Modern marketing strategies don’t just involve advertising campaigns and a website redesign. While those are important, SEO (search engine optimization) strategies play a crucial role in making sure online customers can find your business. SEO involves using specific techniques on your website and other digital channels to make sure your website is found by potential customers when they search for products and services related to your business. SEO can be tricky, with lots of strategies to try and new ones popping up every day — but knowing what to avoid will help you avoid some common mistakes businesses make when it comes to SEO. These mistakes keep many businesses from seeing their desired results, which can be costly in the long run.
Anchor text refers to the clickable text a website visitor will click to go to another page. It’s a crucial SEO factor, with the right use of it increasing your website’s visibility among search engines like Google. However, if you overuse the same anchor text too often, it will make it harder for search engines to understand your website and rank it correctly. This can lead to lower search engine visibility and fewer clicks from visitors who are looking for what you offer. It’s best to use different anchor texts in each of your website’s key areas, such as page titles and links. This will make it easier for search engines to understand your website and help it rank higher.
URLs are the internet address of a specific webpage. There are different URL structures that can be used, but the most common examples include a website address with or without a .com extension, a specific page URL, or a folder path. SEO experts recommend using a URL structure that makes it easy for visitors to find the information they want. This can include using descriptive URLs that make it clear what the page is for and using URL parameters to add extra information, such as an image ID or product ID. It’s also important to make sure there are no broken or dead URLs on your website. Broken URLs can lead to a lower search engine ranking, while dead URLs show up in Google search results with a “This page isn’t available” message.
Keywords are the important words or phrases you want your website to rank for. You can use them in your website’s title, URL, image tags, and more. To make sure you’re including all the keywords you want to rank for, you can use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to see what keywords your audience is searching for. You can also use the “Analyze your site” feature in Google Webmaster Central to see which keywords are getting the most clicks. You can use this information to make sure you’re including these keywords on your website.
When you’re focusing on SEO for your website, it’s easy to forget about competitors and their strategies. Competitors can drive inspiration for new SEO strategies. You can also use them to see what mistakes you don’t want to make. By keeping tabs on what your competitors are doing, you can make sure your website is up to date and competitive.
While SEO is an ever-evolving field, these common mistakes can help you avoid some common pitfalls. The more you know about SEO and how to succeed with it, the more likely your business will see results. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to SEO; every business has its own unique situation and needs to find the best strategy for success.