The 7 SEO Mistakes That Are Killing Your Traffic (And How to Fix Them) | SEO for Beginners

If you’ve been blogging for a while and feel like you’re doing everything right—posting regularly, sharing on social media, tweaking your site—yet your traffic isn’t growing, you’re not alone.

Many bloggers struggle because they miss a few key SEO basics. If you’re still finding your feet, it’s worth revisiting some blogging basics for beginners and understanding why many blogs fail, even when the content itself is good.

SEO can feel confusing, technical, and honestly a little overwhelming when you’re just starting out. The good news? Most traffic drops and flatlines come down to a handful of very common beginner mistakes—and they’re all fixable.

This guide is friendly, jargon-free, and step by step. My mission has always been to help and inspire people wherever they are in their journey, and this post is no different. Let’s simplify SEO and get your blog moving again.

Mistake #1: Writing Without a Clear Keyword

Why this hurts your traffic

If Google doesn’t know what your post is about, it won’t know when to show it in search results. Writing without a clear keyword means your content has no real SEO direction.

This is one of the most common mistakes beginners make when learning the types of SEO and how on-page optimisation works.

The solution (step by step)

1. Pick ONE main keyword for each post (for example: SEO tips for beginners).

2. Make sure it matches what someone would actually search for.

3. Use it naturally in:

   • Your title

   • The first paragraph

   • A subheading or two

   • Your meta description

If you’re unsure what Google expects, an on-page SEO checklist can help you cover everything without overthinking it. You might also find it useful to review what every blog post should include to make sure nothing important is missing.

Tip: Don’t stuff keywords everywhere. Write for humans first, search engines second.

Mistake #2: Targeting Keywords That Are Too Competitive

Why this hurts your traffic

Trying to rank for broad terms like SEO or blogging is like trying to shout in a crowded room. Big websites will always win.

The solution (step by step)

1. Choose long-tail keywords (longer, more specific phrases).

2. Think beginner-friendly searches like:

   • SEO tips for new bloggers

   • how to grow blog traffic slowly

3. Use tools like Google search suggestions or "People also ask" for ideas.

Once your posts are live, don’t forget that you can also get more traffic from existing posts by refining keywords instead of starting from scratch every time.

Tip: Smaller keywords = less competition = better chance to rank.

Mistake #3: Ignoring Search Intent

Why this hurts your traffic

Even if you use the right keyword, Google won’t rank your post if it doesn’t match what the searcher actually wants.

The solution (step by step)

1. Search your keyword in Google.

2. Look at the top results:

   • Are they guides?

   • Lists?

   • Tutorials?

3. Match the format and depth—then make yours clearer and more helpful.

This is also a great time to do a content audit for your blog or consider updating old blog posts so they better match current search intent.

Tip: SEO isn’t about tricking Google. It’s about answering questions better.

Mistake #4: Weak or Missing Meta Descriptions

Why this hurts your traffic

Your meta description is what convinces people to click. A boring or missing one means lost traffic—even if you rank.

The solution (step by step)

1. Write a custom meta description for every post.

2. Keep it around 150–160 characters.

3. Explain exactly what the reader will get.

If you’re reviewing your site overall, an SEO blog audit checklist can help you spot missing meta descriptions quickly. It’s also worth making sure your site meets basic compliance by having the essential legal pages for bloggers in place.

Tip: Think of it as your mini sales pitch.

Mistake #5: Forgetting Internal Links

Why this hurts your traffic

Internal links help Google understand your site and keep readers clicking around longer.

The solution (step by step)

1. Link to 2–5 related posts in every article.

2. Use natural anchor text (not "click here").

3. Update older posts to link to new content.

Internal linking also supports promoting blog posts, building a strong blog brand, and improving your site authority. If you’re working on growth, learning how to improve your domain authority and understanding what domain authority means can make a real difference.

Tip: This is one of the easiest SEO wins—don’t skip it.

Mistake #6: Publishing Content Too Thin or Too Vague

Why this hurts your traffic

Short, surface-level posts don’t stand out—and Google knows it.

The solution (step by step)

1. Aim to fully answer the topic.

2. Add examples, steps, and practical tips.

3. Ask yourself: Would this help a complete beginner?

Focusing on trust and quality matters more than ever. Understanding E-A-T in blogging, including expertise and authority, can help you create stronger content. You should also consider essential blog post elements and making your blog more accessible so every reader can benefit.

Tip: Helpful content always wins in the long run.

Mistake #7: Expecting Instant Results

Why this hurts your motivation

SEO is a slow burn. Many bloggers quit right before results start showing.

The solution (step by step)

1. Give posts 3–6 months to gain traction.

2. Focus on consistency, not perfection.

3. Track progress monthly—not daily.

Setting realistic blogging goals and improving time management for bloggers makes it much easier to stay consistent. And while big wins can happen—as shown in how I grew my blog traffic—they’re built on steady effort.

Tip: Blogging success is built over time, not overnight.

Final Thoughts: SEO for Beginners Doesn’t Have to Be Scary

SEO isn’t about algorithms and complicated tricks—it’s about creating clear, helpful content that serves real people and answers real search queries.

If you’re a beginner blogger, remember:

• Start small

• Learn one thing at a time

• Improve as you go

You don’t need to know everything today. You just need to keep showing up.

If you’re learning, growing, and trying—you’re already doing it right.

Thanks for being here. Let’s keep learning and inspiring each other.

Blogging: Easy Ways To Improve SEO on Your Website

Taking these steps can help improve your website SEO

1. Optimise Your Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

The title of your page and the meta description are often the first things people see in search results. Make sure your page titles:

• Include your main keyword.

• Are clear, concise, and descriptive.

• Grab attention without being clickbait.

Meta descriptions should summarise the content of the page and include your target keywords. While they don’t directly impact rankings, a compelling meta description can increase click-through rates, which signals to search engines that your content is valuable.

2. Use Keywords Strategically

Keywords help search engines understand what your content is about. To improve your SEO:

• Research relevant keywords using free tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest.

• Include primary keywords naturally in headings, subheadings, and the body text.

• Avoid keyword stuffing; quality and readability matter more than repetition.

Long-tail keywords (longer, more specific phrases) are particularly useful for blogs because they often have less competition and attract more targeted traffic.

3. Optimise Images

Images make your content more engaging, but they also impact SEO. Make sure to:

• Compress images to reduce file size and improve page load speed.

• Use descriptive file names (e.g., easy-seo-tips.jpg).

• Add alt text to describe the image; this improves accessibility and helps search engines index your content.

4. Improve Your Website Speed

A slow website can hurt both user experience and your search rankings. To speed up your site:

• Choose a reliable hosting provider.

• Minimise the use of large images and videos.

• Use caching plugins if you’re on WordPress.

Google prioritises fast-loading websites, so even small improvements can make a big difference.

5. Use Internal and External Links

Links are a key part of SEO. They help search engines understand your site structure and build authority.

• Internal links: Connect related pages on your own site to keep readers engaged and reduce bounce rates.

• External links: Link to authoritative sources to provide value and show credibility.

6. Make Your Content Mobile-Friendly

With most people browsing on smartphones or tablets, a mobile-friendly website is essential. Use a responsive design that automatically adjusts to different screen sizes. Google also prioritises mobile-friendly sites in search results, so this step is crucial for SEO.

7. Create High-Quality, Engaging Content

Ultimately, content is king. Google rewards content that is:

• Informative and useful.

• Well-written and easy to read.

• Engaging, with headings, bullet points, and images to break up text.

Regularly updating your blog with fresh content signals to search engines that your website is active, which can improve rankings.

8. Use Social Sharing to Boost Visibility

While social signals don’t directly affect search rankings, sharing your content on social media platforms can increase traffic, engagement, and backlinks. Encourage readers to share your posts, and consider integrating social sharing buttons on each page.

Final Thoughts

Improving SEO doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By implementing these simple strategies – from optimising titles and keywords to enhancing website speed and content quality – you can make your website more visible, attract more visitors, and grow your online presence.

Start with a few of these tips today, and over time, you’ll see real improvements in your search engine rankings.

Blogging: Simple Ways You Can Get More Traffic From Your Existing Posts

Optimising your existing posts

Why you should optimise old blog posts

How to optimise existing posts to get more traffic

Blogging: How I Got Over 200K Views In One Month

What I did to increase my blog traffic

Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full disclosure about all the legal stuff here.

I'm not posting this to brag. Those of you that know me, already know that I have a passion for blogging and like to share the information and tips I learn along the way with others. I want us all to succeed.

I've been blogging for a long time now. I started this particular blog back in June 2012 and it has evolved multiple times over the years. 

I didn't start taking it seriously until 2018 and it's only really in the past couple of years that I've been working on being a 'professional blogger'. By this I mean working towards making blogging my actual job.

It hasn't been easy and there have been lots of ups and downs along the way but I'm getting closer and closer to achieving that big goal and, trust me, if I can do it you can too! 

Blog Goals

At the start of the year I set myself some goals that I wanted to achieve in 2024 and one of those goals was to get over 100K views to my blog in one calendar month.

What the low traffic months taught me

Before jumping into the breakdown of what I did to reach my 200K views goal I wanted to share with you what I learnt from the not so great months. 

I got ill and my traffic suffered. I wasn't well enough to write posts or promote them and at the end of the month it showed. 

Lesson number 1 - Schedule blog posts in advance.

I now make sure I schedule as many posts as possible in advance. I'm talking at least a month in advance. I currently have some posts already set up and scheduled for posting in December. 

Even if you can't set up all the posts for publishing, try to do at least a few posts per week so that if you can't post for whatever reason at most you'll just miss a day or two between posts. 

I've made a point of trying to organise my content calendar as far in advance as possible too. This way I always know what I'll be posting when. I can brainstorm and fill out my content calendar for the month ahead in one afternoon. 

Lesson number 2 - Schedule social media posts in advance.

Whilst most of my activity on social media is live I now make sure I schedule at least a few promotional posts in advance for each day. Again, I try to schedule a month in advance. 

I make sure I'm sharing both new and older content from my blog. 

It doesn't take long to schedule posts and it means that whatever life decides to throw at me I'll still have a consistent posting and promotion to pull traffic to my site. 

Lesson number 3 - The lows make the highs even better.

When you see your stats drop it can feel awful. You might even feel like giving up. Know that it's just a minor set back though. 

Back at the end of May I had the lowest traffic I'd had in a long time. It didn't feel good. Stepping back, taking a break or giving up would have meant the end of my big dream to turn this blog into a full time income though.

When you hit a low, work twice as hard to hit a high. Use that moment of failure to push yourself to reach higher. Learn, improve, repeat.

May me would never have thought that August me was going to smash my goal of 100K views but I didn't give up and kept working towards the goal. Then October happened 🤯

How to get 200k views on a blog?

So, how exactly did I get over 262,198 views to my blog in one month? 

This is everything I did to build traffic to my blog.

1. Consistency and frequency

I scheduled posts in advance to maintain consistent posting. 

My goal is to post Monday to Saturday every week. Whilst I did skip a few days I was able to stay mainly on track with this posting schedule, largely due to the fact that I scheduled the majority of my posts for the month in advance. 

Search engines like Google are always looking for fresh content. If you are posting consistently then your site will be crawled and indexed frequently too. 

By having a posting routine you also have more chance of building a loyal following of readers that regularly come back to your blog. 

"Maintaining a consistent blog posting schedule is important for improving your blog’s SEO and attracting more visitors." - from How Often Should You Write Blog Posts? [Blogging Frequency Best Practices] by Outranking

"Think of your business blog as a tripod that’s held up with the ‘legs’ of content, consistency, and frequency. Without all three pieces, your blog won’t be able to stand by itself. Publishing good content isn’t enough. You need a frequent blogging schedule and a consistent strategy, too." - from The Importance of Consistent and Frequent Blogging by Heads Up Results.

Obviously the more you post the more content you have to draw in traffic with. It's important that you put out quality content though so pick a frequency that works for you. Six days a week is a lot and just not doable for some. That's fine. Find what works for you. 

2. Don't forget past content

I updated older posts. My secret weapon for increasing page views. I didn't do anything major in terms of updating but this is the thing that has, without doubt, had the biggest impact on my traffic. 

For the most part it involved little tweaks; updating the disclaimer message on the post, updating the graphics to fit my current branding and maybe adding an internal link to a newer post. I also checked to make sure the posts had a meta description and tags. In some cases I added a header if it was missing. 

The Google core update from August 2024 takes into consideration any improvements a site may have made which is why updating older posts can have such a big impact on traffic. 

In my post ways to upgrade old blog posts you can find more ideas about things you can improve to help increase blog traffic to content you already have on site.

I am definitely going to be spending more time working on updating my older posts and improving their SEO. 

When I started out I knew nothing about SEO and it shows. I cringe at some of them now. 

As I've had this blog for a long time, it's going to take me a long time to update everything and bring all the posts up to my current standards. It will definitely be worth it though. 

Older posts that had dropped to less than 10 views a month are now getting at least 50-100 views again now. That makes a huge difference at the end of the month. 

Do the maths:

10 posts each getting 10 views a month is 100 views.

100 posts each getting 100 views a month is 10,000 views.

Obviously this is just an example but you get the idea. 

The more posts you have regularly bringing in traffic to your blog the better. 

3. Schedule promotional posts

By scheduling at least a few promotional posts for each day of the month in advance it means you can dedicate more time to the actual content on you site, and avoid wasting too much time scrolling on social media instead of actually working on your blog. I speak from experience!

What I scheduled in advance:

A. I scheduled promotional posts to my Twitter (still can't bring myself to call it X) profile. 

This is the site I'm most active on and so I only scheduled one or two tweets per day. This is because I usually drop in several times a day on the site to chat with others, share posts, join discussions etc...

B. I scheduled promotional posts to my Facebook page. Whilst this isn't a big source of traffic, it is quick and easy to schedule and does bring in some views. 

My usage of Facebook is currently very limited. I usually just set up a post a day for each day of the month. 

I am curious to see if I was to do more with my Facebook page what kind of impact it would have on traffic to my blog. I'd also like to experiment with Facebook groups more in the future to see the results of those. 

C. I scheduled promotional posts to my Pinterest boards. I created multiple pins for each new blog post and created new pins for older blog posts too. 

I definitely want to work on my Pinterest strategies and learn more about the platform as a means to promote my blog posts. I already know that the potential is huge. 

One area in particular that I'd like to learn more about, and be more active in using, is the Pinterest group boards. 

Whilst we're on the subject of social media, as a side note, I shared a post to my LinkedIn profile most days too. That wasn't scheduled. It was just me posting the link for my latest post there directly.

Final thoughts about how I got over 200K views in one month

The last thing I wanted to mention is that none of the things I did this month cost me any money. They were all free and just involved investing time and effort into my blog. 

In just an hour or two a day I managed to more than double my blog traffic from last month. This was an amazing milestone for me and I'm very grateful to everyone that comes to my little corner of the internet. 

I hope this post has given you some ideas of what you can do to increase traffic to your own blog.

Let's chat

Building blog traffic doesn't happen overnight but with the right strategies, and some patience, you'll be hitting your goals in no time. 

What strategies are you using to increase traffic to your own content? 

If you're just beginning your blogging journey or want to take your blog to a new level, check out The Ultimate Guide for Book Bloggers. It's packed with tips and loads of information for book bloggers of all levels.

Curious about the stats of other book bloggers? Check out the Book Blogging in 2024 Survey. 

Looking for more simple tips? Blogging is a journey, and you don’t have to do it alone. If you're ready to grow your site without the overwhelm, head over to my beginner-friendly blogging resource hub for more easy-to-follow advice and guides

If you'd like to support me, donating goes a long way to helping with the running of this blog. Thanks for your support 💗

Donate now

Blogging: Off-Page SEO Checklist

Exploring Search Engine Ranking with Off-Page SEO Strategies

Search engines are a powerful source of traffic for blogs so optimising your blog for SEO is important. 

Whilst On-Page SEO plays a significant role in search engine ranking Off-Page SEO is equally, if not more, important.

A Guide to Off-Page SEO

What is Off-Page SEO?

What kind of tactics are part of Off-Page SEO?