25 Common SEO Mistakes Businesses Make and How to Avoid Them
Businesses continue to make critical SEO mistakes that cost them visibility and potential customers in search results. Leading search optimization experts have identified 25 common errors that can significantly impact website performance and rankings. This comprehensive guide offers practical solutions to these pitfalls, helping businesses build stronger online presence through effective SEO strategies.
Balance Copywriting with Strategic Search Optimization
One common SEO mistake I see repeated time and time again, is not making strategic use of content areas such as headings and prominent text features. There needs to be a balance between engaging copywriting and search optimizations. However, often times companies will opt for snappy catch-phrases, marketing messages, and other sales-driven language while missing the verbiage which would allow their content to rank for more key terms. It is worth an exercise to revisit previously published content to determine if any optimizations can be made to improve search positions or rank for new terms. Sometimes, a change as minor as rewording headings or certain sections, can be enough to increase search ranks, driving more traffic and ultimately converting more leads. The trick is, these optimizations have to be intentional requiring research to uncover terms close enough to rank for, with low competition, and reasonable monthly search volume.
Write Content People Search For
One common mistake is that businesses often publish pages without checking if any readers are actually searching for that topic in the first place. They write what they want to say instead of writing what people want to learn. I once saw a team spend weeks on a long guide about a feature that only a tiny group of users cared about. The piece was well written but it brought almost no search traffic because the search volume was close to zero. My advice is to use simple keyword tools to look at search demand before creating a page. If the number is very low do not force it. Instead pick a question that many people are actively typing into search and write a short clear answer that solves it. This approach gave us better traffic because we spent time on topics that already had real demand instead of hoping interest would magically appear later.
Preserve Domain Authority During Website Redesigns
One common SEO mistake is when companies decide to rebuild their website, they very often lose domain authority because they have not made a full and detailed note of the existing pages on their website and the existing assets such as images and videos. They simply scrap the old website and start again with a fresh design, believing that the design will carry them through.
What they fail to realise is that many of the old pages have received authority and backlinks and have been indexed by Google and the other search engines. Replacing these pages that have their own page authority can lead to a drop in rankings and traffic.
My tip: always conduct a full content audit before starting a redesign, noting into a spreadsheet, and build your new site around that. For example, the home page should have a version, the new about us page should have the same URL. And if the urls are different, make sure to set up 301 redirects from the old pages to the new ones. There will be instances where pages on the old site have become redundant, but the content could be useful. So make sure to either improve it or replace it completely. But again, try to make sure that the URLs stay the same. That way, you keep your domain authority intact and you'll ensure that Google and users can still find what they need, even after the rebuild.
Avoid Creating Content Without Clear Purpose
One of the most common SEO mistakes I constantly see is content for the sake of content. A lot of this is just blogging for a line item tick box.
The issue with this, is that much of this content never actually does anything. Then over time, it creates index bloat and potentially even targeting overlap.
Google and AI rewards unique content that shows effort and depth. If you're writing articles on things like "what does a plumber do" - you're very likely wasting time and money.
Focus on Answering Customer Questions
The biggest mistake I see: businesses chasing rankings instead of building discoverability. They obsess over keyword positions while ignoring whether they're actually the answer to their customer's questions.
Here's a real-world pattern I encounter constantly: a business ranks #3 for their target keyword but gets zero conversions because their content doesn't match search intent. They're ranking for "sleep apnea treatment" with a page that immediately pushes a consultation booking instead of first educating about treatment options, success rates, and what to expect. Google Search Console shows them getting impressions but terrible click-through rates because the searcher recognizes the mismatch in the SERP snippet.
Actionable tip: Use Google Search Console to audit intent alignment. Filter for queries where you're ranking positions 1-10 but have CTR below 2%. Those are your intent mismatch opportunities. Then actually Google those queries yourself and analyze what's ranking—what questions are the top results answering? What format are they using?
The fix isn't more keywords or technical tweaks. It's rewriting that content to genuinely answer what people are searching for at that stage of their journey. Match the search intent first, then guide them toward conversion.
In 2025, with AI Overviews and zero-click results dominating, being "the answer" matters infinitely more than being "the #1 ranking." If your content doesn't deserve to be cited by an AI as the authoritative response, your ranking is built on sand. Focus on becoming undeniably useful, and the visibility follows naturally.
Start SEO Early for Compound Growth
One of the biggest SEO mistakes we see is that businesses wait too long to start. SEO isn't something you tack on once ads plateau; it's a compounding system that takes time to mature. Brands that begin early build authority, structure, and visibility that continue to pay off for years. Waiting only makes the climb steeper and more expensive.
The second mistake we see is underestimating how quickly search is changing. AI-driven discovery is already reshaping how people make decisions. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 80 percent of shoppers say AI is the most effective tool when researching and comparing products. That shift means SEO now extends beyond ranking for keywords — it's about how AI platforms read, summarize, and recommend your brand.
To stay competitive, brands need to optimize for both humans and machines. Write clear, trustworthy content that answers real questions, use structured data so AI systems understand your expertise, and track how your brand appears in AI-generated results. The future of SEO is visibility wherever decisions are made, not just in ten blue links.
Create Content for People Not Algorithms
One common SEO mistake law firms make is writing content for Google, not for people. For example, a firm might publish a page titled "Chicago DUI Lawyer" but then fill it with vague, keyword-stuffed copy. AI-driven search favors specific, structured, human-centered content. Tip: Answer real client questions with detail. Instead of "DUI Defense," write "What to Expect at Your First DUI Hearing in Cook County" and include a step-by-step breakdown.
Connect Orphaned Pages Through Internal Links
One of the most common SEO mistakes I see is the creation of orphan pages - especially in local service industries. It usually happens when businesses build out dozens or even hundreds of suburb-based pages to capture "plumber in [location]" or "electrician near [suburb]" keywords. The problem is that these pages often sit disconnected from the rest of the site, with no meaningful internal links pointing to them.
Search engines rely heavily on internal linking to understand a site's structure and distribute PageRank. When these local pages are isolated, they're essentially invisible - indexed but rarely ranked, because they receive little to no authority flow.
What I recommend is to map your internal link structure using a crawler like Screaming Frog and identify pages with zero inbound internal links. Then, strategically link to these local pages from related service pages, blog posts, or a suburb directory hub. Even 2-3 contextual internal links per page can significantly boost visibility and help Google understand their importance within your site hierarchy.
Build Topical Authority Beyond Single Keywords
The most common mistake I see in SEO is what I call Semantic Myopia. This is the outdated habit of obsessing over one keyword and cramming it everywhere. In the title, headers, and body, thinking that will drive traffic. For example, a site might target "best running shoes for beginners" by repeating that phrase over and over.
But modern search engines like Google are way smarter. They don't just look at keywords; they measure topical authority. They understand synonyms, related concepts, and context, looking for content that answers all the questions behind a user's search.
Take a sustainable living blog targeting "how to compost at home." A myopic article might just explain one composting method and tightly stick to that phrase. But users want answers to many things. What to compost, what not to, how to handle smells, how long composting takes, or apartment vs. house setups. An article that covers all those angles will outrank one narrowly focused on a single phrase.
To avoid semantic myopia, use the "Topic Checklist" method: Google your main keyword, study the "People Also Ask" and related searches, and treat those as your content to-dos. This turns your page into a comprehensive resource that matches what users, and Google, really want.
Make SEO a Conversation Not Checklist
One SEO mistake we see often at SocialSellinator is treating SEO like a checklist instead of a conversation. Many businesses focus on keywords, backlinks, and on-page SEO, but forget the part where SEO connects with real people searching for real answers.
We once audited a SaaS company that had done everything right. Their metadata was perfect, their blog was packed with content, but nothing was ranking or converting. When we read the articles ourselves, we realized why. Every post looked and sounded AI-generated. So we scrapped over 50% of their content and started rebuilding around search intent storytelling, where you write like you're talking to the person behind the search, not the algorithm.
The change was almost instant. Their bounce rate dropped by half, and their average session time doubled in just eight weeks.
So, Google may rank your page, but people decide if it stays there. Write like a human first, optimize second. Every algorithm update only proves that truth more.
Implement Canonical Tags and Hreflang Correctly
One of the most common SEO mistakes I encounter when conducting technical audits is incorrect implementation of canonical tags and hreflang attributes. Many businesses struggle to properly signal relationships between similar pages or regional variants of their content, leading to search engines misinterpreting which page should rank for specific regions or queries. For example, I recently audited a global e-commerce site where their UK and US product pages were competing against each other in search results because of missing or incorrect hreflang implementation. To avoid this issue, I recommend conducting a quarterly audit of your international site structure using Google Search Console to identify any conflicting signals or incorrect implementation patterns. Properly implemented canonical and hreflang tags will improve your regional search visibility and prevent your own pages from competing against each other.
Distribute Content Beyond Your Website
One common SEO mistake we see is businesses creating content but failing to distribute it beyond their own website. They write blog posts, publish them, and hope Google will find them. This approach limits visibility. A company might produce dozens of articles about their industry expertise, but if those articles only exist on their site, they miss opportunities to build authority elsewhere. Search engines value signals from multiple sources. Content confined to a single domain struggles to generate those signals. We've seen businesses invest heavily in content creation while ignoring distribution, which severely limits their SEO results.
The actionable fix is to amplify content across multiple platforms and publications. Take one strong article and distribute versions of it to relevant industry sites, news outlets, and content platforms. This creates backlinks, brand mentions, and varied search results. At Ampcast by Ampifire, we distribute content to up to 70 different platforms for each campaign. This multi-channel approach builds authority faster than relying on a single website. Start by identifying 5-10 reputable sites in your industry that accept contributions. Adapt your best content for those platforms. Track which placements drive traffic and rankings, then double down on what works.
Develop Deep Content That Builds Authority
The biggest mistake I constantly see is creating thin content that only scratches the surface of a topic. Many businesses write short 500 words content thinking it's enough, but it provides zero unique value or competitive advantage. And they wonder why they are not ranking.
For instance, I had a web agency client targeting the competitive keyword "WordPress Developer Sydney." They were shocked their single, brief service page wasn't ranking. When I checked the SERP, I was utterly shocked as their competitors had built proper topical authority, featuring 5,000-word guides and clusters of 25 supporting articles! Their thin page had no chance against that depth.
I always ALWAYS will recommend to build topical authority. Study what top-ranking pages cover, then create richer, more helpful content that fully satisfies the search intent.
Refresh Old Content for Traffic Gains
The most common mistake I see is focusing only on churning out new content and completely ignoring old pages.
For example, a business writes 50 blog posts a year but never updates the first 10, which slowly lose relevance and traffic.
I would highly recommend to dedicate 20% of your content budget to "content refresh." Go back and update facts, add new sections, and optimise images on those low-performing, older posts. This quick revitalisation often brings huge traffic gains with much less effort than writing a new article.
Allow AI Crawlers Access to Content
One of the biggest SEO mistakes businesses make today is blocking AI crawlers and large-language-model (LLM) bots like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overview systems from accessing their websites. Many site owners don't know that Cloudflare block LLMs by default or add these bots to their robots.txt out of fear their content will be "scraped" or misused, but in doing so, they unintentionally remove themselves from the fastest-growing discovery channels on the internet.
AI search assistants are rapidly replacing traditional search results as the way users find information. When someone asks, "What's the best company to help inventors with their invention idea?" or "Which pain-relief devices use vibration therapy?", AI engines pull directly from the open web to generate their answers. If your site is blocked, your brand simply doesn't exist in those new answer formats—no citations, no backlinks, no visibility.
For example, several brands in the invention-services space that allowed AI bots to crawl their case studies and reviews now appear naturally within ChatGPT and Google AI Overview summaries. Their content earns authoritative citations and traffic from users who never typed a traditional query. Meanwhile, competitors who blocked these bots are invisible in AI results, even though they rank decently in organic search.
Actionable Tip: Instead of blocking all AI bots, take a segmented-access approach. Allow public marketing pages, articles, and review content to be crawled by AI and LLM bots, while protecting private, proprietary, or gated content. You can manage this with an updated robots.txt or possibly adopted in the future emerging llms.txt file to specify which sections of your site can be used for AI learning or referencing.
Also, ensure those accessible pages are structured for machine readability—use clean headings, schema markup (Article, FAQ, Review, Organization), and concise context so AI systems can understand and cite your brand accurately.
In short: Don't block the future. Blocking AI bots may protect you today, but it will also block tomorrow's customers from ever discovering you. Optimize your content for both human readers and machine interpreters—and you'll future-proof your brand's visibility in the age of AI-powered search.
Align Business Profile with Website Structure
One of the most common SEO mistakes I see businesses making is failing to align their Google Business Profile with their actual website structure and pages.
Many businesses list multiple services in their Google Business Profile but don't have exact match pages that mirror that.
For example, an IT company might list "cybersecurity consulting" as service in their Google Business Profile. However, when you visit their website, they only have a generic "Services" page that briefly mentions everything in a few paragraphs.
This disconnect confuses both search engines and potential customers, they need a dedicated service page for that service.
Google's algorithm looks for consistency and validation between your listing and website. When your Business Profile claims you offer specific services but your website doesn't substantiate those claims with dedicated content, you're missing a critical ranking opportunity.
My actionable tip is straightforward: audit your Google Business Profile categories and services, then create a dedicated landing page for each one on your website. Each page should include relevant keywords, detailed service descriptions, pricing information if applicable, and clear calls to action.
This mirror strategy strengthens your local SEO signals and improves user experience by making it easier for customers to find exactly what they're searching for.
Track SEO Results and Performance Metrics
The most common SEO mistake i see is that people have an SEO Agency who they spend hundreds with but if I ask them about the stats they have no idea. The amount of people that just trust they are getting some results as they really like the person and they designed their website is crazy. Foucs on the numbers and sweat the small stuff would be my advice, whether you do it in-house or externally.
It's true that SEO is like harvesting so you don't always pick the fruit when you plant the seed it takes time and you have to water and nurture all the time but it's also like what they say about money. Money is a cruel mistress and unless you focus on her she will leave. You;ve got to always be tending to the garden or to the lady.
Own Your Hyperlocal Search Space First
The most common SEO mistake I see is businesses chasing broad, generic keywords instead of owning their hyperlocal space. A plumbing company aiming for "best plumber" will always lose to national directories. However, a page focused on "blocked drains in Belconnen," with internal links leading back, creates a clear path for Google to find their service. The actionable fix is simple: stop trying to win the internet and win your suburb first. That's where visibility turns into real calls and clients.
Optimize for AI Platforms Not Just Google
I run an SEO agency for luxury travel brands. The mistake is optimising for Google when customers use ChatGPT.
Thirty-one percent of luxury travel searches now start on AI platforms. They ask "best private jet London to Dubai" and get one answer. If you're not cited, you're invisible.
One hotel group spent £40,000 on SEO in early 2025. Google rankings went up. Bookings went down. They appeared in zero AI searches.
AI platforms cite facts, not marketing fluff. Room dimensions. Airport distance. Nightly rates with dates. Not "experience luxury" waffle.
We rebuilt their content with verifiable data. Three months later, they appeared in 60% of Perplexity searches. Bookings recovered.
Stop writing for algorithms. Write answers AI can cite.
Create Dedicated Pages for All Offerings
One of the most common SEO mistakes I see is when businesses don't fully showcase what they offer.
Many companies list all their services on a single "What We Do" page or upload only part of their products. One eCommerce client, for instance, hid several remotes and adapters thinking customers would ask if they were needed — they never did. Those items never ranked or sold because the listings didn't exist.
Actionable tip:
1. Audit your offerings. List every service or product you actually provide.
2. Map them to pages. Each unique offer deserves its own URL.
Even basic visibility beats having "perfect" SEO on pages that don't exist.
Build a Strategic Topical Cluster Framework
I often see businesses making one critical SEO mistake: producing content without a coherent topical architecture or clustering strategy. Many brands publish articles around loosely related keywords, jumping between subjects without fully developing topical depth or authority. The result is a fragmented site that appears generalist — and therefore less credible — to both users and search engines.
Actionable tip: Before creating new content, design a clear topic cluster framework. Establish pillar pages, organize related subtopics beneath them, and connect everything through strategic internal linking. This structured approach builds topical authority, enhances crawlability, and helps both Google and emerging AI-driven search engines better understand the site's core expertise and relevance within its niche.
Write for User Intent Not Keywords
One of the most common SEO mistakes I see businesses make is creating content for search engines instead of for people. They focus too heavily on keywords, which leads to robotic copy that ranks briefly but fails to engage or convert.
For example, I once audited a site that had dozens of keyword-stuffed blog posts about "best insurance plans," all optimized perfectly for search but with zero depth or personality. The pages ranked for a few weeks, then quickly dropped because users weren't staying on the page or interacting with the content.
The actionable fix is simple: write for intent, not just keywords. Start by identifying what the user actually wants to learn or solve, then structure your content to deliver that value naturally. Use keywords to guide the topic, not dictate the tone. When you create content that genuinely helps your audience, Google's algorithms will reward you with sustained visibility, and readers will reward you with trust.
Structure Content Before Building Links
One of the biggest SEO mistakes I see is businesses investing in link building before their content foundation is ready. The truth is, without a structured content strategy and proper keyword mapping, backlinks often deliver little to no long-term value.
Here's what usually happens, multiple pages target the same keywords, topical depth is missing, and internal linking doesn't guide search engines clearly. As a result, authority signals from backlinks are diluted instead of reinforcing the right pages.
The fix is simple but technical: start with a full keyword mapping exercise. Assign one primary keyword and a few semantic variations to each page, align them with search intent, and build internal links that flow authority toward your key money pages. Once your content architecture is sound, link building compounds your results instead of covering weak foundations.
Use One Clear H1 Tag Per Page
One of the most common SEO mistakes I see is letting inexperienced website developers handle your site structure. A perfect example is the misuse of H1 tags, either having no H1 at all or, worse, having multiple H1s on a single page.
This confuses Google about what the page is really about and can hurt your rankings.
Audit your site today using a free tool like Ahrefs Webmaster Tools or Screaming Frog. Make sure each page has exactly one H1 tag that includes the main keyword you want to rank for. Use H2s and H3s for subtopics to keep everything clean and clear for both users and search engines.
Create Location-Specific Resource Pages
In home services, a major mistake is treating the website as a brochure instead of a living resource. A roofer might have one generic "Services" page for an entire metro area, but AI Overviews won't cite that. Tip: Create location-specific pages with project photos, reviews, and pricing info. Think "Emergency Roof Repair in Plano TX" with geo-tagged images and FAQs, not just "Roofing Services."
