If your website is anything like mine, traffic from organic search is where you get most of your traffic. So when traffic starts falling, you start to worry that Google has it in for you. Or the search engine optimization strategy you've been using no longer works.
It's hard out there for content. The top 3 search results on Google get 61% of clicks. And 75% of Google users don't ever look at second page of search results.
So what are some of the most common mistakes that people make when they are trying to get good SEO? This infographic from Fertile Frog is a great primer.
A lot of people keyword stuff. Yes, you need keywords. But if you are using them too much, Google will notice.
Do you have broken links on your website? Deal with them now. Or you'll have to deal with their SEO consequences later.
Do you copy content from other sites? Google hates that. Your content should be original.
Don't copy from yourself either. If your content appears more than once on your site, Google will likely only index one of the copies.
You've heard this before, but it is still true. If you don't proofread, your readers (and Google) will notice. You want your content to be good. That's what Google also wants. Is your content original, useful, in-depth and well-written? It needs to be.
You should make the titles of your pages and all your meta-descriptions on your site unique.
If you are an individual who writes content for you own site, you can personally start fixing these errors right away.
If you are a manager who oversees content creation, think about the process that your writers are incentivized to use. A lot of websites don't support original reporting or in-depth writing. A lot of websites don't have proofreaders, let alone fact checkers. You can have your employees take SEO workshops, certainly, but supporting the creation of quality content is the only way to come out on top in the long run.