5 Things That Will Negatively Affect Your Website Traffic
Very few businesses will reach their full potential in this tech savvy world if they are not paying very close attention to their online presence. You may offer the greatest product, the finest service, and prices that can’t be beaten, but without a website that search engines can easily find, you are spinning your wheels, losing potential customers, and allowing your revenue to be stagnant. After all, the point of having a business is to make a profit, right? Owning, starting, and keeping a business afloat is a tough job, so don’t let your website make it even harder. Knowing what not to do will give your website the power to help your business thrive.
Here are 5 things to avoid, fix, or never do in the first place, that will negatively affect your website’s traffic:
1. Duplicate Content
This means that each page on your site has unique and relevant content to that particular page and your business. Keywords are important here, but “keyword stuffing” can and will hurt your rankings. If your site repeats the same information from page to page, packed with keywords that have no relevance, the almighty Google will catch that and toss your website into the point of no return internet hole. Your content needs to be helpful to your readers, so give them the information that they are searching for. Your website should be a place to share your industry knowledge and expertise.
The same goes for articles and blog posts. Your high school teacher warned you about plagiarizing (and somehow always knew if your work wasn’t original) even before the internet, but posting word for word content from another site is bad… very bad. Be original, informative, use keywords when they apply in a natural way, and never ever copy content. Google will know and punish your sites ranking. For example, everything in this article came straight from my brain, for better or for worse (forgive me for the worse).
2. Page Loading Speed
It is human nature to want something and want it now, so being patient is generally not our greatest strength. This applies to your website in a very big way. Waiting for a page to load for more than 4-5 seconds will have your visitors bouncing off that page faster than you can imagine. Your product or service might even be exactly what they are looking for, but they won’t take the time to stick around and find out. If your site can’t get them what they need, immediately, someone else’s most certainly will.
Fast website loading speeds equal an increase in conversions. This doesn’t just apply to one visitor, it applies to their friends and colleagues as well. A few seconds’ difference can drastically change the potential for sales.
3. Purchasing Links
If you come across a marketing company that promises hundreds of links and a top page ranking for a “too good to be true” fee… just say no.
Here is why:
Building links, working to boost your page ranking, and staying off Google’s naughty list takes time and smart planning. Especially if you are looking for benefits that will be long-term. The promise of instant links is, almost without fail, from spammy disreputable sites. Getting a link from this type of site is like showing up for an interview with a letter of recommendation from a well-known drug dealer. It hurts you, not helps you.
Even if these links seem to work… for a while, Google is an ever-evolving beast. They may not catch these “bad” links today, but it is almost guaranteed that they will change their algorithm, find these links, and banish your site to the internet black hole in the future. Just remember, creating relevant-high-quality links may take time, but cleaning up the spammy ones takes even longer, much much longer.
4. Ignoring Social Media
To some, social media is a place to share photos of their children, the delicious roast they made for dinner, or gym selfies of their ever-growing biceps. As an everyday person, we get it, your kids are cute, but as a business owner, this is a major opportunity. Does your business sell adorable baby booties? Maybe your store sells fresh ingredients and shares delicious recipes? Or perhaps your company sells the world’s greatest protein powder?
Take advantage of social media and put effort into improving your following. If you do not, you will end up having lower ranks. Why? Google has turned their focus to social media lately, especially since the launch of Google+. If you have a good following on various social media platforms, Google will be more apt to give your website a higher ranking.
5. Website Design
You should know who your target audience is and design your website accordingly. Website designs that have cluttered backgrounds, in cohesive content, or pop-up ads (especially with sound) are not appealing to basically anyone.
There are four key design aspects that you should pay close attention to:
- Content Layout
- Color Choice
- Font Choice
- Content
These should be considered with your target audience in mind. Selling equipment for camping, fishing, and hunting will be difficult with a website covered in a swirly-twirly font. Google has a web safe font collection, which can point you in the right direction. It will help you understand which fonts complement each other and will be aesthetically appealing to your audience.
There you have it. Five mistakes that you most certainly should avoid to improve your website’s ranking and gain relevant (and revenue increasing) traffic. Just remember, improving your website’s traffic takes time. There are no short cuts. Google has made it very clear that they want nothing to do with a website that “cheats.” They too are a business after all. If someone uses their services to search for shoes and gets pages of companies selling auto parts, it doesn’t help anyone involved. Your website is a place to share your industry expertise, so always do exactly that and the right traffic will find you.
About the Author
Keely has been a slave to the written word at SEO.com for four happy years. She loves her career as a content specialist, but when she’s not typing away she longs for cloudy, snowy days where she can enjoy a good book or movie, curled up in a fuzzy blanket, on a big cozy couch.