8 of the Biggest SEO Mistakes You Can Make

Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or a complete novice in this particular practice, it’s always possible for someone to make an occasional mistake when it comes to devising SEO strategies and, subsequently, implementing them. Sometimes, complacency plays a part in this, but more often than not, it’s because the industry and its practices are incredibly fast-moving. This means that you’ll have to keep adapting and changing to match the current state of SEO, including Google’s algorithms, which people can forget about. With that in mind, here are some of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to SEO strategies and execution:

1. Having a poor internal link structure

Internal links are paramount if you want your readers and visitors to the site to be able to see what you have on offer. If you publish an industry-relevant article, then link internally to product pages or services pages. It is also possible to link one website page to another, but this is usually done from a parent page to a child page. 

But with that being said, some marketers forget how important internal linking really is when it comes to how well a piece of content performs in the search engine results pages (SERPs), whether it be on Google or otherwise. But as well as making people aware of everything you have on offer, internal linking is beneficial for the following reasons:

• It provides a clear, no-nonsense pathway to conversion pages
• They spread authority to website pages, even if they’re buried deep within your site
• They provide relevant, consumable reading material for users and readers
• Website pages can be organised by keyword-optimised anchor text
• It communicates to a search engine crawler which of your website pages are most important

As a general rule, no website page should be more than two clicks away from homepages or call-to-action landing pages. With this in mind, your website architecture should incorporate new keywords that will enable you to organise website pages topicality, both when it comes to topic clusters and throughout your content in general.

2. Creating content for the sake of it 

Content ideas need to be generated and planned meticulously, and that includes doing some keyword research as a bear minimum. Content cannot be created simply out of the blue or with very little thought behind it. This will become obvious to your readers if they find your content and it’s purely a piece of text that rambles on without getting to the point or without giving them anything useful. 

Never write content just “as something to do” and don’t put pen to paper before doing some research. If you write an article that touches on a subject that no one is searching for then, from an SEO and ranking perspective, it has been a waste of your time. Create content that has purpose and is targeted to your individual audience. Make sure it’s also about something that’s being searched for to help boost your rankings online.

3. Failing to reach your target audience with the content you create

We’ve already touched on this when we spoke about creating content for the sake of it. You need to do some planning and research before writing an article or copy for your website page. Ensure you’re including keywords and phrases that are relevant and that aren’t too competitive to rank for. If you’re a local, independent business, then use this to your advantage, because you can add a location to your keywords as and when needed, such as “homemade cakes for sale in [location]”. 

You need to put more time and money into promotional tactics and this could include getting more hands-on in the realm of social media and being more competent and confident in keyword research and content planning before writing content and sharing it with others. You might find that, if done correctly, you might not need to rely so heavily on social media sharing.

4. Optimising for incorrect or highly-competitive keywords

Keywords that are too competitive will never rank higher than huge retailers. If you own a bakery and someone searches “birthday cakes for sale”, there will be highstreet names that appear higher in the SERPs than your small business, hence why you should try and target a keyword that’s already been mentioned; “homemade cakes for sale in [location]”. It might also be that you’re targeting, not only keywords that are too competitive, but the wrong keywords altogether. This can all be mitigated if the right keyword research is carried out.

5. Forgetting the importance of local custom

We’ve already mentioned this, but if you’re finding it difficult to rank against huge highstreet names, then take advantage of the fact that you’re a smaller, local company. Try and establish that trust and make connections with local customers and think of ways to keep them coming back. 

Perhaps offer loyalty schemes or present your customers with discounts and offers that can be had every Friday, for example. If you find that your business is located in a high tourist area, such as Bakewell or Matlock, then that in itself can be incredibly beneficial. Make sure you amass lots of positive reviews online to set yourself apart from your competitors.

6. Not auditing your own site regularly

Once every now and again, scroll through your website and make a note of things that could change. It might be that your banner or logo is outdated or there isn’t enough copy on a website page. You don’t really need a digital marketing agency to do this for you, especially if it’s all visual. 

However, you will need the help of a marketing agency if you’re wanting to look further into your insights and stats using things like Google Analytics, for example. If this is something that falls outside of your realm of knowledge, then rely on a digital marketing agency, such as us here at Kumo.

7. Not taking advantage of Google Analytics

Google Analytics presents marketers with a wide range of valuable information about a website. From session times to bounce rates, there is plenty to be learnt from the data that Google Analytics presents to us. It will also help you to spot negative aspects of your website, including things like:

• Duplicate content
• Unoptimised meta tags
• Slow site speed
• Broken links
• Error pages

By learning about where your website is going wrong, you’ll be able to make improvements and, therefore, make the user experience far more positive and more enjoyable. This way, people will be far more likely to return to your site and look to you for the goods and/or services that you have on offer. Where you might ot feel confident enough to decipher the data that Google Analytics provides, an experienced digital marketer will.

8. Ignoring technical SEO

Technical SEO is something that a lot of people forget about when it comes to optimisation and ranking higher in the SERPs. Use tools such as Semrush or Screaming Frog to identify any technical SEO issues and fix them immediately. A website audit will bring issues like this up, so bringing in a digital marketing agency to help with this should be considered something of an investment, because this can be done at least once a month if your budget allows for it.

Kumo is an experienced digital marketing agency with over twenty years’ of industry knowledge and expertise to draw upon. With SEO specialists, PPC experts, content creators and website designers at the helm of everything we do, you can rely on us to catapult you into the spotlight, setting you apart from your competitors. For more information about how we can help you today, get in touch with a member of our professional team – we’re always pleased to hear from you.