{"id":142642,"date":"2022-05-31T02:53:25","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T07:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=142642"},"modified":"2024-05-02T01:22:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T06:22:27","slug":"seo-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Common SEO Mistakes (And How to Fix&nbsp;Them)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">I asked my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/si-quan-ong_what-are-the-most-common-seo-mistakes-youve-activity-7177868046168993792-mEui\/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop\">audience on LinkedIn<\/a> for the most common SEO mistakes they\u2019ve seen and got 100+ suggestions.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-174590\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-linkedin.png\" alt=\"My poll on LinkedIn asking about the most common SEO mistakes\" width=\"1400\" height=\"478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-linkedin.png 1400w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-linkedin-680x232.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1-linkedin-768x262.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\"><\/p>\n<p>Here are the top 15 mistakes organized from most to least&nbsp;major:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"1. Blocking Google from crawling\" data-section=\"1-blocking-google-from-crawling\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.498p8vb2b31e\">1. Blocking Google from crawling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If Google can\u2019t crawl your content, it can\u2019t see what\u2019s on the page. And if it can\u2019t see what\u2019s on the page, it\u2019s unlikely it\u2019ll rank for any relevant keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.u622lkft67ne\">How to ensure Google can crawl your&nbsp;site<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure you\u2019re not blocking <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/googlebot\/\">Googlebot<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Do this check by going to your robots.txt (yourdomain.com\/robots.txt) and looking for these two snippets of&nbsp;code:<\/p>\n<p><code>User-agent: Googlebot<\/code> <br><code>Disallow: \/<\/code><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><code>User-agent: *<\/code> <br><code>Disallow: \/<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both lines of code tell Googlebot it\u2019s not allowed to crawl any pages on your site. To fix the issue, remove them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/robots-txt\/\">Robots.txt and SEO: Everything You Need to&nbsp;Know<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"2. Blocking Google from indexing your pages\" data-section=\"2-blocking-google-from-indexing\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.rghggjixmnx\">2. Blocking Google from indexing your&nbsp;pages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019ve accidentally blocked Google from indexing your site or its pages, it\u2019s impossible to rank. For example, that can happen if you accidentally added a noindex tag on any of your&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.f3tfe88tbpdd\">How to ensure Google can index your content<\/h3>\n<p>Sign up for a free <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a> account, then run a crawl on your site using <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>. If you have pages that are noindexed, that will pop up as an&nbsp;issue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-174591\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2-noindex.png\" alt=\"Noindex issues on Site Audit\" width=\"788\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2-noindex.png 788w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2-noindex-680x186.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2-noindex-768x211.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px\"><\/p>\n<p>Fix the issue by removing the noindex tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-index\/\">How to Get Google to Index Your Website&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"3. Not doing keyword research\" data-section=\"3-not-doing-keyword-research\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.qxoqm531zxn7\">3. Not doing keyword research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people randomly create content and expect to get search traffic. But if no one\u2019s searching for those topics, then no one\u2019s clicking through to any&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s likely one of the reasons why 96.55% of pages get no traffic from Google, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-traffic-study\/\">our study<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174592\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/3-search-traffic-study.jpg\" alt=\"Pie chart showing 96.55% of pages get zero traffic from Google\" width=\"642\" height=\"464\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/3-search-traffic-study.jpg 1846w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/3-search-traffic-study-588x425.jpg 588w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/3-search-traffic-study-768x555.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/3-search-traffic-study-1536x1110.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 642px) 100vw, 642px\"><\/p>\n<p>If you want search traffic, you need to target topics people are searching for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.5w7rkzvbwwol\">How to do keyword research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Go to Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Enter one or a few relevant keywords related to your website or&nbsp;niche<\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>Matching terms<\/strong> report<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174593\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/4-keywords-explorer.png\" alt=\"Matching terms report\" width=\"665\" height=\"666\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/4-keywords-explorer.png 1556w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/4-keywords-explorer-424x425.png 424w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/4-keywords-explorer-768x769.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/4-keywords-explorer-1534x1536.png 1534w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/4-keywords-explorer-120x120.png 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\"><\/p>\n<p>For example, if you sell coffee equipment, you\u2019ll see &gt;1 million potential keywords you can target. Look through the list and pick out keywords that are relevant and have traffic potential (look at the <strong>TP<\/strong> column.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-research\/\">Keyword Research: The Beginner\u2019s Guide by Ahrefs<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"4. Not matching search intent\" data-section=\"4-not-matching-search-intent\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.139s11smk1bm\">4. Not matching search intent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Google\u2019s goal is to provide users with the most relevant result for every&nbsp;query.<\/p>\n<p>So, if you want to rank high on Google, you need to be the most relevant result. This means matching search intent, the why behind a&nbsp;query.<\/p>\n<p>For example, we previously created a landing page to target the keyword \u201cbacklink checker.\u201d But it didn\u2019t rank well because searchers wanted a free tool. So, we added&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-174594\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/5-backlink-checker.png\" alt=\"Changes made to a page to align with search intent\" width=\"1999\" height=\"511\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/5-backlink-checker.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/5-backlink-checker-680x174.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/5-backlink-checker-768x196.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/5-backlink-checker-1536x393.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/p>\n<p>The result: 516% more traffic in less than six months.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-174595\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/6-more-traffic-after-matching-search-intent.png\" alt=\"Results of optimizing for search intent\" width=\"1999\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/6-more-traffic-after-matching-search-intent.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/6-more-traffic-after-matching-search-intent-680x220.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/6-more-traffic-after-matching-search-intent-768x248.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/6-more-traffic-after-matching-search-intent-1536x496.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.y3r1mk1lpfzc\">How to match search intent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default aligncenter\">Enter your keyword into <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a>, scroll down to <strong>SERP Overview<\/strong>, and click on <strong>Identify intents<\/strong>. This feature will suggest the most likely search intent for your target keyword.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-174596\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/7-identify-intents.png\" alt=\"Identify intents feature suggest search intent for any keyword\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/7-identify-intents.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/7-identify-intents-680x385.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/7-identify-intents-768x435.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/7-identify-intents-1536x871.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-intent\/\">Search Intent in SEO: What It Is &amp; How to Optimize for&nbsp;It&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"5. Not enough backlinks\" data-section=\"5-not-enough-backlinks\">\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.prcp0rqxu15z\">5. Not enough backlinks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Links are an important <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ranking-factors\/\">Google ranking factor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So, if your pages are not ranking well, a key reason might be you don\u2019t have enough links.<\/p>\n<p>For example, we would like to rank for the keyword \u201cseo.\u201d But if you look at the top-ranking pages for that keyword, they have tons of backlinks.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174597\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/8-links-and-referring-domains.png\" alt=\"Number of backlinks going to pages ranking for &quot;seo&quot;\" width=\"865\" height=\"478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/8-links-and-referring-domains.png 1436w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/8-links-and-referring-domains-680x376.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/8-links-and-referring-domains-768x425.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px\"><\/p>\n<p>As of right now, our page simply doesn\u2019t have enough:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174598\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/9-ahrefs-seo-guide.png\" alt=\"Backlinks going to our beginner's guide to SEO\" width=\"585\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/9-ahrefs-seo-guide.png 938w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/9-ahrefs-seo-guide-680x362.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/9-ahrefs-seo-guide-768x409.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 585px) 100vw, 585px\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.dshweofrm1b6\">How to build more&nbsp;links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many ways to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/link-building\/\">build links<\/a>, but one good way to start is to see how your competitors have gotten their links. From there, you can attempt to \u201creplicate\u201d their&nbsp;links.<\/p>\n<p>Bear in mind that it\u2019s impossible to replicate all their backlinks, and replicate them like-for-like. But there are a few ways you can attempt to reproduce similar links.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you\u2019re in an industry with many interviews and podcasts, you can find out where they\u2019ve appeared and see if you can pitch to be on the same podcasts.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how to find their podcast appearances:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Site Explorer<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enter the Twitter profile URL of your competitor\u2019s CEO, CMO, or whoever the most prolific marketer is within the company<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to the Backlinks report<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Filter for results where the referring page URL contains \u201cpodcast,\u201d \u201cepisode,\u201d or \u201cinterview\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174599\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/10-find-podcast-links.jpg\" alt=\"Finding podcast opportunities\" width=\"699\" height=\"725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/10-find-podcast-links.jpg 1354w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/10-find-podcast-links-410x425.jpg 410w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/10-find-podcast-links-768x796.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 699px) 100vw, 699px\"><\/p>\n<p>You just need to pitch the same interviews and podcasts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/find-competitors-backlinks\/\">How to Find Your Competitors\u2019 Backlinks (And Get Them for Yourself)&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"6. Buying backlinks\" data-section=\"6-buying-backlinks\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.z7nsb081t5vr\">6. Buying backlinks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Buying backlinks is against <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/essentials\/spam-policies#link-spam\">Google\u2019s Webmaster Guidelines<\/a>. If they suspect you of doing this, they might slap you with an unnatural links manual action and demote or remove your site from their search results.<\/p>\n<p><\/p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Exactly a week ago, on Monday Oct 24th, I was hit with a manual action \u201cunnatural links to your site\u201d that impacts \u201csome pages\u201d (not site wide). <br><br>Luckily my site has held up remarkably well so far. I have someone who deals with this sort of thing working on the review but\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UgXkLu2V1r\">pic.twitter.com\/UgXkLu2V1r<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Mike Donovan (@NicheDown) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NicheDown\/status\/1587168448697737217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 31,&nbsp;2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<p>Even if you don\u2019t get a manual action, you might get demoted algorithmically.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mrKcjUn27bI&amp;t=2226s\">Google\u2019s John Mueller says<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p>\u201cIf our systems recognize that they can\u2019t isolate and ignore these links across a website, if we see a very strong pattern there, then it can happen that our algorithms say well we really have kind of lost trust with this website and at the moment based on the bigger picture on the web, we kind of need to be more on almost a conservative side when it comes to understanding this website\u2019s content and ranking it in the search results and then you can see kind of a drop in the visibility there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.psq4ovwsx172\">How to avoid this SEO mistake<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t buy&nbsp;links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"7. Treating SEO as a one-time thing\" data-section=\"7-treating-seo-as-one-time\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.cnjnccj0id8c\">7. Treating SEO as a one-time thing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO is not simply a matter of fixing all of these mistakes and calling it a&nbsp;day.<\/p>\n<p>Even if you\u2019re ranking in pole position today, there is no guarantee you\u2019ll be number one tomorrow. Ranking high on search engines is a competition. Your competitors will invest plenty of resources to knock you off the&nbsp;perch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.mj01o1h0zhpz\">How to avoid this SEO mistake<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The recommendations in this post aren\u2019t just for fixing a one-time mistake. They\u2019re strategies you should be consistently doing to rank high on Google:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Doing keyword research<\/li>\n<li>Creating content that aligns with search intent<\/li>\n<li>Trying to build and earn more backlinks<\/li>\n<li>Ensuring your site is technically sound<\/li>\n<li>Updating content when it\u2019s outdated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"8. Scaling low-quality content with AI\" data-section=\"8-scaling-low-quality-content-with-AI\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.6dwroyh1emsd\">8. Scaling low-quality content with&nbsp;AI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Case studies like this are seductive:<\/p>\n<p><\/p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We pulled off an SEO heist that stole 3.6M total traffic from a competitor.<br><br>We got 489,509 traffic in October alone.<br><br>Here\u2019s how we did it: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sTJ7xbRjrT\">pic.twitter.com\/sTJ7xbRjrT<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Jake Ward (@jakezward) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jakezward\/status\/1728032634037567509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 24,&nbsp;2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\">It\u2019s tempting to follow their example, upload a list of target keywords into an AI writing tool, and have it generate all the content for&nbsp;you.<\/figure>\n<p>But what these case studies don\u2019t tell you is how the turntables:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174600\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/11-traffic-crash.png\" alt=\"Drastic decrease in search traffic from scaled AI content\" width=\"776\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/11-traffic-crash.png 1536w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/11-traffic-crash-680x336.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/11-traffic-crash-768x380.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px\"><\/p>\n<p>AI content may work for a short while (in this case, just a month), before Google catches up and punishes the website. In fact, during the March 2024 update, Google <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/products\/search\/google-search-update-march-2024\/\">officially declared \u201cscaled content\u201d as against their spam policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174601\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/12-scaled-content-abuse.jpg\" alt=\"Google's spam policy against scaled content\" width=\"643\" height=\"627\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/12-scaled-content-abuse.jpg 1242w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/12-scaled-content-abuse-436x425.jpg 436w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/12-scaled-content-abuse-768x748.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\"><\/p>\n<p>So, if you\u2019re thinking of auto-generating massive amounts of content using AI, think&nbsp;again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.xwofocv0hvzp\">How to use AI in content creation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Google is not <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ai-content-guidelines\/\">fundamentally opposed to AI content<\/a>. It doesn\u2019t care how you create it; it just cares about helpfulness for&nbsp;users.<\/p>\n<p>The problem, however, is that AI cannot create valuable content that users want to see. It cannot conduct research, share personal experiences, defend an opinion, or provide nuanced discussions.<\/p>\n<p>So, while you may use AI to help with your content creation, don\u2019t generate content and publish it as-is. Make sure you\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-stand-out-from-ai-content\/\">adding value where AI cannot<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>My colleague <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thinking_slow?lang=en\">Ryan Law<\/a> has identified three areas where humans can generate unique value:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Experimentation<\/strong> \u2014 Go into the real world, test ideas, and collect new information that has never existed before. For example, conducting industry surveys or running tests.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Experience<\/strong> \u2014 Prove to the reader you have experienced the thing you\u2019re writing about. For example, only writing about topics you have experience with or interviewing people on topics you don\u2019t.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Effort<\/strong> \u2014 Expend energy and create content that\u2019s more than just words on a page. For example, webcomics, video series, books, and&nbsp;more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-content-is-short-term-arbitrage\/\">AI Content Is Short-Term Arbitrage, Not Long-Term Strategy&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"9. Missing internal link opportunities\" data-section=\"9-missing-internal-links\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.dh5obo6401vb\">9. Missing internal link opportunities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Internal links are important:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Google <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/advanced\/guidelines\/how-search-works?hl=en&amp;visit_id=637884021954134526-1151434881&amp;rd=1\">uses them<\/a> to discover new content.<\/li>\n<li>They aid the flow of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-pagerank\/\">PageRank<\/a> around your site. Generally speaking, the more internal links a page has, the higher its PageRank.<\/li>\n<li>Google <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnMu\/status\/933658806403391488\">looks at the anchor texts<\/a> of internal links to better understand the context.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yet, internal links are usually not prioritized. Big mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.atf493tr4bai\">How to find internal link opportunities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Run a crawl using Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a> (via <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">AWT<\/a>). Once the crawl is complete, go to the <strong>Internal link opportunities<\/strong> report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174602\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/13-internal-links.png\" alt=\"Internal link opportunities report\" width=\"992\" height=\"544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/13-internal-links.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/13-internal-links-680x372.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/13-internal-links-768x421.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/13-internal-links-1536x841.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>This report will show you relevant internal link opportunities. Go through the list and add internal links where relevant.<\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/internal-links-for-seo\/\">Internal Links for SEO: An Actionable Guide&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"10. Slow pages\" data-section=\"10-slow-pages\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.bmt5huin4y3m\">10. Slow&nbsp;pages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Core Web Vitals are metrics that are part of Google\u2019s Page Experience signals used to measure user experience. They\u2019re also a Google ranking factor.<\/p>\n<p>Not only will a slow site affect your Google rankings, but it will also impact your sales. According to Unbounce, nearly 70% of consumers admit that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.af7s9u6e8u9h\">How to fix slow&nbsp;pages<\/h3>\n<p>Run a website crawl using Site Audit and you\u2019ll be able to see your Core Web Vitals performance:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174603\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/14-core-web-vitals.png\" alt=\"Core Web Vitals report in Site Audit\" width=\"849\" height=\"1018\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/14-core-web-vitals.png 1667w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/14-core-web-vitals-354x425.png 354w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/14-core-web-vitals-768x921.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/14-core-web-vitals-1281x1536.png 1281w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 849px) 100vw, 849px\"><\/p>\n<p>Some ways to improve your Core Web Vitals:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use caching \u2014 If you\u2019re using WordPress, you can install a plugin like <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/w3-total-cache\/\">W3 Total Cache<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-rocket.me\/\">WPRocket<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Make files smaller, e.g. images \u2014 Plugins like <a href=\"https:\/\/shortpixel.com\/\">Shortpixel<\/a> help to compress and optimize your images<\/li>\n<li>Serve files closer to users \u2014 For example, you can use a <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/glossary\/content-delivery-network\">Content Delivery Network<\/a> (CDN)<\/li>\n<li>Optimize fonts \u2014 WPRocket helps with&nbsp;this<\/li>\n<li>Reduce the amount of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/javascript-seo\/\">JavaScript<\/a> \u2014 Similarly, WPRocket helps with this. You can also use <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/autoptimize\/\">Autoptimize<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/core-web-vitals\/\">What Are Core Web Vitals (CWVs) &amp; How To Improve Them&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"11. Schema markup spam\" data-section=\"11-schema-markup-spam\">\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.bmt5huin4y3m\">11. Schema markup spam<\/h2>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Schema markup is code that helps search engines understand the information on a page. Google can use it to show rich results (also known as rich snippets), which can earn a page more clicks.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174604\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/15-schema.png\" alt=\"Example of how Google uses schema to display rich results\" width=\"850\" height=\"374\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/15-schema.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/15-schema-680x299.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/15-schema-768x338.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/15-schema-1536x675.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\"><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, some SEOs have taken it to mean that they can add all sorts of irrelevant schema to their pages, in hopes of ranking higher.<\/p>\n<p>It can\u2019t be further from the truth: Not only can schema markup spam <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/appearance\/structured-data\/sd-policies\">lead to a Google penalty<\/a>, it rarely works because Google can spot&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to avoid this SEO mistake<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Here are instructions directly from Google\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/appearance\/structured-data\/sd-policies\">structured data guidelines<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Follow the <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/essentials\/spam-policies\">spam policies for Google web search<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Provide up-to-date information.<\/li>\n<li>Provide original content that you or your users have generated.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t mark up content that is not visible to readers of the&nbsp;page.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t mark up irrelevant or misleading content, such as fake reviews or content unrelated to a page\u2019s focus.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t use structured data to deceive or mislead users. Don\u2019t impersonate any person or organization, or misrepresent your ownership, affiliation, or primary purpose.<\/li>\n<li>Content in structured data must also follow the additional content guidelines or policies, as documented in the specific feature guide.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/schema-markup\/\">Schema Markup: What It Is &amp; How to Implement It<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"12. Keyword stuffing\" data-section=\"12-keyword-stuffing\">\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.bmt5huin4y3m\">12. Keyword stuffing<\/h2>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/glossary\/keyword-stuffing\">Keyword stuffing<\/a> is the process of cramming a page full of keywords, in an attempt to rank higher for those keywords.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s an example of keyword stuffing:<\/p>\n<p><em>Finding the <strong>top mirrorless camera<\/strong> can be a daunting task. Yet, with our comprehensive <strong>best mirrorless camera<\/strong> guide, we simplify the process by ranking the <strong>best mirrorless camera<\/strong> models and the most <strong>reliable mirrorless camera brands<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Not only does keyword stuffing make your content look unnatural, it is also <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/essentials\/spam-policies#keyword-stuffing\">against Google\u2019s spam policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174605\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/16-keyword-stuffing.jpg\" alt=\"Google's guidelines against keyword stuffing\" width=\"875\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/16-keyword-stuffing.jpg 1856w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/16-keyword-stuffing-680x385.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/16-keyword-stuffing-768x434.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/16-keyword-stuffing-1536x869.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 875px) 100vw, 875px\"><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to avoid keyword stuffing<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of trying to shoehorn related keywords into your content, focus on creating content that\u2019s comprehensive instead. In fact, Google encourages this in their <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/fundamentals\/creating-helpful-content\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Helpful Content guidelines<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174606\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/17-comprehensive-content.png\" alt=\"Google's helpful content guidelines\" width=\"827\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/17-comprehensive-content.png 1358w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/17-comprehensive-content-680x206.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/17-comprehensive-content-768x233.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 827px) 100vw, 827px\"><\/p>\n<p>To create comprehensive content, you need to cover important subtopics searchers expect to see. Here\u2019s how to find these subtopics:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Keywords Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Enter your target keyword<\/li>\n<li>Scroll down to <strong>SERP Overview<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Check three relevant top-ranking pages<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Open in<\/strong> and choose <strong>Content gap<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174607\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/18-open-in.png\" alt=\"Open in Content gap in Keywords Explorer\" width=\"853\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/18-open-in.png 1054w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/18-open-in-680x399.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/18-open-in-768x450.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\"><\/p>\n<p>This will open the Content gap report, which shows you the common keywords these three pages are ranking for. Many of them will be important subtopics you should cover.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174608\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/19-content-gap.png\" alt=\"Content gap report\" width=\"307\" height=\"709\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/19-content-gap.png 422w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/19-content-gap-184x425.png 184w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 307px) 100vw, 307px\"><\/p>\n<p>For example, if we were targeting the keyword \u201cinbound marketing\u201d, these would make great&nbsp;H2s:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is inbound marketing<\/li>\n<li>Inbound marketing strategy<\/li>\n<li>Inbound marketing examples<\/li>\n<li>Inbound marketing tools<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"13. Obsessing over word count\" data-section=\"13-obsessing-over-word-count\">\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.bmt5huin4y3m\">13. Obsessing over word&nbsp;count<\/h2>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>There is a myth in SEO that longer content performs better. This ends up in an arms race: SEOs fighting to make their blog posts as long as possible.<\/p>\n<p>But nobody is clamoring to read longer posts. When Medium <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/data-lab\/the-optimal-post-is-7-minutes-74b9f41509b\">studied<\/a> the correlation between post length and average reading time, they noticed that engagement started to drop for posts with a reading time longer than seven minutes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174609\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20-medium-study.png\" alt=\"A chart showing engagement dropping for posts with a reading time longer than seven minutes\" width=\"631\" height=\"648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20-medium-study.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20-medium-study-414x425.png 414w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20-medium-study-768x789.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20-medium-study-1495x1536.png 1495w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 631px) 100vw, 631px\"><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/blog-post-length\/\">Our own study<\/a> has also found that there was only a moderate correlation between content length and organic traffic up to 2,000 words. For posts longer than 2,000 words, there is a moderate negative correlation between word count and organic traffic.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to avoid this SEO mistake<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your article is long because the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-ai-deep-content\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">topic you\u2019re tackling is deep<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, so be it. If your article is short because the topic is simple, then let it be. Don\u2019t make it longer than necessary.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In short: Focus on being comprehensive, not being lengthy. Nobody wants to read Dostoyevsky just to cook a simple fried&nbsp;rice.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"14. Under-optimized meta titles and descriptions\" data-section=\"14-underoptimized-meta-titles-and-descriptions\">\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.bmt5huin4y3m\">14. Under-optimized meta titles and descriptions<\/h2>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Title tags and meta descriptions are the first things a searcher sees when they enter a query. It can be the difference behind whether a searcher clicks through.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174610\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/21-title-meta-descriptions.png\" alt=\"Example of the title tag and meta description in Google's search results\" width=\"823\" height=\"491\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/21-title-meta-descriptions.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/21-title-meta-descriptions-680x405.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/21-title-meta-descriptions-768x458.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/21-title-meta-descriptions-1536x916.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 823px) 100vw, 823px\"><\/p>\n<p>However, many websites neglect these two tags. When we looked at &gt;1 million domains to find the most common technical SEO issues, meta tag issues like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Meta description tag missing or&nbsp;empty<\/li>\n<li>Page and SERP titles do not&nbsp;match<\/li>\n<li>Title too&nbsp;long<\/li>\n<li>Meta description too&nbsp;short<\/li>\n<li>Meta description too&nbsp;long<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Were in the top 15 most common.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174611\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/22-most-common-technical-seo-issues.png\" alt=\"Chart showing the most common technical SEO issues\" width=\"540\" height=\"572\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/22-most-common-technical-seo-issues.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/22-most-common-technical-seo-issues-401x425.png 401w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/22-most-common-technical-seo-issues-768x814.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/22-most-common-technical-seo-issues-1449x1536.png 1449w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\"><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to fix under-optimized meta titles and descriptions<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Run a crawl with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Site Audit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (free with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AWT<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). You\u2019ll see all the meta tag issues, along with the affected URLs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174612\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/23-issues.png\" alt=\"Meta tags issues in Site Audit\" width=\"623\" height=\"491\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/23-issues.png 804w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/23-issues-539x425.png 539w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/23-issues-768x606.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 623px) 100vw, 623px\"><\/p>\n<p>Fix them.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re stuck, you can ask ChatGPT to brainstorm title tag ideas for you and get inspiration.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174613\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/24-chatgpt-title-ideas.png\" alt=\"Getting ChatGPT to brainstorm title ideas\" width=\"716\" height=\"577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/24-chatgpt-title-ideas.png 1154w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/24-chatgpt-title-ideas-527x425.png 527w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/24-chatgpt-title-ideas-768x619.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 716px) 100vw, 716px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/title-tag-seo\/\">What Are Title Tags? How To Write Them for&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/meta-description\/\">How to Write the Perfect Meta Description<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"15. Missing alt text\" data-section=\"15-missing-alt-text\">\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h.bmt5huin4y3m\">15. Missing alt&nbsp;text<\/h2>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Alt text describes an image on a web&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n<p>Not only can it help improve topical relevance on a page, it can also help you rank in Google images. And while you may not think it, Google Images is the <a href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/2018-search-market-share-myths-vs-realities-of-google-bing-amazon-facebook-duckduckgo-more\/\">second largest search engine in the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174614\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/25-google-images-share.png\" alt=\"Pie chart of search engine market share in the US\" width=\"596\" height=\"502\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/25-google-images-share.png 800w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/25-google-images-share-504x425.png 504w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/25-google-images-share-768x647.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 596px) 100vw, 596px\"><\/p>\n<p>However, I want to point out that this is likely a minor issue. If you\u2019re making any of the mistakes in this post, focus on fixing them first. As the saying goes, \u201cdon\u2019t major in minor things.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to fix missing alt&nbsp;text<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Run a crawl with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Site Audit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This will tell you if you have any images with missing alt&nbsp;text.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-174615\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/26-missing-alt-text.png\" alt=\"Missing alt text issue in Site Audit\" width=\"790\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/26-missing-alt-text.png 790w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/26-missing-alt-text-680x138.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/26-missing-alt-text-768x156.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click the number to see the affected URLs. All that\u2019s left is to fill in the missing ones. If you\u2019re struggling, you can use our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/writing-tools\/img-alt-text-generator\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">free AI image alt text generator<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-174616\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/27-alt-text-generator.png\" alt=\"Our free AI image alt text generator\" width=\"617\" height=\"558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/27-alt-text-generator.png 1616w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/27-alt-text-generator-470x425.png 470w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/27-alt-text-generator-768x695.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/27-alt-text-generator-1536x1390.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 617px) 100vw, 617px\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upload your image, select a tone, and you\u2019re off to the&nbsp;races.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/\">Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h.kwv9z9tw6fvk\">Keep learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You now have an understanding of what common SEO mistakes you could be making and how to avoid and fix them. If you want to dig deeper and continue learning, check out these resources:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\">The Beginner\u2019s Guide to&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-basics\/\">SEO Basics: Beginner\u2019s Guide to SEO Success<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-myths\/\">10 SEO Myths You Should Ignore<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Here are the top 15 mistakes organized from most to least&nbsp;major: If Google can\u2019t crawl your content, it can\u2019t see what\u2019s on the page. And if it can\u2019t see what\u2019s on the page, it\u2019s unlikely it\u2019ll rank for any<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":142646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335],"tags":[],"coauthors":[339],"class_list":["post-142642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>15 Common SEO Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Avoid these 10 major mistakes that could affect your chances of ranking higher on the search engines.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"15 Common SEO Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t make these mistakes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-31T07:53:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-02T06:22:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/fb_seo_mistakes.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Si Quan Ong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t make these mistakes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@siquanong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ahrefs\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Si Quan Ong\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e09e43a1a939a6723fb3c1ebd243f2e7\"},\"headline\":\"15 Common SEO Mistakes (And How to Fix&nbsp;Them)\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-31T07:53:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-02T06:22:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/\"},\"wordCount\":2872,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/fb_seo_mistakes.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"General SEO\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/\",\"name\":\"15 Common SEO Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/fb_seo_mistakes.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-31T07:53:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-02T06:22:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"Avoid these 10 major mistakes that could affect your chances of ranking higher on the search engines.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-mistakes\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/fb_seo_mistakes.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/fb_seo_mistakes.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\",\"description\":\"Link Building Strategies &amp; 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