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5 All-Too-Common SEO Mistakes (That You Can Avoid!)

3 Jul

Google something like “how to do SEO”, and you’ll get a million different answers.

  • “The best way to get results is by focusing on keywords!”
  • “No, it’s by getting quality backlinks!”
  • “Well, what about content then? You can’t ignore that

There’s so much to take in – it’s enough to drive you mad.

Worse, it can also lead to you using the wrong SEO strategy, leading to suboptimal results and wasted time, effort and money!

Complicating matters even further is the fact that search engines like Google are constantly updating their search algorithms. What works today might suddenly become next to useless tomorrow.

Yeah, we know, it’s a pain.

In particular, there are a couple of common misconceptions or SEO mistakes that we frequently see, time and time again!

Today, we’re going to explain the truth behind 5 of the most common ones, as well as what the proper way to go about it is.

The 5 most common SEO mistakes: a Bayside SEO agency explains

There’s a right way to go about SEO, and there’s a wrong way – in fact, there are several of both.

Unfortunately, we see a lot more mistakes than we do success stories!

And a large part of that is thanks to common mistakes like the ones we’re about to list out…

Mistake 1: not having a Google My Business listing

How important is Google Business listing to search engine optimisation? Answer: a lot!

It may not look like it, but the little box that pops up when you type your business name into Google plays a crucial role in getting your website to rank.

Unless you have a GMB listing, you won’t be able to receive Google reviews – something that the almighty algorithm takes into consideration when sorting search results.

What’s more, Google uses a lot of the information in your GMB listing to rank results.For example, your address and location information are crucial for location-based SEO.

And finally, there’s the customer service angle.

GMB listings don’t just improve your SEO strategy – they also give potential customers a whole bunch of useful information like:

  • Contact details
  • Images of your products
  • Opening hours
  • FAQs

All of which can help nudge a customer towards giving you a ring!

Click here to learn more about how a GMB listing can improve your SEO strategy.

Mistake 2: ignoring website speed

If your website is slow, expect visitors to leave, and fast!

According to Google, 53% of web users will ditch a website if it takes too long to load. How long is “too long” here? Only 3 seconds.

Of course, it isn’t just the user experience that suffers when your website is slow – your SEO might also tank as well!

That’s because Google knows that people want fast, responsive sites – that’s why it gives red flags to sites that take too long to load. Over the last couple of years, site speed has gone from a fringe factor to one of the more important ones.

Google knows that people won’t put up with slow sites, so it doesn’t bother displaying them.

Luckily, these are pretty simple to fix:

  • Don’t over clutter your site with web design
  • Change your web host to a faster server
  • Reduce the size of images and files

This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about website speed and its impact on SEO – click here to learn more.

Mistake 3: using the wrong keywords

What a lot of people do – especially DIY SEOs – is try to either:

  1. Rank for as many things as possible
  2. Go for the “big” keywords right off the bat

Needless to say, both of these are big no-nos in the SEO world!

Say you run a small financial planning business. Certain keywords or searches like “financial advice” are probably going to be dominated by the big 4 banks. While you can certainly try to rank for it, the big 4’s credibility is going to make it hard.

If you ask our Melbourne SEO specialists, the best way to go about SEO is to choose your battles carefully:

  • Looking at the competition for certain keywords and searches
  • Identifying a niche that you can dominate in
  • Choosing keywords and searches that are relevant to your business goals

It sounds like a no-brainer – however, you’d be surprised how many businesses don’t account for these in their SEO strategies!

Mistake 4: focusing solely on backlinks

Don’t get us wrong, backlinks are still something you should be building. What we’re saying however is that they shouldn’t be the sole focus of your SEO strategy!

Backlinks have gone from one of the most important ranking factors, to a peripheral one owing to how easy it is to game the system.

Unfortunately, a lot of SEO tutorials haven’t updated to reflect these changes.

If you’re still chasing backlinks (we never said it shouldn’t be done at all), be sure to try to get links from reputable sites, not the “backlink farms” that have become so common.

Google knows that these sites are out there, and if it discovers that you’re relying on these methods, they’ll correct for it.

Translation: your SEO will suffer as a result.

Mistake 5: not focusing on high-quality content

Get comfortable, because this is the big one!

So if backlinks shouldn’t be the sole focus of your SEO strategy anymore, then what should be?

Good, high-quality content, that’s what.

Search engines like Google have one (publicly-stated, at least) mission: to give their users the answers they’re looking for.

Specifically, they’re looking for quality content that answers user’s questions – after all, would you keep using a search engine if it kept giving you dud results?

Creating quality content helps ensure that your business website is the one that Google picks to display at the top of its search results page.

For example, say you’re a mechanic, and you write an amazing article or put out a highly-polished video that goes into depth explaining what causes a specific engine fault, but which is still understandable by a layman – naturally, Google is going to sit up and pay attention.

Quality content doesn’t just get you ranking for individual searches, either – it also ups your site’s overall credibility and trustworthiness.

This has flow-on effects for the rest of your SEO (Google prefers trustworthy, credible sites, which is why Wikipedia and government websites tend to consistently rank so highly!)

Of course, the thing that a lot of people don’t understand when planning SEO in Melbourne is that it needs to be consistent.

You need to keep at it, casting a broad net and creating a constant stream of relevant high quality content that’s well-written, original and which answers people’s questions.

The content machine needs constant content to keep working. There are a couple of reasons for this:

  • Google likes consistency, plain and simple
  • Constant content allows you to cast the widest net possible
  • Content is cumulative, building your credibility over time

It’s because of this that content is at the heart of everything our SEO agency in Melbourne does!

Choose an SEO agency in Melbourne that gets you more business

One of the biggest mistakes when it comes to search optimisation? Assuming that gaining rank is the end-all, be-all.

Oh, don’t get us wrong, getting your website to rank is certainly important – however, it’s purely in service of getting more sales and leads for your business.

Luckily, that’s what we specialise in.

Our SEO agency in Melbourne focuses on getting you more business, with carefully crafted SEO strategies that account for your:

  • Customers
  • Products and services
  • Competitors (both online and off)

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all SEO strategy – each one needs to be tailored to your unique goals and market (making this assumption is one of the biggest SEO mistakes out there!)

If that means supplementing your search engine optimisation Melbourne with other strategies like PPC advertising, we can do that too!

And that’s exactly what we do.

Don’t just get a website – get an effective, cost-effective marketing tool that pays for itself and which brings in calls by the dozen.

Contact iformat’s Melbourne SEO experts today on 1300 88 6450, or fill the form to contact our team about any of your SEO concerns.