SEO (Search Engine Optimization) plays a very important role in a business, especially in this modern age. As technology in all works of life keeps on improving, more and more businesses are taking advantage of these advancements. As a matter of fact, businesses are conducting business online and consumers are taking advantage of this and not relying on the old fashion style of purchasing services or products. Today, people can even buy food through the web.
Avoid Making These Easy SEO Mistakes!
Also, marketing businesses have become more advanced and highly productive compared to old fashion techniques such as relying on word-of-mouth, banners, radio ads and others. However, marketing your business on Google needs techniques that will make you stand out from the rest. This means using SEO techniques to improve your rank.
Well, even though search engine optimization helps in improving rank, if done improperly will waste your time, money, and may even damage your online presence. Below are 6 common SEO mistakes businesses do.
1. Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is a big NO! NO! when it comes to SEO. This will get you nowhere. The first time when the web was introduced, companies used to stuff keywords all over the page to a point where contents did not make sense. Others forced keywords unnaturally into their website’s background or footer. However, due to advancements and continuous improvements in Google algorithms, keyword stuffing has simply become a thing of the past. Infarct, businesses are punished for this.
2. Using Keywords Unnaturally
As you probably know, keywords are important in the content and they should be used or applied in a natural way. In other words, you should use your keywords as natural as possible, and do not let them appear like you are forcing them. Because Google is regularly modernizing its algorithms to identify contents that seem to have forced keywords into contents or rather concentrated on keywords rather than solving the readers’ problem by providing value.
Therefore, if you do not know what you are doing, then it is wise to hire a professional or an experienced copywriter who fully understands how to write SEO contents. It is important to note that Local SEO is not easy for businesses, but through the right techniques, you can achieve greatness.
3. Incorrect Categories In Google My Business Page
Every business can be categorized. Categories are used to differentiate different business so that it helps readers locate what they are looking for with ease. The first category is known as ‘Primary Category’, according to Google. As such, you need to ensure that your category is specific to the kind of content, service, or product you are offering. Remember, do not be generic, be specific. See a full list of GMB categories here.
4. Too Much SEO Anchor Texts
Many businesses try to strengthen their keywords using anchor texts because they think that Google will simply ignore them. The truth is that this is not the case and Google do monitor these texts. Therefore, if you use too much and repetitive anchor texts, the search engine will immediately flag them as suspicious. Therefore, do not let yourself fall for this trick otherwise you will be penalized.
5. Varying NAP Footprint
Your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Numbers) should always be kept constant through your entire online presence. What does this mean? Example, assuming that you have listed your business on local directories, you should ensure that the number is precisely identical to the Google My Business Listing. Any NAP that varies is immediately flagged as suspicious by Google.
6. Copying Location Page text
If you decide to have a variety of location pages simply for Search engine optimization purposes, then you need to ensure the contents are unique from page to page. Copying content is going to be taken as plagiarism by Google, and you will be penalized instantly for trying to cheat the system.
