Increasing the quality and quantity of traffic to your site through organic search results is the prime reason why search engine optimization (SEO) should be a key component of your inbound marketing strategy. In a competitive environment, ranking high on search engines is critical rather than optional. 70% of the links search users click on are organic – not paid, and, 60% of all clicks go to the top three organic search results. Finding and rectifying SEO mistakes can certainly increase your chances of being higher in SERPs.
If it has become hard for you to get exposure in search engines, it could be because your site is not properly optimized for search and that you are committing, of course unknowingly, the following mistakes:
1. Keyword stuffing
It is true that keyword-rich content can help you boost your position in SERPs. However, keyword stuffing, an unhealthy practice to manipulate a site’s ranking in search by using keywords unnaturally and excessively, can actually hurt your SEO efforts. On top of that, your audience will not enjoy unnatural content loaded with keywords. Moreover, overusing your targeted keywords is registered as spam by search engines. Therefore, optimize your content using important keywords in a very natural and user-friendly way.
2. Using wrong keywords
Only a few businesses are actually implementing proper keyword research and targeting. One of the common SEO mistakes marketers make is neglect the preference of users and search engines for long-tail keywords. In keyword research, it is crucial to understand the terms your potential customers could use to search your products and services on the internet. Irrelevant and generic keywords that attract visitors who have no interest in what you offer are of no use.
3. Compromising link quality
Link building is one of the most important elements in the SEO mix. With link building people often confuse quantity with better SEO results. However, it is a mistake to focus on link quantity instead of link quality. One link from a reputable blog, for instance hubpages.com, is way better than having a ton of low-quality directory links that point to your website. So make sure that you link to relevant, authoritative websites that have sound reputation on the web in order to increase your chances of being at the top.
4. Creating low-quality content
Quality of your content does matter both from readers and search engines perspective. It is not a good idea to ignore visitors’ interests and generate content just for the sake of search engine bots.
Taking into account the benefits, it’s worth investing in generating optimized, valuable, and original content. High-quality articles and blog posts not only help you with SEO but also result in more leads and conversions.
Related: The Nine Ingredients That Make Great Content
5. Forgetting title tags and meta descriptions
Being an essential element of SEO, meta tags serve as the function of advertising copy that draws readers to your site from the SERPs. Writing a readable and engaging descriptions using important keywords can improve the performance of a web page and its content in terms of click-through rate and impression volume. Therefore, do not skip them in your SEO strategy.
6. Having broken links
Broken links not only annoy your readers but also affect your SEO. Deleted content, incorrect re-directs, and changes in URL structure are some of reasons why broken links exist. You can use tools like broken link checker to identify links that may be harming your ranking.
There is no shortcut when it comes to excelling your competitors in SEO. Optimizing your site using a white-hat approach is the only way you can achieve long-term success. Outlined above are some of the basic SEO mistakes businesses make that are detrimental to their SEO and overall online marketing efforts. Now is the time you should consider fixing them if you want to secure a higher position in the SERP.
Reach First is an Edmonton-based digital marketing agency that provides a complete range of online marketing expertise including result-oriented search engine optimization services. Feel free to schedule a free consultation and will give you a walkthrough on how we can market and grow your business using innovative digital marketing approaches.