20 Bad WordPress SEO Habits

SEMrush meetup with Sha Menz, Tim Capper and Peter Mead

@petermeadit https://www.semrush.com/webinars/bad-seo-habits-meetup/

So many Bad HabitsWhat kind of bad habits are there?

● Mistakes that anyone can make● Spammy practices or cheap services ● Technical Issues and errors ● Lack of strategy and planning

These come about by:

1. Being unaware of the issues2. Trying to beat Google at its own game

Mistakes that anyone can make

Ticking the noindex boxIt’s the oldest trick in the WordPress SEO book.

You tick the box and forget to untick later, and your site won't index.

#1

Not installing an SEO pluginYou don't actually need an SEO plugin to do SEO on WordPress, but…

If you want to do it the hard way you can dig into the files and code.

Install a plugin:

● Yoast SEO

Or

● All in one SEO Pack

#2

Not connecting with Google & BingThere are many benefits of connecting you site with Google and Bing.

It allows you to take control and visibility into the crawlers and indexing,

And a whole lot more, Install:

● Google Search Console● Google Analytics● Google Tag Manager● Bing Webmaster tools

#3

Not submitting sitemap.xmlSitemap lists URLs for crawling

Gives data about each URL to indicate priority and frequency etc.

Also indicates any new URLs on your site

Create and submit an xml sitemap through Yoast or All-in-one plugin

Keep an eye out for sitemap errors

#4

Blocking .js and .css file in robots.txtIt used to be the norm to block extra resources in your robots.txt

Now it’s best to let Google figure out what to do with Javascript and Style sheets

If blocked Google may not see all of your site properly or crawl it

#5

Poor internal linking strategyLack of any internal links to important resources on your site

Too many internal links to pages just to get rankings

Links with inappropriate or misleading anchor text

Links that are badly structured, broken or in redirect loops

#6

Ignoring Google Webmaster GuidelinesYou may not know about Google Webmaster Guidelines

● https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en

You may not think they are that important, or you can beat Google

Consider two factors:

● What’s your appetite for risk?● How much do you stand to lose if you site tanks?

#7

Spammy practices or poor services

Homepage title keyword stuffingYou think your homepage title should have your important keywords in it

Yeah sure, keywords are important in homepage title!

But not by repeating a set or variation of keywords

● Don’t: <title>Blue Widgets | Red Widgets Online | Best Widgets</title>● Do:<title>Widget Brand - Best Red and Blue Widgets Online</title>

Google may rewrite your Homepage title if you get this wrong

Anyways, it just looks spammy and your CTR could tank

#8

Meta Description Keyword Stuffing Some people think Meta Description is a place to put all their important keywords

Rank higher because of some trick or something?

This just looks really spammy

● CTR will tank

Better to use the Meta Description as you little marketing grab

So folks can get an idea of what your site is about before clicking on the result

Better CTR, bounce rate, higher time on site, more page views etc. etc. Hopefully

#9

Lazy naming of imagesYou upload the image to WordPress and use it without ALT or Naming it properly

Your Blue Widget product photo comes off the camera as D-1028374.JPG

The name means nothing and no ALT text so what is the picture about?

Best to descriptively name it blue-widget-posing.jpg

Address ALT text like alt=”Blue Widget Posing”

This is also good HTML coding and accessibility. www.W3C.org

Don’t stuff keywords into image names or alt text: all-images-are-blue-widgets.jpg

#10

Errors in HTML code Theme or PluginYour Theme might be poorly coded, and have HTML errors

Your plugin might have errors in it

Your blog posts might have HTML errors inadvertently

These can disrupt or distort search engine crawlers such as Google Bot

Check your site with the W3C Validator

Validator.w3.org

#11

Using spammy link tacticsInnocently publishing pingback/trackbacks linking to a spammy site

Participating in webrings or reciprocal links schemes, or submitting directory links

Buying cheap advertised links. But the ad said 5,000 PR 9, DA 60+ for $5 ??

Cheap easy links, even for satellites, may work for a time. What’s the risk?

Better to embark with Quality Content Marketing and Targeted Outreach

Why people link:

1. Interesting Engaging Content 2. Great info and Resources 3. Visitor Relationship

#12

Technical Issues and errors

Persisting with slow website speedYou know your site is a bit slow, but loathe to move it or address server issues.

Google site speed tool: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/

Caching plugins and server caching can help but...

Consider moving to some quality hosting if you want real improvements

Chris Burgess has excellent Site Speed Tips,click to view on Slideshare

#13

Ignoring permalink structureOne of the first things to do

Adjust your permalink structure

You need friendly readable urls. How to (Yoat) change permalink structure

#14

Not addressing taxonomiesSo you create a blog post called My Next Blue Widget

You put it in the Blue Widget category and the Tag it with Blue Widget

Categories and tags create URLs, which can display same content different ways

Also Plugins or Themes may create extra taxonomies

Google crawl and index these and can cause duplicate or cannibalizing effect

For small sites, you can noindex taxonomies.

For large site, you may want to optimize taxonomies effectively

#15

Putting your blog on a subdomain By placing your blog on a subdomain like blog.widgetbrand.com

You are weakening, you need to now build authority and trust and PR :o

May be ok, for very large brands, or those who have strategies and budgets

Best to put your blog on widgetbrand.com/blog

Similar issues with satellite sites to help you in sub niches bestwidgetbrand.com

The searcher intent is the same so best to build your brand on preferred domain

#16

Lack of strategy and planning

Creating page for every keywordYou may think that each time you find a keyword you want to rank for

You need to create some content for that keyword

Hummingbird and RankBrain have changed all that

Now it is about Searcher Intent, think topics rather than keyword variants

So: “Blue Widget Length” and “Blue Widget Size” same search intent ??

So think and structure your site like a librarian to avoid cannibalizing content.

Click here for some tips by Dawn Anderson to avoid Content Cannibalization

#17

Not doing proper keyword researchKeyword research is very important, you may have heard this...

Why?

Because without it you cannot know what people are searching for to find you

Proper research including CPC, Competition, Difficulty, Synonyms, Intent

Google keyword planner old staple, has changed now for paid advertisers

SEMrush has terrific tools including Keyword Magic Tool

Many other tools including seobook keyword tools and Moz Keyword Explorer

#18

Poor Content Marketing StrategyContent Marketing is the new Link Building

Primary goal for Content Marketing is to build online reputation and visibility

Links are important, Google sees links as a form of endorsement

Natural links that have been earned

The unhelpful links are Purchased or manufactured Links

Many types of content to provide interesting and engaging, useful to your audience

Give compelling reasons for people to link to your site

#19

Poor Content Promotion StrategySo you create the articles and write all this great content, then what?

But you need to promote it or peeps don’t know it's there

Content Promotion Strategies Include:

● Email Lists● Content Syndication● Social Media ● Viral Content● Targeted PPC● Targeted Outreach…

#20

What bad habits do you have?