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Most Common On-Site SEO Problems

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SEMrush-Common-On-Site-SEO-Issues-Aug2016

SEMrush, one of the leading search engine marketing tools (and one of the tools Haley Marketing uses), recently did an audit of 100,000 websites and 450 million web pages to examine the biggest on-site SEO issues. They found a lot of the same issues popping up on many sites.

As a staffing and employment agency, here are the biggest SEO problems you should look out for on your website:

Duplicate content.

Half of the websites audited in this survey had duplicate content issues. Duplicate content is either content that is also found on other sites, or found on 2 or more pages of your own website. This often occurs if you have copied and pasted content from other sites, or have articles, press releases or other content republished in several places on your website. Contrary to popular belief, duplicate content doesn’t carry a direct ranking penalty. BUT, having duplicate content doesn’t ADD rank value to your site. Also, if you duplicate several pages on your own site, you won’t provide the best user experience.

Missing Alt Tributes

As websites begin to add more and more rich media and photos, infographics, etc. it’s still important to add Alt tags. In the past, we used to add alt tags to every image on a website. However, it’s a less important ranking factor today. But where it does come into play is in image search or product searches. For staffing and employment agencies, if you are posting job-related graphics, infographics with stats about employment trends, or other rich media, it still makes sense to add alt tributes. However, I wouldn’t worry too much about adding alt attributes to stock images that show up at the top of your web pages.

Duplicate Title Tags

The title tag is what shows up in the top tab of your Internet Browser and it’s also the title that shows up when your page ranks well in search results. Make sure your titles are unique for each page of your site. Make sure they include keywords and are relevant to the content on that page. All too often we see just a title that is the page title (for example “Services”). Instead, your page title should sell the value of that page with keyword rich terms (for example: “Top Marketing Agency for Staffing Companies – Haley Marketing”).

Broken Internal Links

If you have broken links, fix them. The search engines are paying much more attention to user experience signals — broken links are a really bad one. We often see broken links when a new website is launched.  Be sure to set-up redirects and periodically look for broken links. At Haley Marketing, we use SEMrush and Ahrefs to help search for broken links and fix them. You can also use Google Webmaster Tools to find broken links.

Duplicate or Missing Meta Descriptions

Just like Title Tags above, your meta descriptions show up in search results. Use keywords and sell the value of your page. Think of this as a billboard. If you have a catchy description that is quick and concise, you’re much more likely to get someone to take action. Each page on your site should have it’s own unique meta description.

Low Text to HTML Ratio

All too often I see staffing and recruiting websites with pages that only include a sentence or two. If you create pages with a few keywords and no real content, you’re probably doing more harm than good. Each page on your site should add value to the user and have a healthy amount of content.

Need SEO Help for Your Staffing Website?

Looking to drive more targeted traffic from job seekers and employers? As the leading SEO company for staffing firms, we can help. Contact Haley Marketing Group today!

 

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