Avoiding common SEO mistakes
It isn’t hard to get SEO wrong – numerous words and countless blog posts could be written about the many pitfalls of the web optimisation world – but digital natives and optimisation specialists such as us here at HookedOnMedia have had many years of experience working in conjunction with businesses up and down the country to make the most of their web optimisation strategies. In this article, we’ll look at some common SEO mistakes people make, and the best ways to avoid them with even the smallest of actions you could complete at home.
Forgetting web tech
For creative web developers, designers and content guys this might not seem like the most appealing thing in the world – but a good amount of time needs to be dedicated to all the stuff you can’t see on your website. There’s some info below on what you need to look out for
● Soft 404s
● Site Speed – how long do your pages take to load? This could be holding your site back as Google takes the speed of your site into consideration.
● Unnecessary page loads – it’ll surprise you
Forgetting content
It’s an old adage that fresh content is needed on your site to keep it updated, useful and relevant to users, but it really does stand true and it’s surprising the amount of sites we see where content has been neglected. As well as a news or blog section, discussing relevant topics and trends, it’s also a good idea for SEO purposes to take a fresh look at the copywriting on your website from time to time. Bear in mind updated keywords and ensure you are still visible for the things you want to be visible for – users search patterns and behaviours can easily change.
Use Analytics
This is an easy one to avoid because handily, Google offers you most of the important information you need on a plate. Register with Google Analytics and make sure you at least learn the basics of what they offer to help your optimisation and your marketing strategies. It’s a mistake not getting to grips with this – a very simple SEO mistake is not making the most of the date you’re being given. Most successful SEO strategies are at least in part linked to user behaviour – and the best way to learn this is to start by learning where your traffic is coming from and how your visitors navigate their way around your site.
Link worthy content
The content you create needs to be remarkable – we’ve been told this time and time again, but it’s easier said than done and in reality getting people to link to your content is one of the holy grails of online marketing. It can be done however – the key is to make content that your target audience would find not only of interest but genuinely useful. Your SEO campaign will see huge benefits if you follow this strategy, and you are bound to get repeat visits from people who think of your site as an authority or a place they can find information they won’t be able to find elsewhere. Remember that link worthy content doesn’t necessarily have to be something ground breaking – it just has to be something people can’t find elsewhere.
Not using internal links
It’s hard to understand why internal linking is not used more aggressively – of course it still needs to look natural – and every other sentence can’t include a link – but using the right anchor texts on the right words within your copy can pass a lot of link juice around your site. Making sure it’s obvious to Google is the key here – users too will find internal links helpful and Google will recognise that there are likely to be many things on your site that are related to each other.
There are hundreds of little SEO tips and tricks you can implement to make sure you are avoiding common mistakes, and making the most of every opportunity for your website. If you are looking for some help with this – or would like to speak to a marketing expert on this subject – feel free to contact us or get in touch on Twitter or Facebook.
