In under a decade, SEO evolved more rapidly than almost any other marketing initiative. Google’s changing algorithm and SEO experts‘ attempt to crack the code have resulted in many false theories. And things that were true five years ago, are no longer true today. This constant shift has resulted in many common mistakes from well-meaning SEO companies. Read on to learn the top six SEO mistakes you may be making.
SEO Mistake #1: Keyword Density Should Be Main Focus
Years ago, SEO professionals focused quite a bit on keywords and keyword density on a page. It was common to repeat the target keyword or phrase many times while ensuring the keyword density was not too high. Several keyword density tools were, and still are, available.
Today, repeating the same keyword throughout an article is not recommended. Rather, one should use variations of the term(s) for which they wish to rank. Google’s algorithm is smart enough to understand semantic relationships and the topic of a page without repetitively using the same keyword. Changing the sequence of the keyword phrase and adding or removing a term is much more effective. Why? Because your page will have the opportunity to rank for all variations, rather than simply one specific term.
SEO Mistake #2: Higher Rankings Drive More Business
While SEO will help improve rankings, it does not necessarily mean you will receive more business. Why? While we do want to increase traffic to a site, the ultimate goal is to increase conversions. What is a conversion? A website conversion is the successful completion of the desired action on your website. It may be a sale (e-commerce sites certainly focus on this), a lead, or an action, like a whitepaper download. Conversions will vary depending upon the industry and business goals.
It’s important to ensure the traffic sent to your website from increased SEO will convert. That’s why when building websites, Webolutions focuses on the complete conversion funnel, including website navigation, layout, content and several other factors. We recognize the ultimate goal of a website is to have your visitor take a desired action such as completing a form, sale or picking up the phone and calling.
SEO Mistake #3: Exact Match Domains Don’t Matter
Anyone can add content to the internet regardless of whether it is well researched and tested. As a result, there is much misinformation floating around the web. When it comes to SEO, one myth is that exact match domains don’t matter. An exact match is a domain name that matches the targeted search query.
If you test this for yourself by simply conducting a few searches of your own, you will quickly see that the first page includes many exact matches and closely matching domains. Sites that do not have keywords in the domain lose out on having optimal anchor text when using the domain name for links.
SEO Mistake #4: SEO is Dead
One of the most common SEO myths is that search engine optimization is dead. Some believe that as long as you have great, new content, you’ll rank well. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, regular fresh content is required. However, if the title and heading tags are not optimized, the full ranking potential is not realized.
Additionally, it is important to Google that the users of their search engine have a good experience. To this end, one’s website must be current in terms of what is important to Google. Your website must be responsive (mobile friendly), fast and secure (https sites are preferred over HTTP sites). SEO does matter. Great content without these other things will only help minimally.
SEO Mistake #5: Any Kind of Backlink is a Good Backlink
One must be careful with the backlinks they acquire. Google no longer considers any backlink valuable. In fact, several types of backlinks have no value and may even hurt your website rankings. Backlinks with comment spam, foreign links and lack of other anchor text variants can all hurt you.
Many tools are available to check the quality of your backlinks. If you find you have questionable backlinks, Google has a disavow process that allows you to ensure these links are no long associated with your site. However, you need to be careful with this process, so not to remove backlinks that are doing good.
SEO Mistake #6: My Business Only Needs SEO
While SEO is an extremely important way for your business to drive affordable traffic, it shouldn’t be your only focus. Social media, reviews, customer experiences and quality of product all play a huge role in business growth. SEO should be just one portion of your overall marketing strategy. As each piece of the marketing puzzle come together, you’ll find your business will continue to grow and grow.
If you’re interested in participating in improve your SEO rankings or implementing proper tactics to grow your business, call us. We can help with effective SEO services, management, and measurement – along with all of your other marketing needs!
