As digital marketing specialists, we encounter many websites which demonstrate poor search engine optimisation qualities. More often than not, this is as a result of business owners hiring inexperienced SEO specialists or they have attempted to enforce their own tactics without enough knowledge. SEO is not as simple as some may perceive it to be. There are many rules and guidelines which must be followed to ensure websites are providing useful information to their audience. If SEO is attempted by someone with minimal knowledge within the field, you could experience a negative backlash from search engines, resulting in your online reputation being tarnished. With extensive knowledge in the digital marketing industry, we’ve identified 5 common SEO mistakes so you can avoid them.
1. RANKING FOR THE WRONG KEYWORDS
A significant element of SEO is your keyword strategy. Ultimately, this is the basis of SEO and determines the quality and quantity of traffic to your website. We often witness websites which are ranking for keywords which are not relevant to their industry or are too generic to be ranked. This is not beneficial for your SEO and will not provide your website with any value. It’s important to conduct research within your industry and devise a strong keyword strategy which targets your ideal target market. Think about the types of searches your ideal client/customer would make, try to incorporate this into your keywords.
Ideally, the longer and more specific your keywords are, the greater your chances will be to rank. If you are a local business, incorporate local phrases or keywords into your strategy. The goal is to rank for keywords which generate the greatest number of searches with the least number of competitors.
2. NOT INCLUDING TITLE TAGS/META DESCRIPTIONS
Optimising your website for SEO isn’t just about including your keywords throughout your written content. There are many other factors which influence your rankings and how search engine crawlers filter through relevant information on your pages. You must include relevant title tags and meta descriptions on each of your pages to ensure crawlers can accurately analyse the content on your pages and rank it accordingly. Without title tags and meta descriptions, crawlers are unable to read your content and determine whether or not it is useful for your audience.
3. WRITING POOR QUALITY CONTENT
Posting poor quality content to your website can be seriously damaging to your SEO. Content which is considered ‘thin’ meaning it’s too short in word count, poorly written or unoriginal, can impact your search engine rankings. Google favours content which can provide searchers with value and isn’t just written purely to increase its website’s rankings. If writing blog posts isn’t your forte, you could invest in hiring a copywriter to create content for you on a regular basis. This will ensure your content is of a high standard and meets SEO guidelines. When writing blog posts, aim to have a word count of at least 600 words to ensure your content isn’t too thin. Avoid plagiarism at all costs and write content which is insightful and provides value to avoid being penalised by search engines.
4. NOT OPTIMISING YOUR WEBSITE FOR MOBILE
Over half of all search volume results come from smart phones. This means the optimisation of your website on mobile is just as important as it is for desktop. Most of us now tend to search for items or services we need on our mobiles and if your website is not responsive or takes too long to load, you could lose a significant amount of business. Not only is it frustrating for searchers, search engines use mobile responsiveness as a method of ranking as they aim to provide a seamless experience possible for searchers. Check the responsiveness on your website and click through each page to ensure everything is running efficiently. You can test your mobile speed by using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.
5. IGNORING SEARCH ENGINE UPDATES
One of the most important things to consider regarding SEO is the frequent updates which are made to search engine algorithms. Algorithms are consistently updated to ensure websites are providing valuable information and adhering to their rules and regulations. If you are not abiding by these updates, your website could be penalised, and you could lose your top-ranking position. Ensure your website is always updated to reflect new algorithm updates and maintain your positive SEO.
SEO is an intricate technique to master and without correct knowledge and implementation, your website could suffer. Ensure to avoid making the common mistakes listed above to maintain your search engine rankings. Need help with your SEO? Talk to our expert team at DGreat Solutions today.
