Many businesses use search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to increase their online visibility and drive more traffic to their site. However, they often overlook common mistakes that adversely affect their search engine results pages (SERPs) ranking.
What Is SEO?
SEO is the practice of improving the quality of your website so that it ranks higher on search engines like Google. This can increase your site traffic, which also boosts your chances of conversions.
Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid
In a survey by Morningscore, 82% of SEO experts said that it takes at least 12 months to see the full results of good SEO strategies. However, SEO is an ever-changing landscape. Keeping up with the current trends or turning to a professional that provides SEO services can help you avoid these usual blunders:
1. Not optimizing for mobile devices
57% of users are unlikely to recommend a website that that is not mobile-friendly. Mobile devices make up over 60% of organic search engine visits. If your website isn’t accessible on mobile, you’ll lose out on a huge demographic of potential customers.
2. Not doing any keyword research
URLs that contain relevant keywords receive a 45% higher click-through rate (CTR). Without keyword research, you’ll lack insight into the questions that are important to your target audience. Use tools, such as Ahrefs, Semrush, and Ubersuggest, to keep your content relevant.
3. Not optimizing title tags and meta descriptions
Including target keywords in your title tags and meta descriptions will attract your intended audience to your website, improving your CTR. Failing to optimize these can result in either unappealing HTML tags or keyword overstuffing.
4. Not creating high-quality content
60% of the most successful business-to-business marketers have a content marketing strategy. Relevant and high-quality content is essential to ranking high in SERPs, while poorly written and irrelevant content gets less traffic, clicks, and conversions.
5. Not optimizing images
Image optimization is the practice of adding relevant keywords to your images’ file names and alt tags. This not only helps search engines find your images but also makes your website compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design.
Image optimization is the practice of adding relevant keywords to your images’ file names and alt tags. This not only helps search engines find your images but also makes your website compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design.
6. Not building backlinks
Top-ranking websites on Google have almost four times more backlinks than other sites. However, a few high-quality backlinks are better than several low-quality ones. The latter can result in penalties, which can deindex your website from search engines.
7. Not doing regular SEO audits
An SEO audit is a comprehensive evaluation of the factors that can impact your SERP performance. This can help keep your website fresh and determine potential problem points. Ignoring SEO audits can be detrimental to the user experience, which can drive away potential customers. This may be an intimidating task so consider SEO companies to entrust some of your SEO requirements.
8. Not staying up to date with Google’s algorithm
To improve user experience, Google’s algorithm changes around 500 times a year. If you want to maintain your SERP ranking, it’s important to keep abreast with the latest developments, especially with monumental changes.
Bonus—Not Managing Your Google Business Profile
Filling out your business profile, providing quality images, and asking audiences to leave reviews can boost your local SEO ranking. Having very little information, on the other hand, doesn’t merit a search engine index.
Stay Updated With SEO
Keeping an eye out on the latest trends is crucial in SEO—pr.business can help with your digital marketing needs anywhere in the United States.