5 SEO Mistakes Your Business Should Avoid
Let's face it, SEO or Search Engine Optimization is not easy. Everybody in your industry wants to rank at number one on Google ranking or at least be on the first page. They know the success that awaits those who are the first to be seen. We all know that weak keywords, badly optimised images, avoiding audits and writing weak content are all mistakes businesses usually make when starting out in SEO but this list is a little bit different. These are 5 business orientated SEO mistakes that go hand in hand with the technical mistakes a business can make.
The internet is full of cowboys promising to "get you ranking on the first page" in a few days using shady practices that don't achieve what is promised and even worse, damage your business reputation in the process. It's because of the allure of more sales or more traffic to your website that business owners end up making SEO mistakes which cost them not only money but often reputation. So how can you avoid them? Read on to discover the top five mistakes and how to avoid them.
1. Unrealistic Time Expectations
This is a common mistake, SEO takes time, don't listen to those who say they will have you on the first page of Google in a couple of days. The first month is all about making sure your site is fully optimised and selecting the correct keywords for your business and analysing your competitors. A website audit will be run and then the rest of the month is spent fixing errors on your site like pictures without meta tags, links that don't work, content that doesn't make sense and isn't optimised for your keywords and so on. It takes time for Google to recognise all of these changes so you need to expect a minimum of 6 months before you start seeing real progress.
2. Not Analysing Competitors Effectively
Think about it. If your competitor is absolutely killing it out there you want to know exactly what they are doing and what their keywords are so you can get a slice of that pie. Some businesses just launch into SEO not knowing anything about what their competitors are doing and are shooting in the dark with their keywords. You need to select at least 3-5 competitors in your line of business and analyse them. That means looking at the number of indexed pages they have, link quality, anchor text distribution, keywords, most successful pages, most shared pages on social media and much more.
3. Unrealistic Budget Expectations
Years ago when traditional forms of media like magazines, newspaper, radio, outdoor advertising were the main way of marketing, a business would spend thousands of dollars/pounds on them every month and not bat an eyelid because they generated results. The internet came along and changed all of that and now most people consume a huge percentage of content online. Some business owners make the mistake of treating online differently to the old forms of media and expect to pay far less than they used to. If people are mainly buying online through websites and other forms of online media it makes sense for the larger part of the marketing budget to be invested there.
4. Not Optimising your Website for Mobile
We live in a world where mobile is becoming the "go to" for most people when searching the internet. Your business is missing a huge opportunity if your website looks great on a desktop but isn'y fully optimised to not only look great on mobiles but also function in a user friendly way that will make searching for and interacting with your website much easier. Your mobile website optimisation will have a direct affect on your SEO results.
5. Not Having A Home Page That Sells
This may seem obvious but you would be surprised how many organisations and businesses have a home page that doesn't sell. Whether you are a business or an organisation you are offering something to your visitors and if what you offer isn't immediately apparent on the first page of your website you are likely to experience a high bounce rate. You can drive as many people as you like to your website and be as high as you like on the rankings but if your homepage is difficult to navigate and hard to understand then all that SEO work has been in vain. Make sure your home page sells! Whether you need people to fill in a form, get in touch or press a button make sure there is a clear call to action and a clear way that visitors can take you up on your offer.
Summary
Simply put, don't spend your money on SEO only for it to go to waste because you ignored the above guidelines. Sometimes businesses can get all the technical parts right whilst ignoring the simple business best practice. If you want even more information about the basics of SEO why not check out this article.
Here at Kaio Marketing I make sure every angle is covered to give you the best return on investment for your SEO marketing spend. Get in touch today if you would like chat it through in more detail however big or small your business is, I don't bite, promise 😀
