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Since Google is constantly tweaking its algorithm, several times each year, it’s hard to be 100 percent sure that the SEO practices in your site are up to date.
Moreover, you could be making SEO mistakes that could make you lose your traffic, revenue, and conversions. You should understand what is search engine marketing and how it can help you.
SEO is a fast-changing industry and what might have worked a couple of months or years ago may not work today.
In this post, we’ll talk about the top SEO mistakes that you could be making and how to fix them.
Failure to use the proper keywords
Keywords continue to remain a vital part of SEO. But many brands and businesses make the mistake of failing to use proper keywords. So, they would rank for different keywords and key phrases that don’t lead profitable results.
That’s why you should target for the keywords that you should realistically rank for. For you to be able to rank for SEO, you need to be on the top of the Search Engines Results Page (SERP.)
Next, you need to target keywords that carve out a particular niche that you can capitalize on. Look for the ones that have a reasonable volume, CPC, and competition.
Avoiding long-tail key phrases
Primary keywords are still relevant, but think of it this way ‒ most of your site traffic will come from long-tail keywords. That’s why you need to optimize your page correctly.
For instance, you published a blog article about on-page SEO. It’s targeting the primary keyword phrase “on-page SEO.” However, you should also be targeting other long-tail variations as well.
Keyword stuffing
Back in the day, webmasters would usually stuff keywords in their content with very little consideration to the readers, knowing that Google would still rank their sites high. While it may have worked in the past, Google has now changed its algorithms. It can now effectively recognize and penalize sites that are doing keyword stuffing.
Since keyword stuffing is a black hat technique, it goes against the SEO best practices.
Here are practical ways how you can avoid keyword stuffing:
- Find the right keywords to include in your content.
- Avoid incorrect phrases and sentences on your content.
- Increase the word count of your content. That way, you don’t have to force a keyword every 20 or 30 words or so.
- When your goal is to write a more informative post, you are likely to include keywords more naturally to the content.
- Focus on the quality of your content. Once you’re in the flow of things, keywords can be added naturally.
Neglecting mobile optimization
Mobile continues to dominate the search results. According to a 2016 search result, 58 percent of search queries come from mobile. So if your site isn’t mobile optimized, users will immediately leave. Your bounce rates will also soar.
In today’s digital friendly landscape, having a mobile-friendly site is a must. Moreover, this trend would likely favor mobile optimization even more. To know how mobile-friendly your site is, take Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
Forgetting about calls-to-action
Your calls-to-action or CTA is a chance to motivate prospects to take real steps into ultimately become a paying customer and client. Some might even argue that CTAs are the most crucial element of your site and ad campaigns. Skipping the CTA is a grave mistake that won’t work well for your business.
If you’re not presenting calls-to-action on your site you’re not giving readers an opportunity to convert.
Put these opportunities everywhere (without becoming too pushy about it.) Place pop-up offers, sign-up and download opportunities, and CTAs on your blog posts and articles.
Once you give users a better idea on what they need to do (or what to click on) they’re more likely to follow.
Moreover, use contrasting colors and accents in your CTA buttons. For example, if your website is mostly shades of blue, adding a warm nice orange or yellow will accent perfectly the color palette.
Absence of quality content
If your site’s content doesn’t have anything to do directly with SEO, then think again. Google utilizes the content on your website, both on web pages and blogs, to know how useful your content is, and what kind of experience you are providing to users.
Both of these elements are crucial in your search engine rankings. That’s why publishing irrelevant, and low-quality content negatively impacts your website.
To ensure that you improve your SEO, see to it that your site has highly engaging, well-written, and valuable content. Readers want to read quality information that specifically addresses their pain points.
Moreover, Google penalizes content that offers very little value to users. To avoid these penalties and to build a solid reputation, create a type of content that stands out, and substantial at the same time.
Slow site loading speed
A fast loading site generates more traffic, sales, and page views. To improve the loading time of your website, you have the option to hire a web developer that will walk their way through the bits and bytes rather than just doing it by yourself.
Alternatively, you can try the DIY solution wherein you can analyze your site through Google PageSpeed Insights and follow their guidelines.
Poor internal linking
Internal links or the links that go to the other pages of your website is a frequently overlooked aspect of SEO optimization. Not only do internal links help visitors gain valuable information and navigate a site more logically, but they also help search engines find related content and define a site’s architecture. As a result, this improves search results and boosts website authority.
So, find the most popular pages on your site, and insert links on those pages to other relevant content. For internal links, ensure that you’re using keyword-rich anchor text.
Missing quality of backlinks
Backlinks will also remain as the fuel behind every successful SEO campaign.
According to SEMRush, “The higher the domain’s position is on the SERPs, the more referring domain it will have.”
Make sure that you link to relevant, highly authoritative sites with an excellent reputation, and not just any site. The quality of the external links in your content is more crucial than their quality. Link to sites that have linked back to you as well, as this brings in more traffic.
Ignoring the power of social media
Social media is one of the most effective ways to promote your site, as well as share new content. That’s why you’re committing a huge mistake if you’re not active on at least one social media platform.
A lot of experts agree that social signals are taking off as a ranking factor. Not to mention that social media can also drive website traffic.
So find the platform that is best suited for your audience. Then, build authority and credibility in your niche by sharing up-to-date, and useful content.
Not measuring your SEO progress
To know whether your SEO and digital marketing efforts are working, you need to track down your current progress. Some marketers tend to disregard these critical numbers, much to their detriment. Regularly reviewing your analytics is essential to your optimization efforts.
Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics are the primary tools to utilize so that you can have an overview of your site’s performance. These can let you know how your optimization is working for the various content and strategies that you’re trying out.
Missing out on the latest SEO updates
SEO standards change constantly, and if you’re not updating and tweaking your tactics, then you’re missing out considerable traffic. At this point, you can’t afford to not take advantage of the SEO options and new trends that are available out there. It’s essential that your site doesn’t get left behind.
Here are some ways how you can stay up-to-date with SEO:
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- Look and follow experts in their respective niches. SEO is complex and it’s almost impossible to find someone so awesome in every niche. The best way to do it is to look for SEO experts that are on top of their game in a particular niche.
- Subscribe to top publications online. For instance, Search Engine Land covers everything from content marketing to SEO. If you have more time and you’re a little hungry for SEO, Search Engine Journal and The SEM Post are excellent publications as well.
- Join meet-ups and SEO events
Over to You
So there you have it. Those are the top SEO mistakes that most people commit again and again. The good news, most of them are easy to avoid. All you need to do is to go through the list, and then make necessary fixes if needed. Soon, you’ll be hitting your targets and achieving your goals in the long run.
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