6 mistakes to avoid to optimize your SEO content strategy

SEO is often underestimated. Yet, a solid SEO strategy—and by extension, an effective SEO content strategy—can yield significant returns. Ranking well for the search queries your target audience uses and drawing them in with optimized content is the path to attracting high-quality traffic to your site—traffic that actually converts.

Here are six mistakes to avoid when optimizing your SEO content.

Mistake #1: Creating SEO content using only AI:

Content written entirely by AI is very often penalized or even de-indexed. While Google maintains that it does not penalize AI-generated content, a study conducted by SEO Academy analyzing 487 Google searches revealed that 83% of the top 5 results were *not* written by AI.

This would suggest that Google’s algorithm prefers to prioritize content written by humans. They also conducted a test on content created entirely by ChatGPT, and the result was:

This graph shows that the content was first modified using AI on March 5, then de-indexed around March 12, and re-indexed around March 20 after the article was rewritten by humans. Click here for SEO Services in Abu Dhabi

There are two possible explanations for this:

Either the content in question provided no real value—Google’s number one criterion
or Google actively de-indexes content written 100% by AI (since AI models write using content that already exists on Google)
Why would Google penalize content written entirely by AI?

Here are several reasons why content written 100% by AI might be penalized by Google:

AI models draw from dated sources (content that already exists and has been published online)
No new information is added to the topic—something Google dislikes and easily detects
Risk of “duplicate content” due to the first point
No human touch, opinion, or experience, meaning no originality for readers.

However, AI is great for:

Generating ideas
Overcoming writer’s block
Effectively placing keywords
AI is a complement, an additional tool.

If you decide to write an article entirely using AI, make sure to at least incorporate your own experience and opinion to minimize the risk of a penalty.

*Duplicate content = finding identical or partially identical content on two different sites. Google uses a filter to avoid displaying results where the content is the same.

Mistake #2: Indeed, if you do not link your pages together, the Googlebot will simply stop crawling your site if one of the pages does not point to any other page. This would be a shame, as it is far better for Google to crawl the site in its entirety.

However, it’s not quite that simple.

You shouldn’t just link pages together if they don’t share a common topic. For example: imagine one of your articles is about cat food, and you include a link to another article about medical care for dogs. While both relate to animals, they aren’t in the same thematic category. You need to maintain consistency.

Why use internal linking?

Google needs to:

Understand your site’s structure
Navigate your site without hitting a dead end (a page with no internal links)
See that your content pieces complement each other, which reinforces your expertise on the subject

Mistake #3: Failing to analyze search intent:

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received when starting out in marketing and especially in SEO was: “Put yourself in your target audience’s shoes.”

In SEO Advice is crucial because there is no value in ranking for keywords that no one is actually searching for. You might be surprised by how many keywords are never searched for at all. There is a difference between what we imagine and reality. C

I have a technique for this.

Create a spreadsheet (in Excel or a Notion table) listing the keywords you think your target audience is searching for, including three pieces of information for each:

Search volume (available via tools like Semrush or Haloscan, for example)
Competition (the number of Google search results that appear when you type in the keyword yourself)—see example below
The ratio of volume to competition
This ratio will then allow you to rank your keywords from most impactful to least impactful.

Example of how to check competition numbers on Google:

First, perform a Google search using your keyword, then click on “Tools”; a figure will appear, such as “About 3,250,000 results.” This represents your level of competition.

Error #4: Neglecting user experience (UX):

This error can be quickly rectified. Even minor changes can alter your content’s ranking on Google.

To ensure the best user experience, I recommend using the Google extension known as Lighthouse (or PageSpeed Insights). This extension allows you to delve deeper into the specific factors Google evaluates when determining your ranking.

Before using this extension, check for several basic issues, such as:

Text blocks of 300 words without any headings or subheadings
Font size that is too small (12px is too small)
Lack of navigation between pages
Absence of breadcrumbs on the blog
Lack of images to illustrate the content

Error #5: Writing content that is too short and/or lacks illustrations:

As mentioned regarding Error #4, content should be illustrated to help the reader understand it better and to provide visual breathing room between paragraphs. Illustrations can take the form of images or videos.

However, videos should no longer be used merely to supplement site content; instead, they should serve as the page’s central element.

In fact, Google Search Console will flag a “No video indexed” error if the video is not positioned as the central element of your page or article.

Additionally, content should contain a minimum of 800 words so that Google perceives it as sufficiently detailed and well-supported.

Mistake #6: Not updating SEO content frequently:

Google places a high value on fresh, recent content! It recognizes that up-to-date information is likely to meet the specific needs users are searching for at a given time.

Therefore, it is recommended to update your articles at least once a year—for instance, by including the current year in the title. You should also update downloadable content (such as case studies, guides, etc.) every one to two years.

Bonus tip: Include a number or the current year in your article title. This allows Google to display the result like this:

Conclusion:

By avoiding these mistakes, you ensure your content is not only well-optimized for search engines but also relevant and engaging for your target audience. This allows you to maximize your SEO strategy and, consequently, the success of your site. Remember to leverage AI without becoming dependent on it, keep search intent and user experience in mind, implement internal linking, and keep your content up to date and visually enriched.