Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a widely known term in the digital marketing industry. You really have to rely on SEO if you want to succeed in an online business. As an online business owner, you should understand what SEO is, how it works and its benefits for various types of websites.

So, what is SEO? Search Engine Optimization is a set of rules that website owners strive to follow to have their sites ranked high in search engines’ results. Precisely, it is the process to follow to help your site get more traffic and be more visible on search engines.

Good SEO practices will improve the quality of your website by making it faster, user-friendly and easier to navigate. On the other hand, certain mistakes could hinder you from getting the most out of your SEO practices. These mistakes include:

Wrong Keywords

Using the right keywords on every page will have your website optimized easily on search engines such as Google. Using generic keywords is a common mistake you will encounter with many site owners. For instance, if you are a small online business owner, you have to try to be more specific with your keywords rather than being generic.

Let’s assume you want your website optimized for rental cars. Using the term “rental car” will not help get you optimized. This is because there are thousands of similar businesses in the world that you will be competing with. To make your keyword more specific and unique, add at least the location of your company to the keyword.

Note that, longer and more specific keywords will rank your site higher than generic keywords that are obvious. One keyword can never get you ranked number one on search engines. Long keywords combined will gain you more traffic if you optimize them on various pages of your website.

Ignoring Local Optimization

Are you a small business owner looking to market your products or services within a certain region? If yes, then you have to learn more about local optimization. Most search engines will handle such businesses differently from those focusing on the entire world.

The easiest way to go about local optimization is by using keywords that are region-specific in page titles and Meta titles. To show up in local results, be sure to include a local phone number and address in your pages. Lastly, do not forget to list yourself on review networks and locally based sites.

Focusing on Irrelevant Content
Search engines such as Google use the same criteria to award search engine ranks. Other SEO rules play a role in the ranking, but relevant content will push you higher. In the 90s, Google made it clear that only sites with the most relevant content can be ranked first on their search engines. This means that you might never rank first on Google if you use irrelevant content regardless of having long chain keywords.

So, as you strive to come up with the right keywords, pay attention to the content you post on your website. Take a moment to ask yourself if your audience find your content helpful and satisfying.

Not Hiring SEO Experts

SEO practices change now and then. As a business owner, you might not keep tabs on SEO trends. On the other hand, it is the job of SEO experts to be up to date with current SEO strategies, trends, and any changes in algorithms.

As a business owner, you are better at managing your business, and not SEO practices. It would take quite some time for you to understand SEO. Why strain to learn something that you can leave to experts who understand it better. Hiring SEO experts might cost you some money, but it will at least save you from creating problems on your website that could need more time and money to rectify.

Forgetting About Mobile Traffic

Do you have mobile users in mind when planning on your SEO strategies? You have been leaving so much money on the table if you have been ignoring mobile traffic. Here is the catch, more than 50% of online traffic comes from mobile devices. So you can see how much you have been missing if your site is not mobile-friendly.

So, what makes your website mobile-friendly? To receive organic traffic from mobile devices, you will need to have a site that is responsive and has at most 3 seconds loading time. Mobile friendliness and a use-friendly page speed are among the top factors you should consider if you want to rank high.

Avoiding Regular Website Audits

If it was up to you, you wouldn’t feel the need to adjust anything in your website. You do everything you can to market your business. However, it would be good to be in the shoes of your audience and the search engines for a moment. Website audits review your site from the perspective of both your audience and the search engines.

That way, you get to know if any changes could be necessary. For instance, the website audits will help you understand if your content is easy to navigate for your users and other factors that could be affecting the ranking of your site. These audits should be on your to-do list if you really want to succeed in online marketing.

No Call to Action

It took a lot of effort to bring visitors to your site to lose them easily. If you do not take good care of your visitors, they will easily bounce off back to Google and continue with their search. A call to action is a good way to keep your visitors interested in your company.

Engage them by asking them to click through your site. Ensure that the goal of every page is clear and wind it up with a call to action. Do not add CTA buttons all along a page. This could make your visitors lose their focus and not get to where you want them. CTA’s are best if used at the bottom of a page.