Common SEO errors on websites

Since we have been offering a free website assessment to companies we are regularly receiving requests to review both new or established websites. There are usually common themes that arise from these reviews which can create problems with the search engine optimisation (SEO) of a site, and so ultimately affect how it can perform within the search engine results.

Apart from the obvious errors in the way that keywords are being used on the site, including how the Title tag and metatags are being used, the main issues tend to be related to content or structure. For example, Flash sites have always been a major problem for search engines and are really a non-starter for SEO unless there can be an HTML mirror site. Sites built using frames are mercifully few and far between now since their popularity in the late 1990′s but these can still cause difficulties for search engines to index the site effectively.

A more common issue these days comes from a poor navigation structure on a site, so that pages are not linked in an understandable way and that menu bars are confusing, both for users and sometimes for search engines. This can lead to poor usability on the site with visitors quickly giving up and going elsewhere if they can’t find the product or information that they want. It can also result in a poor link structure between key pages of the site and therefore an inability of the site to get the most benefit from internal ‘link value’.

The other main stumbling block for many sites these days can be content ‘ whether there’s too little, duplicated content or content that’s getting lost within the site. In most cases it can be the former problem, with a limited number of pages or text on a page that can support the way the site is being indexed or optimised. It can sometimes be difficult to create content for the sake of it, but website owners do need to consider ways of adding good, relevant information to small sites which can add value to the user and to their search engine ranking potential.

In contrast, some sites that have developed a large amount of content pages can face the problem of this information being ‘lost’ within the site so that search engines fail to index it, or rarely update the pages which can make then perform poorly in search results. The other problem can be too much content being duplicated, from information on the page to Title and meta tags being repeated throughout the site, which could otherwise be harnessed more effectively to create some effective optimisation across more search terms.

With many of these issues we can advise website owners about the recommended changes that need to be made and how important this work can be within the search engine optimisation strategy for the site. We can also help with content development and site changes where appropriate, in consultation with the website’s developers.

If you’d like to know more about our free website assessments and the recommendations we might make to help improve the optimisation of your website, please contact us now for more information.

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