Avoid These 6 SEO Mistakes In 2022 To Rank Higher

Are you serious about ranking your web pages higher in search engines? If yes, make sure to avoid these 6 SEO mistakes in 2022 and beyond. 

You can find plenty of content on the internet talking about SEO best practices and mistakes. Surprisingly, a majority of businesses, marketers, and SEO professionals repeat those flawed SEO strategies. 

To do a little experiment, just browse through a few websites or blogs and you’ll find every single of them implementing at least one of the bad SEO tactics. You surely want your site to perform well in a competitive environment. Don’t you? 

6 SEO Mistakes To Avoid In 2022

It’s time we identify some common SEO mistakes and get rid of them once and for all. Do not let the following practices weaken your Google ranking: 

Mistake #1: Keyword Stuffing 

Keyword stuffing has been a hot topic in the world of digital marketing for a long time. It is a practice of using certain keywords and phrases excessively in your content. In the past, this practice really worked for marketers and bloggers. 

However, Google has introduced algorithm updates that discourage the use of spammy content. To detect keyword stuffing, you can read your content out loud. If the use of keywords sounds unnatural, you’re overusing them. 

But that doesn’t mean you should stop using the right keywords. Focus on keyword density: the number of times you use a phrase in comparison to the overall length of your content. Most experts recommend 1% of keyword density. 

This means that a target keyword should appear once per 100 words. Anything more than 2% is stuffing which makes your content less user-friendly. The close you get to the ideal number, the better you rank. 

Besides, you’re not creating content just to please search engines. Are you? Your content creation efforts should focus primarily on your users’ satisfaction. Instead of repeating a phrase five times in a paragraph, try to make things easier and exciting for your readers. 

If you have been making this mistake in the past, make sure to update your old content. Try to use synonyms or related keywords to optimize your content. Think of sub-topics and related ideas. Tools like Semrush and SEO Powersuite will help you find and use keywords the right way. 

Mistake #2: Poor User Experience 

When we think of SEO, the first thing that comes to our minds is “keywords”. Hey, Google now looks beyond your links and keywords. It extracts a variety of data to determine the position of a web page in SERPs. For instance, usage data is one of the key indicators that explains how people interact with your blog. 

If most of your site visitors leave right after visiting, it tells search engines that people aren’t finding the content they’re looking for. In other words, your website isn’t helpful. Now, there can be so many reasons why people leave a website without getting what they were looking for. For example, an outdated design or poor navigation can make a site off-putting. 

Poor mobile responsiveness is also a red flag. So, after creating high-quality content, the next thing you should be focusing on is the user experience. Make it super simple and fast for your visitors to browse through your content and find solutions. It would be fair to say that bad UX not only repels users but also hurts your SEO and conversion. 

To improve user experience, test your site to find out how it performs on mobile devices. Speed up your site as much as possible. Page load time also directly impacts SEO. 

Mistake #3: Relying On Unnatural, Artificial links

Talking about SEO mistakes in 2022, you must not rely on any deceptive tactic to rank higher. We remember when people used to implement things like putting white text on a white background so that only search engines could see it. People were used to stuff keywords and unnatural links all day and night to be on top. 

Search engines have become smarter and they efficiently detect unhealthy optimization practices. For example, inserting hidden, useless links into the source code of a website isn’t a recommended practice. 

Unnatural links are those that aren’t intentionally created to award a site. They are bad links that manipulate a webpage’s ranking in the search engines. Businesses often purchase these links to gain some advantage. Here are some examples of unnatural links that could lead to a penalty: 

• Link schemes 
• Low-quality directories 
• Link exchanges 
• Injected links 
• Widgets 

If you use these links for your business, get rid of them immediately. Use LinkWhisper to improve your link-building efforts. 

Mistake #4: Using Duplicate Content 

Most brands understand that duplicate or plagiarized content can badly hurt SEO output. Duplicate content is when you copy content from a different site and publish it. People are likely to continue making this SEO mistake in 2022. Why? Because it takes time and resources to create original, high-quality content. 

If you really want to beat your competitors in search results, start creating great content. Relying on duplicate content would land you nowhere. Ecommerce websites are often found copying and pasting the same product descriptions. 

Another example of duplicate content is a piece of content showing up on different points on your site. Businesses often don’t realize that their website contains duplicate content. To make sure your website only has unique content, use a tool like SEMrush to detect and delete duplicate content throughout your site. 

Mistake #5: Making Things Difficult For Crawlers 

Is your website clearly visible to search engines? When it comes to the crawlability of your site, there is so much to gain or lose in the SERPs. If your website has crawlability issues, Google might not be able to understand your content. 

Google wants to deliver the most valuable and relevant content to its users. So, whenever someone initiates a search on Google, they find the most relevant links at the top. Now, if your site contains broken links or elements that restrict crawlability, Google is unlikely to rank your pages. 

Here are the most common factors that make things difficult for crawlers: 

• Incorrect pages found in sitemap.xml 
• Nofollow attributes in outgoing internal links  
• Broken internal links 
• Broken internal images 
• Blocked from crawling 
• Orphaned pages 
• Temporary redirects 

Mistake #6: Not Using Long-tail Keywords 

Here is another SEO mistake that you must avoid in 2022: not including long-tail keywords in your SEO strategy. Longer keywords are long, more specified phrases that are closer to making a purchase. They can be very effective if you know how to use them in your content. 

Instead of focusing on more competitive and general keywords, focus on long-tail search terms. For example, if you run a furniture startup company, you can’t rank higher for a keyword like “furniture company”. So, use more specific and longer terms like “contemporary Art deco-influenced semi-circle lounge”. 

If you’re not sure where to find the right long-tail keywords, try out Long Tail Pro. It is a perfect tool that helps you discover long-tail keywords in minutes. 

Final Thoughts 

We have discussed 6 SEO mistakes so far that you must not repeat in 2022 and beyond. Stay updated with all the emerging trends and best practices. Keep things balanced: don’t overdo anything. For example, it’s fine to add keywords in your anchor text, but doing it too much will backfire. 

Likewise, incorporating too many keywords in a single piece of content will not work in your favor. Think of your audience and their interests first. Besides, always think long-term. It is not recommended to use short-term tactics today if it can create trouble for your business tomorrow.