We’re just going to be honest… Google doesn’t trust you! What a dramatic statement, right? You may be thinking, “Why wouldn’t Google trust me? Google totally trusts me!”
Many businesses make the mistake of thinking that their online presence is up to par when in reality, it doesn’t meet Google’s standards. Now more than ever, it’s important for your website to be accurate and trustworthy. You could be unknowingly making simple mistakes that are inevitably causing Google to stop trusting you and inadvertently, steering visitors away from your page. Even if you think that your website couldn’t get any better, take a look at these common, simple mistakes that you may be making.
- Your Website is a Chaotic Mess
Google notices when webpages aren’t well-maintained or given the attention that they require. Google gathers this information through things on your websites like broken links, nonexistent navigation bars, and other website related issues. Unfortunately, that will reflect on the ability of your visitors to find your website and the information they need. If you’re dealing with any of these issues, then you should clear them up as soon as you can. You don’t want the disorganization of your site to be the reason why you don’t have more traffic.
- Your Pages are Filled with Typos and Grammatical Errors
Brush up on your spelling and grammar! Typos and grammatical errors will count against you in engine search scoring, as they show a lack of attention to detail. A great way to avoid typos or errors is to double-check all areas of spelling and grammar on your site! Although Google won’t be trolling your site for those errors, web crawlers will! Web crawlers are internet bots that crawl websites and store information for the search engine to index. You want to prove to your visitors and researchers that your information is professional enough to use. Therefore, always check your site for errors.
- Don’t Copy Content
You’ve probably heard the phrase “Don’t Plagiarize” once or twice while in school. The same respect goes for websites on the internet. Copying another website’s content may seem like an innocent, easy solution. But don’t let the inner workings of your mind fool you! You’ll be better off creating your own content and not copying information from another website. The reason for this is that Google will have absolutely no reason to send visitors your way if it can find the original source and send visitors there. If your content is stolen, you should try to fix the problem immediately. On top of all this, web crawlers will ignore your site, which would limit the amount of information that Google receives.
- You don’t have secure connections
If your website asks users to fill out forms, enter credit card information or other personal information, you should make sure that you have SSL connections installed on your website. This is an incredibly important feature that will prove that your website is secure. It will also show visitors that their information will not be sold or stolen. Google prefers websites with SSL connections. You can imagine why! Google will absolutely trust you if you have this feature on your site. Your web hosting service provider will either include SSL connections in their packages or as an additional feature for a small fee.
- You Haven’t Updated your Website
An outdated website is not going to get the same attention or search traffic as an updated website would get. Those are just the facts! If you haven’t updated your website in a while, you should rethink your plan of action. Google doesn’t trust websites that are outdated. It’s not only Google that you need to worry about, but it’s also your website visitors that find outdated content suspicious. If you are unable to tell if your website needs an update, then ask a friend to judge it for you!
If you haven’t given your website a good look lately, now would be the time! There are many reasons, beyond the five listed, why Google might not trust you. Just because Google doesn’t trust you now, doesn’t mean it never will! These five common mistakes are a good starting point to check over your website and give it the attention that it needs. If you’ve noticed a decrease in website traffic, it may be due to one of these reasons. But, it’s not too late. Make updates to your website and Google will start trusting you in no time!