Why Your Website Isn’t Performing Well: Major SEO Reasons

You may have launched a grand new website or have been running one for a long time. However,  despite all efforts, you are hearing crickets. It's not that your products and offers are not liked, but the most probable reasons may be—faulty SEO. So, let us examine what can hold your site from showing up against search queries.

(a) Content written for bots, not users

Most of the time, there is a tug-of-war between the SEO team and the content team regarding the content. One looks at it purely from the search engine perspective. The other from the user perspective. The solution lies not in resolving the conflict but in the marriage of the two. SEO content appeals more to users and serves the primary purpose of customer satisfaction in parallel to search engine recognition. Now, everywhere you are likely to read that you need to write content for users, but what is content in reality ?

Content that satisfies the user has the following elements:

i) Conversational  tone of writing

Even before the content is written, the writer must have a clear persona drawn of the user. He should be acquainted with the likes , dislikes and psychological bent of mind of the users when interacting with your content.

ii) Style, tone and the type of content

The style and tone of content matter a lot. You can sell your proposition even without being seen selling. You can write for high-end luxury offers and products even without using a single decorative word. Knowing what your customer is looking for in each segment helps the writer a lot in framing user-centric content.

Think , I am a buyer of a luxury car, and you need to sell me your car, which is not very well-known. So, what would be the proposition that I would be looking for? Of course! It would be elements like:

• • The prestige that comes with buying the car.
  • Extra comfort during driving.
  • Performance of the car.
  • The facilities offered on the car dashboard

Well, for a high-end car buyer , I would not be elaborating on

• How cheap the car is.
• Low repairing costs.
• Free offers that come with purchase.

We need to draw a clear matrix based on the persona of the features and benefits that we need to showcase on our page.

(b) Topics not very relevant to the niche

This is a major problem with most websites. In trying to expand their readership or online presence , they take a non-focused approach that often leads them astray, and the topics do not connect with the niche or the service that the website provides. We need to divide the range of topics to be covered into various concentric circles. Don't get me. Let me explain with an example.

Let's say you are selling washing machines.

So, what can be the topics which can relate most to the product or service most?

Core Topics

• Washing machines: how they function.
• Why your washing machines are better.
• Parts of a washing machine.
• Modern advancements in your washing machine, etc.

Now come the relevant topics which are connected to the product-service but a bit distant, like:

Allied Topics

• Fabric of clothes and washing.
• Detergent quality and its performance during various washes.
• Hard water and soft water: how to treat them before washing.

Now comes the third, which is still connected to the service-product but has quite a distance.

Far Allied Topics

• Types of clothes that absorb more water.
• Washing and recycling water, and so on.

Now, when it comes to gaining heights on SERP results, you need to have a clear diagram like:

Unless and until most of the topics are core or allied, you are not getting that kind of ranking advantage for your service.

You may be thinking that "my far allied topic is gaining ranks on search engines". So why am I speaking so? From our experience, we have seen that the most converting pages for your service-product on the website are the ones which cater to core or allied topics. Even if you are ranking first on search engines in a far allied topic , it's not so converting. It can be due to your inability to show your authority in your niche or service area.  You establish solid authority only by having topics too relevant to your niche. Otherwise, even with huge brand visibility , you are not able to earn the tag of an authority in the arena.

(c) Content not relevant to the topic

You must ensure that each and every point of the content is somehow connected to the topic. The more closely it connects, the more the relevance of the page is and better the rankings.

If, as a user , you are searching for some information about a particular topic, you would like that information to be served under that topic, not any other information, not related to the topic, however insightful that information may be.

(d) The site is not optimized for all the Google updates

Yes, my friends, even in this age when Google brings out new updates every now and then, a few webmasters are still running on the old format. For your website to rank high and draw traffic, you must ensure that your website has been upgraded according to:

- All the Panda updates

- The hummingbird update

-The Penguin, RankBrain, Medic , Bert and other core updates.

Your webmaster must and should regularly monitor algorithmic flux and make changes to the site, wherever needed.

(e) Site is not mobile responsive

Let's consider certain facts before we delve deeper.

If you have not optimized your website for mobiles, you are missing out on a huge segment of traffic. Installing AMP for accelerating speed, making your website mobile responsive ensures that you can effectively tap into the reserve of those who have 'mobile' used for their search.

(f) CTAs are not properly placed - Not optimized for all devices

What is a call to action? It is the specific action that a user takes if you can deliver him -her certain value on your page. It maybe

- Submitting a form
- Having a chat
- Placing an order for your product and services

And more.

Now, if you have a call to action missing after you have delivered value, you are losing on the chance of getting your users to move to the next stage of accepting your proposition.

Now , your call to action anchor text and navigation thereafter must suffice the intent for which the customer is clicking the CTA button or must be pertaining to what you are promising the customer through your content.

Important- Call To Action must match the intent of your audience.It is not a bright coloured button that you can slap your user with anywhere and anytime. It should be present just below the content, which suffices the customer's intent and propels them to take specific action.

For your call to action to make a mark with your website users:

• It must have enough contrast to differentiate it from other parts of the page-
• All the CTAs must have the same colour scheme
• Don't overload your page with too many CTAs. Often, when lots of choices are available, a user gets confused
• CTAs must be optimized for mobile. The breadth of the CTAs must be rationalized so that they can be clicked with a thumb or fingers
• CTAs must guide towards a single specific action

(g) Navigation is erroneous

Don't clutter your website menu with lots of items, rather group them into separate buckets . Not only that Search bars must return results of what the user is searching for, not something different. Only matching and naturally linking content must be interlinked. The entire navigation exercise must be taken at the time when you are creating the sitemap. There should be provisions for how future navigation would happen if pages or sections are added later.

Important: Your user must be able to complete the desired journey they want to take through your website in the minimum possible time and without any confusion or doubt. Don't go on adding resources or web pages without a proper navigation structure in place.

(h) Link quality is poor

Desist from accepting spammy backlinks. There is a simple route to identify whether the backlink you are getting is worth it. Check the Domain Authority of the website and the PA of the web page from where you are receiving your links.

Important: High DA websites will not provide spammy links. It is because these domains have gained their high authority over a period of time, only by following good linking practices. Try to get as many links from domains related to your service or in your niche rather than from websites which are not anyway related to your service.

(i) Lots of redirects and loops

Don't set either the Google bot or your user on a wild goose chase. Most of the time, users tend to stop the specific search  while going through a redirect

(j) Page loading speed not optimized

No one likes a slow-loading website. After all, there are hundreds of other service providers who are offering the same kind of products-services. So, when a user is spoiled with choices online, you can't take the risk of having them wait. In those fractions of seconds, your user may stop the search and move to your competitor's site.  These are some of the major reasons out of multiple other reasons that may be blocking your website from standing tall in the online world.

Well, we at Dukami believe that holistic marketing of your service and products begins with a well-running website, and our entire digital marketing activities ensure that you gain maximum ROI and leads through your website and an unmatched reputation.