Search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to the process of trying to get your website on the first page of Google. As you might expect, securing first-page positions can take a while. Nevertheless, if you want to remain competitive, you can’t afford to neglect SEO.
Every company is different, which is why no two SEO strategies are identical. Mastering the intricacies of SEO can be challenging, but provided you don’t make the following mistakes, you will eventually see tangible results if you persevere.
Keyword stuffing
When the World Wide Web was still in its infancy, you could get your website to the first page of Google by including target keywords within your content a certain number of times. Now that the search engines have advanced, securing first-page positions is a little more challenging. Nowadays, if you try to stuff keywords into your content, the search engines might flag your website as spam.
When targeting keywords, you should always focus on providing users with the information they want to find. Additionally, you should target both short- and long-tail keywords to maximise your chances of being visible on the search engine results pages.
To get started with keyword research, you should brainstorm a list of terms that are relevant to your services. Then, you can type the terms into Google to find even more keywords. Start typing your term into Google, and you’ll see a list of ‘auto-complete suggestions’ appear. After you hit enter, you’ll find a selection of related keywords at the bottom of the page. You can use a tool like Google AdWords to perform in-depth keyword research.
Repetitive blogs
Publishing articles on a regular basis is crucial with regards to online marketing and SEO. With each blog you publish, you have a chance to target a new keyword. The more blogs you publish, the more hooks you have to capture the attention of potential customers.
You shouldn’t try to target the same keyword in every blog you create. If you do, you might end up with dozens of blogs that contain similar information, meaning they don’t provide any additional value to your readers. Instead, you should try to build credibility for high-traffic keywords by covering as many related topics and subtopics in your blogs as possible. Make sure you include internal links within your articles to keep readers on your website.
Poor optimisation
When writing the content for your service pages, landing pages and blogs, you need to focus on your customer rather than your business. So, instead of writing about the features of your service, focus on the benefits it delivers to your reader. The more targeted your content is to a particular customer segment, the more likely you are to be found on the search engines.
To start optimising your website, you might want to hire an SEO specialist to perform an audit. If you’re not ready to invest in digital marketing services, you can tweak your website by creating custom meta tags, including your target keyword in your headlines and making sure all your content is unique. The search engines often penalise websites with duplicate content. You need to prove that you’re original to earn the respect of the search engines and potential customers.
Slow-loading webpages
Nowadays, people are only willing to wait a few seconds for a webpage to load, especially when using their smartphones. For that reason, Google has made page loading speed a crucial ranking factor. You need to make sure your website loads instantly to minimise your bounce rate and bolster your SEO efforts.
Try to keep the use of animations and plugins to a minimum, and always remember to compress your images. You should also write alt tags for your images just in case they don’t load as quickly as the rest of your content.
Ignoring social media
If you’re serious about digital marketing, you can’t afford to neglect social media. Facebook now has over 2 billion users, and it allows you to target specific customer segments to maximise your advertising ROI.
Every time you publish a new article or release a new product, you should let your social media followers know. By sharing your news on social media, you can increase traffic to your website, generate leads and boost your SEO. If you don’t have the time to remain active on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, you might want to invest in social media marketing services.
Remember that SEO is about generating leads, not just driving more traffic to your website. It’s also an ongoing process that requires your constant attention. Fortunately, if you don’t have the need or resources to hire an entire online marketing department, you can outsource the task to a team of experts who can develop strategies on your behalf.
