In 2024, the SEO landscape continues to evolve with search engines becoming smarter and more user-centric. While SEO basics remain important, there are new pitfalls that could harm your site’s visibility. These SEO mistakes to avoid will ensure your website ranks well and delivers the best possible user experience.
Ignoring Mobile Optimisation
- Why It Matters: Mobile-first indexing is now the norm, with Google prioritising mobile versions of websites for ranking. In 2024, over 60% of global web traffic comes from mobile devices.
- The Mistake: Failing to optimise your site for mobile users can lead to lower rankings and higher bounce rates.
- How to Avoid It: Ensure your site is responsive, fast-loading on mobile devices, and offers a seamless user experience across all screen sizes.
Overlooking Core Web Vitals
- Why It Matters: Core Web Vitals are critical to user experience and a direct ranking factor. Google’s algorithm updates in 2024 place even greater emphasis on these metrics.
- The Mistake: Not focusing on metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).
- How to Avoid It: Regularly audit and optimise your site’s Core Web Vitals using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Search Console.
Check your Core Web Vitals with Google PageSpeed Insights >
Producing Low-Quality Content
- Why It Matters: Google’s AI advancements have made it better at distinguishing between high-quality and low-quality content. Thin or poorly researched content won’t cut it in 2024.
- The Mistake: Publishing content that is not valuable, relevant, or comprehensive, which can lead to lower rankings and decreased user trust.
- How to Avoid It: Focus on creating well-researched, authoritative, and engaging content that satisfies user intent and includes relevant keywords naturally.
How to create content that sells >
Keyword Stuffing
- Why It Matters: Keyword stuffing is an outdated tactic that can lead to penalties rather than higher rankings. Google’s algorithms in 2024 are sophisticated enough to understand context.
- The Mistake: Overusing keywords in an attempt to manipulate search rankings.
- How to Avoid It: Use keywords naturally within the content, focus on semantic search, and prioritise user experience over keyword density.
Neglecting E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
- Why It Matters: E-A-T continues to be a significant factor, especially in YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) niches. Google’s focus on trustworthy content is only intensifying in 2024.
- The Mistake: Not establishing credibility through authoritative content, qualified authorship, and credible sources.
- How to Avoid It: Showcase expertise by citing reputable sources, including author bios with credentials, and ensuring your content is accurate and trustworthy.
Forgetting About Technical SEO
- Why It Matters: Technical SEO remains the foundation of a well-optimised website. In 2024, issues like broken links, poor site architecture, and slow site speed can severely impact your rankings.
- The Mistake: Overlooking technical aspects like XML sitemaps, robots.txt files, or proper canonicalisation.
- How to Avoid It: Conduct regular technical audits using tools like Screaming Frog or SEMrush to identify and fix issues that could harm your SEO.
Not Optimising for Voice Search
- Why It Matters: With the rise of smart speakers and voice assistants, voice search is becoming a crucial element of SEO strategy. By 2024, voice search queries are expected to make up a significant portion of all online searches.
- The Mistake: Ignoring conversational and long-tail keywords that users typically use in voice search.
- How to Avoid It: Optimise for voice search by focusing on natural language, local search optimisation, and providing clear, concise answers to common questions.
Underestimating the Power of User Experience (UX)
- Why It Matters: User experience directly influences how long visitors stay on your site and whether they convert. In 2024, UX is more critical than ever for both users and search engines.
- The Mistake: Designing a site that is visually appealing but difficult to navigate or interact with.
- How to Avoid It: Prioritise intuitive navigation, fast load times, and accessible design. Use A/B testing and user feedback to continually improve UX.
In 2024, avoiding these common SEO mistakes is crucial for maintaining and improving your site’s visibility. As search engines evolve, so should your SEO strategy—keeping user experience, content quality, and technical health at the forefront will ensure long-term success.
