Ever-changing technology and search engine algorithm updates can make it difficult to keep up with current SEO best practices. Unfortunately, if you’re not in the know, you can make costly mistakes without even realizing it. Your use of SEO can enhance your business or hurt it. It can be one of the most profitable uses of your time or a complete time-waster. Get yourself on-track and stay there by avoiding common mistakes SEO users make. Steer clear of these five as you fine-tune your best practices for business growth and success.

  1. You Didn’t Do Your Homework. No matter how wonderful your prose is, if you don’t use keywords and keyword phrases that result in volume hits your work will be for naught. Once you determine your topic use a tool such as Google’s Adwords Keywords Research to find the keywords and phrases that are being searched for the most.
  2. Backlink Quality was Overlooked. Random links inserted into your blog post, article or web content can really backfire on you. Updated search engine algorithms were designed to weed out spam-containing sites. If the links you’re using fall into that category, you’re site won’t be indexed. Choose quality links from reputable or authoritative sources to increase your exposure as well as your credibility.
  3. It’s Hard for Search Engines to Index Your Website. You may love lots of images and flash animation, but search engines don’t. Text that’s embedded in images or part of flash animation isn’t picked up by search engines, which can cause your site to be lost in the shuffle. Limit yourself to the use of a few quality images, and keep important text separate.
  4. You’re a Driveby Administrator. Once you’ve designed a fantastic site, using appropriate keywords, quality backlinks and not too many images, it’s important to come back now and then to update your site. Keeping consumers interested and excited is the name of the game. To win, you’ve got to continually add fresh content, service or product updates and any other information your customers would find useful.
  5. Efforts Focused in the Wrong Place. Oh boy; you were so focused on catering to the search engines that you forgot all about your customers. It’s important for your site and content to be picked up by search engines and lead traffic to you. But once everyone gets there it’s also vital that you’re able to hold their attention. In all you do, remember that it’s the customer you want to connect with.

Using SEO to your business’s potential really isn’t all that hard. It’s a matter of keeping current with trends and advancements, and incorporating habits that produce results. If you feel like you’re swimming upstream and your hard work isn’t resulting in much, it might be time to take a look at how you’re doing in these five areas. Any one of these mistakes can result in a lack of progress, and a combination of them can nullify all of your hard work. Change your habits by being more mindful with your SEO practices. Do your homework, use quality backlinks, keep your website clean and updated, and don’t forget about consumers. As each of these areas is paid attention to, you’ll begin to see the fruits of your labor.

 5 Common SEO Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Lucy Harper works for Touchpoint Digital, visit us to find out more about how a digital advertising agency can help you.

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