These days, it’s rare to come across a small business that doesn’t incorporate search engine optimization into its digital marketing efforts. However, while SEO can be highly effective when properly utilized, many businesses’ efforts in this area leave much to be desired. Although creating content designed to draw attention from prominent search engines may sound simple enough in theory, there are a number of rules and intricacies that every small business owner would be wise to brush up on. In your efforts to maximize your enterprises SEO efforts, take care to avoid the following blunders.
Refusing to Enlist Professional Assistance
When setting out to create effective SEO content, some businesses are hesitant to enlist the aid of professional SEO services. Since this entails spending money, many enterprises overlook the big picture in favor of frugality. However, while it’s true that professional assistance isn’t free, parting with a small amount of money in the short term can pave the way for massive financial rewards in the long run. A dependable web marketing company will help you craft high-quality SEO content and create a digital marketing strategy tailored to your business. Knowledgeable pros can also prove invaluable in identifying the most effective keywords and tone for your content.
Reaching out to seasoned professionals is particularly important for enterprises that have little to no experience with search engine optimization or digital marketing in general. So, whether this is your first foray into search engine optimization or your existing SEO efforts need an infusion of fresh energy, don’t hesitate to get in touch with people who know what they’re doing.
Including Too Many Links
Most SEO content contains links. Since links are crucial in directing prospective customers to your business’s website, it’s easy to see why so many enterprises go all-in when it comes to link inclusion. Although wanting to provide readers with ample opportunities to visit your site is perfectly understandable, littering your content with copious links is likely to have the opposite effect. Your audience isn’t stupid, and if they see that your content is stuffed with links, they’re likely to realize exactly what you’re doing. Furthermore, if search engines grow wise to your game, this is liable to have an adverse effect on your ranking. So, while the inclusion of links is common – if not expected – in SEO content, it’s important that you avoid going overboard.
Using Keywords Inorganically
Seeing as keywords are a vital component of effective SEO content, it’s no surprise that many businesses try to plug as many of them as possible into every piece of content they produce. Unfortunately, keyword stuffing is liable to have the opposite of the desired effect. In addition to drawing the ire of search engines, keyword stuffing makes content seem inauthentic. It can also lead to keywords being used in an inorganic fashion, which will be immediately apparent to your audience. Most readers are smart to ascertain when keywords are utilized naturally versus when they’re inorganically forced into text.
Not Creating Unique Meta Descriptions
Though often overlooked, unique meta descriptions (also known as “tags”) can help further your business’s SEO efforts. As the name suggests, meta descriptions are attributes within meta tags that provide succinct descriptions of pages. Although Google formerly capped meta descriptions at 160 characters, they subsequently expanded the character number to 275 in 2017. In addition to creating informative meta descriptions for the various pages on your website, you should also plug effective keywords into these descriptions. Not only does this increase the likelihood of your site being picked up by popular search engines, it provides prospective visitors with a clear picture of what your business is all about.
There’s little wonder as to why search engine optimization has become such a popular digital marketing tool. With a solid SEO strategy in place, you can make a sizable number of prospective customers aware of your business and boost your ranking in some of the world’s most widely-used search engines. Since the creation of quality content plays a vital role in any enterprise’s SEO endeavors, it’s important that genuine effort goes into crafting your business’s feature articles, product spotlights and blog posts. In the interest of creating the best possible SEO content, make a point of avoiding the mistakes discussed above.
