5 Common Mistakes That Hurt Your Google Rankings & Downgrade Performance:

If you have a website, you probably already know how important it is to rank high on Google. Equally, you are probably aware of the effort that has to go in to making sure you on Google Ranking. 

Higher rankings mean more visibility, which translates into more traffic, leads, and sales. But did you know that there are several common mistakes that can hurt your Google rankings? 

In this article, we’ll discuss the top 10 mistakes that you should avoid if you want to improve your website’s visibility on Google.

Avoid these 10 things…

1. Not Using Relevant Keywords 

Using irrelevant or overly competitive keywords that do not match your content can have a detrimental effect on your Google rankings. 

This is because Google’s algorithms are designed to prioritise high-quality, relevant content that is tailored to the user’s search query. 

If you use keywords that are not relevant to your content or are overly competitive, you may attract visitors who are not interested in your content, leading to a high bounce rate and a decrease in your rankings. 

Additionally, Google may penalise your website for using misleading or spammy tactics to manipulate search rankings, which can result in your website being removed from search results altogether. 

Conduct keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner or Semrush. Look for keywords with high search volume and low competition that are relevant to your content.

2. Neglecting On-Page Optimisation

Neglecting on-page optimisation elements such as meta descriptions, title tags, and alt tags can make it difficult for Google to understand your content and therefore have a negative impact on your rankings. 

These elements provide important signals to search engines about the content and context of your web pages, which helps them determine how relevant and useful your content is to users.

If you fail to optimise these elements, Google may struggle to accurately interpret your content, which can result in lower rankings or even exclusion from search results altogether.

 Furthermore, optimising these elements can also improve click-through rates by making your content more attractive and informative to users. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to on-page optimisation and ensure that your meta tags, titles, and descriptions accurately reflect the content of your web pages to improve your visibility and rankings on Google.

3. Ignoring mobile responsiveness 

It seems an obvious point but it’s often neglected. Mobile responsiveness is an absolute basic when it comes to website optimisation. We shouldn’t even need to mention it but ignoring mobile responsiveness can be detrimental to your website’s rankings as it can cause it to look and function poorly on mobile devices. 

Today, mobile devices account for a significant portion of internet traffic – Google’s algorithm prioritises mobile-first indexing, and has for a long time, which means that Google indexes and ranks the mobile version of your website first.

If your website is not mobile-friendly, it may not display correctly or load quickly (in under 2.5 seconds, ideally under 1!) on mobile devices, leading to a poor user experience and high bounce rates. In turn, this can lead to lower rankings on Google. 

It is crucial to ensure that your website is mobile-responsive, meaning it can adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions, providing a smooth user experience across all devices. 

In today’s mobile-first world, businesses that prioritise mobile responsiveness are better positioned to succeed online, as they can improve their visibility and ranking on search engines, ultimately driving more traffic and conversions.

4. Having a slow website 

Long  website load times can lead to frustration for users and ultimately result in higher bounce rates, which can negatively impact your rankings on Google. 

When a website takes too long to load, users are more likely to abandon it and seek out faster alternatives. This not only hurts your website’s traffic and conversion rates but also sends negative signals to Google’s algorithms, indicating that your website is providing a poor page experience – a crucial ranking factor in the Google Algorithm.

As a result, Google may demote your website in its search rankings, making it less visible to potential visitors. Therefore, it is essential to prioritise website speed and ensure that your website is optimised for fast loading times. This can be achieved through various tactics such as:

• Compressing images to reduce LCP
• Reducing the number of HTTP requests
• Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to cache and deliver content more efficiently 

By improving website speed, you can provide a better user experience and increase your chances of ranking higher on Google.

5. Poor quality content

Publishing poor quality content that is not useful or informative can have a negative impact on your website’s engagement and rankings on Google. 

When users visit a website, they are looking for content that is informative, engaging, and relevant to their interests or needs. If your website fails to provide high-quality content, users may quickly lose interest and look for better alternatives. 

This can result in a high bounce rate, low engagement, and ultimately lead to a lower ranking on Google. Google’s algorithms prioritise websites that provide high-quality content that is relevant to user search queries. Therefore, it is crucial to invest time and resources into creating valuable and informative content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience. 

By doing so, you can improve engagement and increase your chances of ranking higher on Google, ultimately driving more traffic and conversions to your website.