. Here are 10 common mistakes you should be avoiding when it comes to website optimization.

  1. The use of irrelevant keywords and phrases
    Use one keyword for every title tag on each page, in the alt attributes of images, the meta descriptions and the url names. Use just 1 or 2 appropriate keywords in the content of every page, sticking to frequency of no more than 1%.
  2. Slow loading of the webpage
    Avoid heavy images and animation. Use pictures with Web quality. Always test the website speed with tools such as Gtmetrix, WebPage test and Pingdown.
  3. All links lead to home page.
    When optimizing your website, make sure 50% of the links lead to internal pages and the other 50% lead to the main pages from the navigation bar.
  4. Adding links to “toxic” websites
    When referring to an external website, make sure it has high PA index (page authority), DA (domain authority) and PR (page rank).
  5. Adding keywords to the website footer
    Avoid doing this since the key phrases used there are bearly read by Google. Using keywords in the footer could even result in a penalty.
  6. Overoptimization
    Avoid the “shady” link builing some agencies are offering. Link referrals should be genuine and coming from respected websites.
  7. Avoiding social media
    Website popularity depends on social signals. The louder your social media voice is, the better your Google rankings will be.
  8. Ignoring quality content
    Your content should be reader-friendly. Google scores your website content on its easiness to read and understand. Consider hiring a dedicated copywriter.
  9. Focusing too much on rankings.
    Remember that the rankings depend on how well you are serving your website visitor. The more you focus on keywords, link-building etc., the worse your results will be.
  10. Poor website architecture
    Implement a suitable URL structure. The URL should not be long and should contain 1-2 keywords.