The Dos and Don'ts: Common SEO Mistakes and How to Dodge Them

We audit a lot of websites. The vast majority have the same handful of problems. They're not exotic, they're not cutting-edge, they're not the result of some sneaky Google update. They're basic hygiene, and they're why thousands of businesses rank on page four when they could be on page one.

Mistake 1: targeting keywords nobody searches

"Premium bespoke artisan solutions." Nobody types this. Ever. Keyword research isn't about what you call yourselves, it's about what customers call you. If your target keyword has 20 searches a month and "half" of them are you, that's not a keyword, it's a vanity project.

Do: use proper volume data from Ahrefs, SEMrush or even Google Keyword Planner. Don't: invent keywords based on what your sales team says.

Mistake 2: one page for everything

A single "Services" page listing 14 services, each getting one bullet point, is a page that will rank for none of them. Google can't figure out what it's mainly about, so it ranks it for nothing in particular.

Do: create a dedicated page per service, per location if relevant. Don't: cram everything onto the homepage because the menu "looked cleaner".

Mistake 3: ignoring search intent

Ranking "best trainers for flat feet" with a product page trying to sell one specific trainer won't work. That query wants a comparison article, not a sales page. Mismatched intent loses every time, no matter how strong your links are.

Do: check the SERP before writing. See what's ranking, match the format. Don't: assume you know what Google wants better than Google does.

Mistake 4: thin content masquerading as blog posts

Three hundred words of generic advice, published monthly because "we need to keep publishing", is actively damaging. Thin content dilutes topical authority and flags your site as a low-effort operation.

Do: publish less, but make each piece genuinely useful. Don't: chase arbitrary publishing schedules with whatever filler you can bash out.

Mistake 5: internal linking chaos

Most sites have an "About" page linked from every page, and their actual money pages linked from almost nowhere. Internal linking is the cheapest way to redistribute authority, and most sites get it wrong.

• Do: link from high-authority pages to money pages using descriptive anchor text.
• Don't: use "click here" as anchor text. Ever.
• Do: audit internal links quarterly.
• Don't: rely on the main navigation as your entire internal linking strategy.

Mistake 6: forgetting about title tags and meta descriptions

The title tag is still one of the strongest on-page signals. Yet half the sites we audit have "Home | Company Name" as the homepage title, a tag optimised in 2011 and never touched since, or, brilliantly, duplicate titles across dozens of pages.

Do: write a unique, keyword-relevant, click-worthy title for every page. Don't: let your CMS auto-generate them and hope.

Mistake 7: slow sites that nobody fixes

Core Web Vitals have been ranking factors for three years. INP came in this March. Still, most sites are bloated with uncompressed images, unnecessary scripts, and themes that weren't built for speed.

Do: run PageSpeed Insights monthly, fix what it tells you, serve images in next-gen formats. Don't: install 47 plugins and wonder why the site feels like treacle.

Mistake 8: no schema markup

Schema doesn't directly boost rankings, but it drives rich snippets, which drive CTR, which indirectly boosts rankings. Local business, organisation, product, review, FAQ, breadcrumb, all free upgrades most sites haven't bothered with.

Do: implement schema appropriate to your content type. Don't: stuff fake reviews into Review schema. Google will catch you and it's ugly.

Mistake 9: ignoring existing content

Most sites have old posts that rank on page two or three with almost no effort. Refreshing them, updating dates, adding depth, improving internal links, is often higher ROI than publishing new content.

Do: audit existing content quarterly, refresh the pages ranking positions 4-20. Don't: obsess over new content while your existing pages rot.

Mistake 10: backlinks bought from dodgy places

If someone emails you offering "100 high DA backlinks for £50", they're selling you a disavow file in six months' time. Toxic backlinks used to be neutralised by Google. Now they can actively hurt you.

Do: earn links through PR, content, partnerships, digital PR. Don't: buy link packages from offshore agencies.

Mistake 11: no tracking, no idea

You can't improve what you don't measure. Yet we still find clients running six-figure campaigns without conversion tracking, without Search Console verified, without GA4 configured properly. Flying blind is expensive.

Do: set up Search Console, GA4, and conversion tracking before spending a penny on SEO. Don't: judge performance on "gut feel" or Google Analytics 2015-style page views.

Mistake 12: copying competitors without thinking

"Our competitor has this page, so we should too." Maybe. Maybe they've had it for years and it's an embarrassing legacy. Competitor analysis is diagnostic, not prescriptive. See SEO competitor analysis for the proper approach.

Do: learn from competitors' wins and avoid their mistakes. Don't: treat their structure as scripture.

Mistake 13: ignoring AI's impact

AI Overviews are eating informational traffic. Search behaviour is shifting. Sites still writing "what is X" articles for keywords now answered by Google's own AI are going to notice. For strategy, improving SEO with AI covers it.

Last word

SEO isn't complicated, not really. It's a long list of small things done consistently. The sites that win aren't the ones doing something clever. They're the ones not making these thirteen mistakes. Start there.