Getting Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) right can make or break your business. It can mean the difference between bringing in thousands of customers and bringing in nobody at all.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is about making sure you are sticking to the Google guidelines of the day. These change all the time, but some mistakes will remain constant forever. We have teamed up with XL Web, a leading digital agency in Glasgow, to compile the most common mistakes businesses make when trying to get to grips with SEO.
1. Duplicate Content
Duplicate content can fall into two categories. You have the content that has been duplicated by accident and you have the content that was blatantly stolen from another website. If you are doing the latter, this is your fault and you are going to be punished for it.
On the other hand, accidental duplicate content can be fixed, and all it requires is a certain number of checks. Use programs like Copyscape to make sure you have not inadvertently copied anything. Copyscape is the most powerful and well-known program for this on the Internet. It does not cost a lot to use, but the benefits are immeasurable.
2. Thin Content
Websites that are thin on content are not giving Google’s crawler bots anything to go on. Thin content does not mean the website doesn’t offer anything of value. It means there is a lack of text on most of the pages.
Remember, Google cannot read images. It can only read basic HTML. You need to have a certain amount of text to boost your SEO. This can be difficult on image-based websites, but this is where investing in solid product descriptions comes in.
3. Listening to the Rumour Mill
Everyone thinks they know about SEO. The difference between the average person and a reputable digital agency is they know when to ignore the rumour mill and when to sit up and pay attention.
If something comes directly from Google in the form of Matt Cutts, you know it is going to be true. If something comes from a site known for speculating on changes in SEO, you know to take it with a pinch of salt.
In the event you are unsure about something, always give it a miss. Never make any changes to your current SEO strategy until you know what is going on for sure.
4. End User Focus
SEO is partially based on the traffic your website gets. Never concentrate on SEO at the expense of the end user. This is how SEO used to be, and it meant thousands of websites were essentially worthless, but they worked because that is what Google wanted.
These days it is not the case. The end user is the most important person. If your traffic level drops, it does not matter how many keywords you managed to shove in.
5. Doing it Yourself
So many businesses will not employ the services of an SEO agency because they do not want to spend any extra capital. This is understandable but misguided. If you do not know much about SEO, you should not be trying to do it yourself. Your efforts will be wasted and you will soon discover you are not getting the results you were looking for.
