It seems that every year SEO experts and journals dedicated to inbound marketing compile a list of general trends in Google intent algorithms and user expectations – the keyword here being “general”. Their findings may be based on mountains of data pulled from research and case studies – and it’s probably a good idea to implement some of these recommendations to boost your own website’s performance – but they don’t necessarily reflect the reality of businesses operating in niche spaces.
When you think about it, creating a website is much like dating online – you create a public profile in the hopes of meeting potential mates, or in this case, potential customers. When you put yourself out there, other people now have the opportunity to weigh in with their opinions – and what they say online can have a far-reaching impact on your reputation.
Having even a basic of SEO can allow you to better optimize your website, which in turn will make it rank higher in search engines. This ultimately will allow the scope of your business to reach a broader audience and is arguably one of the most important aspects to running a business in this day in age, both online and at a physical location. With SEO being such a crucial part of a successful business website, it’s also important to be aware of the multitude of mistakes that are commonly made while trying to improve SEO.
Some SEO mistakes are easily avoidable, while others take a significant amount of effort to avoid or resolve. Although making some of these mistakes may be detrimental to your business in the short term, if correct, your business or website can begin to be prosperous in search engine rankings. Below are some common SEO pitfalls and how to either avoid or correct them.
Duplicate Content or Unoriginal Content
Duplicating content or creating unoriginal content are two of the most common mistakes that website designers or content creators make in efforts to improve SEO. Always double or triple checking your website for duplicates before posting new content. Although there is no direct negative consequence to duplicating content, it affects SEO rankings because search engines will have trouble determining which pages are landing pages. Your duplicate content may begin to compete against itself through search engine rankings, which lowers the ranking of the content itself as a whole. Unoriginal content will give you less of a chance at ranking higher with search engines and gives content less value, which in turn will negatively impact your SEO.
Keyword Mistakes (Keyword Stuffing and Using the Wrong Keywords)
Keyword stuffing is a common mistake in which keywords are “stuffed” into content with the intent to improve SEO, when in fact it actually lessens the effectiveness of the content in search engine rankings. Stuffing multiples of the same word or phrase into content not only gives that content less value but is also now recognizable by search engines. That’s right, search engines are now capable of determining if the content is keyword-stuffed, and may ultimately rank that content lower in search engines rankings.
Using the wrong keywords may also have detrimental effects on SEO. Keywords allow search engines to identify your content and rank it. If you don’t use the correct keywords in your content, search engines won’t be able to find it. Not using trending keywords or words that rank highest is also a very common mistake that can be avoided by checking keywords on Google Trends or another similar keyword analytics tool.
Irrelevant Content (Content That is Not About Keywords)
Creating irrelevant content or content that does not align with targeted keywords is a mistake that people tend to make while working to improve the SEO of their website. Creating irrelevant content is easily avoidable by checking which keywords (preferably the most optimized) should be used while creating original content on a topic that is specific to your business or organization.
Lack of Quality Links in Content
A lack of quality links within the content may have negative effects on both the value of that content and on search engine rankings in general. Quality links not only bring more value to your content, but will also help rank you higher, as both a website that is linking to other websites and as a website that is linked within other content.
Ignoring Analytics
One of the most common mistakes that businesses or organizations can make on their websites is ignoring analytics and making no efforts to adapt their website using this important metric information. While creating or redesigning content for a website, it’s important to view and know current analytic outcomes and trends specific to that site in order to improve upon its rankings.
Not Making Website Audits
Allowing for audits of your website, especially in this fast-paced, ever-changing digital landscape, is a necessity. Taking a step back and letting someone with a fresh perspective check to see how your website could improve is always beneficial and could have great positive impacts on search engine rankings in general. Website audits are important for all websites want to keep up to date on SEO.
Not Researching SEO Trends
Knowing current trends in SEO is a critical aspect of website development and content creation. Again, the internet is always changing, so knowing what trends within the SEO world are working and are best for the optimization of your website will keep you ahead of the game.
Not Including Meta Descriptions in Title Pages
Including Meta Descriptions for pages not only makes your website more appealing but increases your SEO as well. Giving descriptions for each page is important, and is worth the effort to create or update them.
Not Including Alt Tags For Images
Alt tags for images are another very important aspect of SEO that are commonly not included in many websites. Alt tags are especially important on website images, especially in attempts to meet ADA compliance. This mistake can be avoided by either putting in the extra effort to create alt tags for your images or hire someone else to do it.
Each of these mistakes are easily avoidable or correctable, and by no means should anyone consider their SEO to be a failure if they find these mistakes applicable. Improvements can always be made to SEO, as it is a constant work in progress.
If you’re interested in improving your website’s search traffic, get in touch with us today. SeoTuners can offer an affordable solution for your business to increase exposure and SERP rankings with organic SEO strategies. We’re confident we have a solution for all your marketing needs.
We live in a digital age, where technology is depended on by the majority of consumers. When searching for a local business or restaurant that is close by, usually your first instinct is to google it. This is a similar thought for most people who own a smart phone or computer these days. A whopping 90% of consumers have used the internet to find a local businesses within the last year, with 33% looking every day.
People are adapting to the advances in search technology, meaning your business need to as well. If you want a crystal-clear example of purchase intent: “near me” mobile searches that contain a variant of “can I buy” or “to buy” have grown over 500% over the last two years. These include things like “where can I buy stamps near me,” “places to buy shoes near me,” or “where to buy used clothing near me.”
“Near me” is no longer just about finding a specific place. It’s now about finding a specific thing, in a specific area, during a specific period of time. This chart gives a visual depiction of the expanse of “near me” searches in the last two years:
These advances propose similar questions to search engine optimization: SEO will improve a website’s overall searchability and visibility, but what other real value does it offer your business? Why is SEO so important?
Organic Searches are Essential
It’s no secret in the digital world that if you’re not on Page 1 of the search engine, you’re likely not killing the organic search game.
Organic searches are most often the primary source of website traffic, as well as a critical factor within the buyer funnel, which usually ends in a sale. However, many consumers do not search through loads of pages on Google before finding a website or service that suits them. Investing in the process of a higher ranking on Google is an essential step for any business owner.
While Google is the most visited website in the world, they also own YouTube which is the second largest search engine. Google is a large entity that owns over 90% of the search market, leaving competitors in the dust.
Making sure your website is visible on Google is essential to driving organic traffic and ultimately attracting business and closing sales. Quality SEO and a high-quality website can take your brand there.
Customer Trust Grows With SEO
The goal of your SEO team is to establish a strong foundation, have a beautiful website that is easy to navigate, and make sure your page is easily discoverable in searches. The truth is that the higher your business appears in a search engine; the more likely users will believe your business is trustworthy. Building trust and an online authority is not easy and surely doesn’t happen overnight.
Many factors go into establishing a strong authority on Google. Having strong authority is accrued over time and is an element of:
• Quality Backlinks
• Positive User Behavior
• Optimized On-Page Elements and Content
• Machine-Learning Signals
Establishing authority for your brand takes patience, effort, and commitment, but is worth it. Customers trust a brand that has a strong online presence and is recommended by other web pages.
Google has something called the Trust Factor, which is a combination of many factors that calculate how trustful a site is. The more trustful a site is, the more likely its articles will be ranked higher on Google. A website is considered to be less trustful if it has harmful and/or has low-quality content.
The Buying Cycle is Affected
SEO affects the buying cycle of a customer online or in-store. Customers have the resources and knowledge to conduct research before choosing a product or service.
Using SEO tactics to get your deals, products, and services out there can be a game-changer. It is important to show the consumer the importance and dependability of what you have to offer them. In order to show the consumer what you need, your product or service requires visibility.
You must be visible in the places where people go to search for a connection to be made. Local SEO enhances visibility for potential customers and helps them find the businesses that have the answers. If your website or business is not visible to the consumer, odds are they will not be contacting you or buying your product.
Bypass the Competition
SEO can help your business or website soar above the competition. Especially if your competition is not implementing SEO at all.
For example, take two businesses that are in the same industry which sell similar products, at nearly identical prices. One of them has an optimized website while the other has a non-optimized website. Considering everything is else is equal, which company do you think will attract more customers to their website from local searches? Which company will likely grow faster and become more successful?
Search engines and SEO are very powerful. If your competitors are doing SEO marketing, simply you must ask yourself why you haven’t invested in such a strategy yet as well. Odds are a consumer will go with a company that they can easily find and has reputable reviews and backlinks.
SEO is Relatively Cheap
SEO does cost money. However, all the best things usually do, right?
In the grand scheme of things, SEO is relatively cheap, and the payoff will most likely be considerable in terms of a brand’s benefit and bottom line.
It is not a marketing cost; SEO is a true business investment. Good SEO implementation will hold its ground for years to come. And, like most things will only get better with the more attention and investment it receives.
If you have questions or concerns about any of Google’s algorithm updates or are interested in improving your website’s search traffic, get in touch with us today. SeoTuners can offer an affordable solution for your business to increase exposure and SERP rankings with organic SEO strategies like keywords. We’re confident we have a solution for all your marketing needs.
