The point of SEO is to push your website up Google’s (and other search providers) page rankings, taking you from the inner pages of the search engine’s listings into the higher stratosphere of page number 1.
For business owners, this is particularly relevant, for the reasons we listed in this recent article, https://www.dumbfunded.co.uk. Still, despite a basic understanding of SEO principles, many business owners are guilty of making some of the common mistakes we will be detailing here.
Needless to say, if your website hasn’t been getting the traffic you expected, you may have fallen prey to some of these mistakes yourself.
Not taking the time to understand SEO properly
We need to be honest. SEO is complicated, and not everybody has the time or willingness to master the basics themselves. For this reason, it is worth outsourcing your website to a dedicated SEO agency, such as this one, https://herdl.com/seo/.
To avoid the rest of the mistakes on this page, such an agency will focus their time on ensuring your business lands successfully at page 1, instead of failing because of your ill-conceived efforts.
Using the wrong keywords
You might describe your product or business in a certain way, but would the person enter those words into the search engine?
You need to avoid jargon or words that the user is unlikely to type in and focus on words that are likely to trend and make sense to the average person.
To help you with your keywords, we recommend the use of Google’s own web tool, https://trends.google.com/trends/, to help you find the appropriate keywords.
Spamming keywords
Stuffing your keywords into every area of your website is not going to further your chances at hitting the top page of search rankings.
Search engines will think you are spamming the internet (which effectively you are) and will actively block your website from rising further.
Rather than repeat your key words in every sentence, title, and paragraph on your page, place them naturally around your website. Not only will what you have written make better sense to the reader, but you won’t register as being spammy by the search engine.
Publishing unoriginal content
If you reuse past content, copy and paste text from other websites, or include title tags and descriptions with similar sounding descriptions, the search engine will pick up on it and assume you are being spammy again.
While it’s not always easy, you do need to be unique in the content you post. repurpose certain keywords into different phrases, and research other websites to ensure you aren’t using similar content to theirs.
Not optimising your website
SEO isn’t only about finding the right content and keywords. Search engines can also recognise when your website isn’t optimised for mobile devices, which let’s face it, are what most people are using to browse the internet these days.
If your site doesn’t load correctly, or takes forever to appear on the user’s device, you are jeopardising your place in search listings, as well as reducing the user’s desire to look at your website again.
Use a website optimisation tool such as the one found here, http://www.websiteoptimization.com/ to increase your chances.
Finally
SEO is one of the greatest tools at your disposal for marketing your business, so you neglect it at your peril. Now you recognise some of the mistakes you may be making, you are in the better position to rectify them.
Alternatively, follow our advice, and contact an outside agency if you need help with in this area of your marketing. Your business will grow because of it.
