5 SEO Mistakes Every Business Should Avoid

What was that blur that just went past? That was your competitor speeding ahead of you in the search rankings–the result of consistently practicing good SEO, while you insisted it was dead!

Businesses that consistently get the leads they expect from their web presence know that a well-managed SEO strategy still underpins most of the good stuff that follows. So why are so many still making basic mistakes with it?

The fundamentals of SEO remain the same. It needs consistent attention and the right action to generate traffic, but you don’t need a PhD in computer science or marketing to master it. Businesses should not be throwing good money at bad SEO campaigns and hiring the same SEO cowboys who repeat the same mistakes, which cost you leads, sales, and growth.

Why give the competition that satisfaction? Start ticking off the following five common SEO mistakes to avoid, if you are looking for better results.

Most businesses understand the need to develop a list of keywords for which they want to rank. What most businesses often get wrong is trying to optimize every page for generic phrases.

Rather than trying to cram 10 or 12 keyword phrases on one page, you’ll see far better results by optimizing every page on your site for one, or maximum two, long-tail keywords. This, by extension, means that the pages should be specific, targeted, and professionally written.

This approach also allows you to create a logical website architecture that your audience, as well as the search engines, will appreciate.

SEO case study— A family law firm focusing on divorce cases in Calgary should optimize one page for “divorce lawyers in Calgary” rather than trying to optimize every page for “law,” “law firm,” and “divorce.” Generic terms like “divorce” will attract unnecessary traffic that simply will not convert. Searchers who are looking for information like “Divorce stats in Canada” or “Divorce counseling” will NEVER order services from you, so you are better off targeting more specifically to your potential customers.

Don’t be the guy that everyone avoids at the party because he drones on and on using overly-technical language that only he understands. The simple realization that what sounds normal to you and your team probably does NOT sound normal to your customers will improve your copy and your SEO.

How can it improve SEO? Don’t forget that the success of your SEO strategy depends, by its nature, on whether you are matching what your ideal customers are typing into Google, Bing, and the other search engines. If you’re not targeting the right keywords, how can you be matching what your customers are searching for?

So, when you choose your keywords, make sure you brainstorm with others to get their input. Use the Keyword Planner tools in Google AdWords and then Übersuggest , which uses Google Suggest to display queries that people have searched for in the past. Google Trends is another useful tool to learn about your customers’ behaviour over time, what they look for online, and what kind of keywords they use.

SEO case study— Say you run a home loan broking company in Ontario, specializing in finding mortgages for first-time home buyers. Many of your customers will not have any prior experience hunting for home loans, so over-complicating the language will be disastrous. Rather than talking about industry terms like “adjustable rates” or “combined loan to value ratios,” you may want to focus on more relatable keywords such as “home loans in Ontario,” “best home loans for first-time buyers,” or similar.

The more technical terms can be explained, if necessary, in a separate glossary of terms page–but there’s no need to target them in your keywords.

Write your pages for real people, not the search engine web crawlers. Well-written, relevant, original targeted copy following some general SEO guidelines will rank well and convert into sales.

Why? Because optimizing solely for search engines may attract traffic, but what will visitors do when they land on your pages? Unless you have engaging copy that talks to their wants and needs, they will never convert. They will simply bounce away.

Make sure you think like a customer when you write your pages. Consider what they are looking for and what information they need. Is your page answering customers’ key questions or problems?

SEO case study— A small accounting firm in California wants to increase its visibility online during tax season. What would a customer enter in Google search when looking for their service: “how to do my tax,” “tax accountant in California,” “best tax firm in California”? Including the answers to these questions would gain your business a significant amount of traffic, if it could rank for these keywords and had a page dedicated to these tax services.

The firm also wants to increase conversions, not just traffic. Therefore, this page should detail how the business would help customers get the most money back, as well as information about its accountants, and the rave reviews that they have received. This would not only add credibility and authority to its claims and increase trust levels with the customers, but it would also increase the chance of making conversions more likely.

Purely robotic and keyword stuffing texts would get customers heading for the BACK button. As a general rule, use a keyword in the first 100 words and then naturally throughout the rest of the copy.

We still see a surprising number of businesses trapped in SEO from 15 years ago. They think that link quantity is what matters, rather than link quality.

While it’s true that a site with many high-quality links will generally rank above a site with a few quality links (all other factors being equal) it’s the quality that really counts. A simple rule of thumb: Don’t link or accept links from non-credible sources. Not only will focusing on highly-respected sites raise your own profile in the eyes of the search engines, but your visitors will thank you for it.

If you’re linking to irrelevant, poorly informed, or poorly written sites, visitors clicking through will be cursing you under their breath for sending them there and wasting their time — not great for your reputation!

SEO case study— Consider your business as you would a general medical practice. What do potential patients who visit your site want to find out more information about? Links to medical journals, study papers, hospital resources, government health departments, and so on generally provide reliable, evidence-based information about health conditions, diagnoses, treatments, and so on. This will be considered of value both to your audience and to the search engines.

Now, what links will add similar authority to your own business?

It’s surprising how many websites there are that still make the mobile user experience awkward. With more people now browsing the web and searching for products and services on the go rather than from their desktops, it’s a no-brainer to make your website mobile-friendly–whatever industry you are in.

By failing to make this simple change, you are damaging your business and driving potential customers away–as well as damaging SEO. Help your audience find your information easier on the go and, if you have an e-commerce site, make sure the buying experience is as simple as possible. It’s easy to check mobile-friendliness using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.

SEO case study— Imagine running a restaurant with great online promotions and offers for local customers, but you make people jump through hoops to simply find out where you are. If your website doesn’t display properly on smartphones, with unclear contact information and a non-interactive map that is difficult to read, how much on-the-go local business are you driving way? People could be trying to find you at any time and, unless you have made the “switch” to mobile viewing easy and painless, they may go elsewhere. A few small adjustments would do wonders for your business.

Post by: Anh Dang

Anh Dang is Digital Marketing Specialist for Inbound Law Marketing , which specializes in helping legal firms get more customers by improving their online presence. Their strategies are proven to drive more website traffic, generate leads, and expand the client base. They offer a range of customized websites and landing pages, as well as search engine optimization, Adwords services, and copywriting for the legal profession.

Company: Inbound Law Marketing
Website: www.inboundlawmarketing.com

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