A part of my job is creating or assisting in dozens of SEO site audits every month. I like to be personally involved in the process. Letting employees handle every aspect might be ok for others, but I like to use my expertise as much as I can. Because I’m part of the auditing process, it gives the client and I an opportunity to converse about the more intricate parts of SEO. I also get refreshed on how SEO has evolved when I’ve been performing managerial duties for a while. Lastly, it allows me to become enlightened to all the different methods other SEO agencies and consultants are using. While performing SEO audits, I usually see the same mistakes multiple times. Let’s look at a few common SEO mistakes and discuss ways that you can acknowledge them.

Using Too Many Plugins

Many small business (SMB) websites are on WordPress. Despite small drawbacks like bloated code, it’s a great place for SMB websites. Plugins are sections of programming code (JavaScript, PHP) that add more features to your site. As you use more plugins, you’re injecting more code in your site. Your site can start to load slower because of all the extra code. Google PageSpeed Insights can also tell you if your site becomes too slow to function correctly.

SEO specialists are usually don’t have much programming knowledge. They wouldn’t know how the code can impact your site’s performance and SEO. A while back, a legal marketing expert told me that his client websites ran on a “proprietary blend of 50 plugins.” While I was intrigued by his magical system that he created, it seemed like visitors might be waiting for pages to load so long that Google would have time to implement another algorithm update.

Try to include only the important plugins. Find out which plugins aren’t necessary (the code writing process can be pretty simple) and what the effect of deactivating unnecessary ones.

Using Weak Meta Information

While this might sound pretty simple, it can be hard to execute correctly. Meta information is “invisible” code that lets users and search engines discover additional information about a website or web page. Meta information can be implemented many different ways and still be considered correct; however, here’s how I feel about how meta information should be used:

  • Make sure the meta title is always the most important keyword of the page. When two keywords are used, incorporate them as well. For one keyword try to place your branded keywords after “Truck Company NYC | Bill’s Truck Company” or “Fast Tax Returns | Jack and Jill’s Tax Consulting, LLC.”
  • Include the main keywords in your meta description. Try to explain what makes a certain page more distinct from the others on your web site. Also, a call to action should be implemented inside the description.
  • Try to add meta keywords if you can.

Meta titles are considered weak when they don’t have enough information about the product, geographical location, or service. They might even use titles from other pages. Try not to use the same wording on each page in the meta description. Also, try not to add too many keywords. Doing this makes it read like it’s abusing SEO and it could omit helpful information.

Meta descriptions are seen in search results under the title. It could dissuade people from visiting your website if it’s not up to snuff. Here are a couple of examples for comparison:

  • Good example: “Jack and Jill’s Tax Consulting has a well versed consulting team of accountants that handle tax returns, dissolution, and more. Reach out to us for a free discussion today!”
  • Bad Example: “Business dissolution, business creation, tax accountants, tax consulting, tax experts. We’re the best tax accountants and consultants for all your business needs. Call us for inexpensive consulting now.”

Including Plagiarized Content on New Pages

As obvious as the rule of plagiarism can be, I’ve seen good-looking and well-optimized websites mistakenly implement this concept. When content strategies become more ambitious, plagiarism is more likely to occur. SEO companies might overload your site with each service you have in all of the cities you operate in. If you were a family lawyer in South Florida, you could have a page for each area you’re qualified to handle: divorce, child custody, guardianship, etc. Combine that with dozens of cities and you’re could up to hundreds of pages with up to 500 words on each page. When these pages are made in a short period of time, the probability that they will be unique isn’t very high.

By using Copyscape, you’ll find out that those pages are very similar or related to a page that the SEO agency has previously worked on. This could imply that the pages weren’t very unique to begin with. Content strategies that focus on services can be beneficial, but try to use the strategies correctly. Rewrite the pages yourself or hire freelancers if pages on your site are similar to other websites. Afterwards, learn why the SEO agency used this content in the first place.

It isn’t your responsibility or the most efficient use of your time to monitor your SEO agency to make sure these mistakes don’t occur. SEO site audits from other agencies, SEO checklists websites like moz.com, or running automatic SEO tools from companies like semrush.com might give you invaluable information to see if the SEO agency is avoiding these mistakes.

At Market My Market, I use my years of marketing experience to help ensure that these mistakes aren’t made. I work closely with employees and clients to get the best results from each website, page, and blog. Call us at (800) 954-9441 to start building a relationship that could change your business today.