In a way, content marketing and SEO have made the Internet one big high school popularity contest. Everyone wants to write content that gets them noticed and ranked higher in the search engines, but everyone doesn’t have what it takes to be Regina George. In fact, most companies routinely make SEO mistakes that cost them dearly.
To set yourself apart and avoid the pitfalls of unpopularity, you’re going to have to do the same thing you did in high school: avoid critical mistakes. The good news is, most of us have all been there before. Search Engine Optimization is one of those strategies that can be implemented in a few weeks, but mastered over a few months. Even though you’re still learning, with a bit of practice, your small business blog will possess front-page potential. In most cases, all you have to do is correct a few simple SEO mistakes many companies make. Here are the top five:
NOT Using Analytics to Measure Conversion
One of the biggest SEO mistakes marketers make is that they concentrate on keywords and free traffic and have lost sight of the conversion factor. When you’re writing and marketing your content, it’s easy to catch yourself watching the keyword phrases that are sending you the most traffic, then entering a state of disappointment when you can’t rank for the more competitive keywords. If you understand SEO, you know traffic isn’t all that matters. Sometimes, lower-traffic phrases convert better because they’re more specific.
How do you find out what’s working? You track it. Use an analytics package like KISSmetrics to setup conversion tracking for your target keywords and phrases, and then compare them to see which ones yields the best results.
Listing Unavailable, Inaccurate or Inconsistent NAP Information
NAP is the acronym for name, address, and phone number. Although it seems trivial, it’s one of the core metrics Google relies on to rank search results for local businesses. Not only should you have your NAP information publicly and prominently displayed on your website or blog, it should also be accurate and consistent.
Not Thinking Locally
If you’re running a business that focuses on customers within a certain city or region, SEO mistakes made by your company for your region are the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot. Incorporating region-specific keywords in your page titles and meta descriptions will help people in your area discover you. Also, you’ll want to list yourself on review platforms like Yelp, Merchant Circle, Google Places, FourSquare. Linking your website and profile can be helpful too.
Targeting Phrases Nobody Searches For
Ranking keywords that don’t bring in traffic might feel good, but really it’s just vanity. Think of it as spending hours getting dressed in front of a mirror and never going anywhere for people to see your snazzy outfit. To avoid this mistake, enter your potential keyword or phrase into Google’s Keyword Planner. If a dash pops up, the phrase was searched for less than 10 times per month within the last 12 months, meaning it’s probably time to move on.
Valuing Link Quantity Over Link Quality
While there are lots of easy ways to get a high volume of links, placing an emphasis on quality is in your site’s best interest. Why? Well, no one cares if you link back to a bunch of sites that stink.
Not only that, but links without traffic won’t do you any good. One link from a popular page may do more for your SEO rankings than hundreds of lowbrow directory links. Sure, they’re a bit harder to get, but that’s also why search engines view them so highly.
So, focus on getting links that:
Are relevant to your site and business
Don’t feature a bunch of outgoing links
Don’t contain links to inappropriate pages
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