Search engine optimization is the science of having websites perform well in search engines. There are many factors that go into a website ranking well and getting lots of traffic. Here are three big mistakes that you don’t want your website to be guilty of. However, search engine optimization companies can easily fix these problems for you. Let’s look at three errors that hold a website back in the search engines.
The first sign that your website isn’t properly optimized is that it has slow loading times. The time it takes for your website to fully load will make a big impression on users. Making matters worse, if a competitor has a faster loading website, you may have just lost out on a customer. Websites have, on average, only 10 seconds to make an impact to tell customers what your website and company offers. Having a website that takes 10 seconds, or longer, will likely be far too long to hold the interest of a potential customer. Consider hiring an seo company to take care of this concern.
There are many ways that you can reduce the loading time of your website, making it more friendly to customers and it might even improve your search engine optimization efforts. Search engines will usually rank a website higher if it is responsive and has faster overall loading times. Customers will typically only read about 28% of a web page’s content. If you have website loads slowly, the previously mentioned percentage could end up being much smaller. It’s crucial to make every word and second count, increasing your chances of keeping that customer on your website.
The second sign your website is under-optimized could be potential malware hidden within the site. Malware is a type of computer virus that can hide just about anywhere. A recent report states that 20% of all malware that has ever been created was made in 2013. You can receive this type of virus from opening a bad email or other attachment. However, some website owners aren’t aware that malware can actually get into their website. Sadly, by the time your website has been infested with malware you might not even know that it happened. IT support companies have been eliminating malware from sites for years.
Malware isn’t only potentially dangerous for any visitors coming to your website, it can also hurt your search engine results. The big search engines all have automated website checkers, otherwise known as bots. If these bots come across malware on your website, it will raise a big red flag to them and could hurt your rankings. In 2013, there was an average of 82,000 new malware being reported every single day! A company that offers it services can easily keep your website free of malware.
The third and final sign your website isn’t properly optimized is that it isn’t mobile friendly. Recent data has shown the world that more people are viewing websites on their mobile devices. If a website pulled from search results is not mobile friendly, a study states that 40% of those people will skip that website for a different one. Website owners must be aware at how important mobile version of their web pages can be. Luckily, you don’t have to completely re-do your website or scrap the one you have. A business that offers search engine optimization services can easily transform your website into one that is mobile friendly.
Updating your website won’t just make it easier to be viewed by mobile users, it could positively impact your rankings. Many search engines, including Google, have placed increased importance on having a website that is optimized for mobile use. Recently, websites that were not optimized for use on mobile devices were even given a small type of penalty by Google! Once you have your mobile friendly website created, navigation is a very important concern you’ll want to have taken care of. Having a website that is a nightmare to navigate will only have users feeling frustrated. In a recent survey 46% of mobile users reported having difficulty interacting with a web page, while 44% reported having difficulty navigating a web page.