5 SEO Mistakes You Should Avoid Like The Plague

Like the tallest and longest-lasting manmade structures, a great SEO experience starts with a great foundation. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it certainly lasted the ages. When it comes to building and delivering a strong SEO presence for your business, there’s a great deal more to it than keywords to optimise your Google traffic. It’s about taking specific things into account that might be hindering your search traffic more than it helps. Here are some of the most common mistakes businesses make when handling their SEO.  

A lack of awareness about the user experience 

While the user experience is critical in both first impressions and ongoing user engagement, the implications on your Google ranking are far less obvious. Google focuses heavily on user experience when configuring their algorithm for measuring website positions on Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). Therefore, things like mobile-friendliness and page loading speed play a vital role in defining your website’s SEO reach. But how? 

To put it simply — poorly made websites cause higher bounce rates and low click-through rates (CTR). Customers who hop onto your website and see poorly aligned layouts and have to sit through lengthy page loading times exit out anywhere between five and 10 seconds after visiting a page.

It should go without saying what that does to your leads. Subsequently, when Google realises your website isn’t retaining its audiences as it should, you lose your ranking on SERPs. 

Not getting to know the client better 

When it comes to building websites for clients and developing a cohesive SEO plan, a deep understanding of your clients and their goals is key. SEO isn’t a separate entity from the marketing plan, but more of a key factor in the way your website garners leads. Not taking your client into account when building a website can be detrimental to both your business and theirs. Understanding their goals, marketing strategies, and target audience helps build a strong SEO plan that gets your client’s website to the front page of the search engine. A close study of the current marketing campaigns run by your client and their competitors gives you a better insight on their niche audience and customer journey mapping. Once you develop a clearer understanding of your client, it’s easier to take a deep dive into their website’s current meta titles and targeted keywords to boost things like page results and click-through rates.  

 Underestimating the power of Google internet-based services or tools 

Google is the most powerful search engine in the world. It does more than just autocomplete our questions and lead us to Wikipedia pages at odd hours of the day. Even autocompleting our search keywords takes an algorithm that works to the benefit of their own SEO efforts. 

Google’s lesser-known facets include internet-based services like Google My Business, which is what helps you pop up when users search for “[product or service] near me”. That’s called a local pack. Creating a localised specialisation for users seeking out your business’ products and services around the area boosts your relevancy and search rate.  

Another key part of building a reliable reputation on Google is filling out your business information. Seems pretty cut-and-dry, doesn’t it? What sort of business wouldn’t? Well, you’d be surprised. 

Filling out your business’ name, address, and contact number builds credibility with your customers. Opening your Google Reviews page and handling negative reviews as constructively and professionally as possible gives you an even bigger leg-up on your competitors.  

Underestimating the power behind your website’s HTML and architecture 

SEO is all about getting technical. For those of you who aren’t too savvy with the technical side of the industry, fret not. The internet is filled with an assortment of tools to help you along the way, especially with handling your website’s HTML and architecture. These are two key components in getting a boost in your page rankings.  

Ever noticed that little padlock beside the website link? That means the website you’re visiting is secure (https://) and your information is safe and sound. That doesn’t mean that (http://) websites aren’t safe…not entirely. However it means your website is less likely to fall prey to hacking and viruses. It builds that additional layer of trust in your brand. A secure website is a trustworthy website, another element that undoubtedly affects your Google ranking. 

Not taking the initiative to keep up with current affairs 

It’s always important to stay on top of the latest news and trends, whether it be in the general or within a professional scope. With something like SEO, it’s always key to keep an eye out for the latest Google updates or changes in the page rankings. SERP structure is known to undergo a makeover and overhaul every once and a while, and there’s no telling when it’ll happen next. The Panda/Farmer update in 2011 was a dark time for the unprepared, as was the Medic update of 2018. Keeping an ear to the ground for the latest SEO-related studies and discussions will further help you avoid such catastrophes and boost your cause.