5 Common SEO Mistakes That Drive Customers Away

These days, it’s not enough to have a site. Ten, even fifteen years ago, it would’ve been easy for you to attract online consumers and to generate a strong online engagement. Sites were few and far between. There was little competition around so being number on the search engine rankings took little to zero effort.

Now, with so many online sites, the market is so fiercely competitive that you can’t afford to let your consumers down by providing them with a site that’s all sorts of wrong. So make sure you know all about common SEO mistakes out there. If you aren’t at all sure what these entail, read on to find out:

1. Forgetting that keyword frequency matters, says Forbes. Yes, you can optimize your pages using keywords. However, make sure you understand how important it is not to overstuff your content with keywords. This is especially true if you tend to use keywords in sentences that sound off or unnatural. You aren’t just risking your rankings—Google’s Panda algorithm penalizes content with abnormal keyword use—you’re also putting off potential consumers.
2. Focusing too much on SEO, says Business2Community. If you’re putting all your energies into using keywords then, you could be losing sight of what consumers want. This could result into stilted use of keywords. If the keywords don’t flow naturally into the content, that could make your consumers turn away before you even have a chance to show them what your product/service is all about. So don’t waste your chance. Make sure you focus on both search and social to make sure your reader stays.
3. Not thinking about your customers. The best content won’t matter a bit if it’s not relevant to your consumers. So make sure you know what your consumers want. Post content that resonates with them. If there’s too much You in the content, if it’s content you want instead of content your customers want, then it likely won’t connect to their experience. If you don’t have a clue how to make this happen, ask for professional help. With the services of an affordable SEO company, you’ll figure this out in no time.
4. Putting up bad content. Using spun articles can be an easy way to generate content for your site. However, it’s a very bad idea and one that could get your pages penalized. With Google cracking down on duplicate content, it’s best to keep your content fresh instead of recycling old ones.
5. Compromising on content for looks. Flash slows down your loading speed considerably. And yet, a lot of sites still use flash. That just goes to show that not everyone is aware of how that can affect consumer engagement. Instead of flash, look for better ways to deliver a wonderful user experience. Be careful about using too many images or graphics in your pages, Hongkiat warns. That could make your site too crowded or busy, forcing your customers to go elsewhere.

So remember this list. Make sure you don’t end up making any of these mistakes or you could lose your target market’s interest before you even have a chance to prove your mettle.