Being able to drive your website to the top of Google’s listings in the search results is a must for any business looking to stay ahead of its competitors. With clever SEO this gains much-needed traffic to your website but beware of many pitfalls that could damage your reputation and undo all your hard work.
Search intent unsatisfactory
Content that is helpful will only be received well if it’s being searched for by your target audience. If you’re supplying information that isn’t really helpful, this will fall short of what you really wanted to achieve. E.g. Searching for ‘SEO’ can be seen as a quest to find out what SEO is. Typing in ‘SEO Services’ into a search engine will produce slightly different results because it’s interpreted that you know what it is, and you are looking for someone to provide that service.
Not staying up to date
Some traditional techniques may be on their way out and with Google making regular changes and updates, you can be penalised for something that was OK to do a while back. Keep on top of SEO updates and research regularly.
Search functions not user friendly
Customers being able to search the website for products, FAQs, addresses etc must be easy to use and find. This helps with your structured data for different types of content.
Unable to convert a lead to a paying customer
So, they’re on the website, great! But what happens now? Being able to guide customers naturally through a website so that they are led to an endpoint is essential. It can be a number of things you wish your customer to do, such as make a purchase, call to book an appointment or maybe something else. Whatever the result, it must be an easy and smooth process with a goal in mind.
Branded anchor text not being used
Anchor text can have a positive effect on your website’s rankings. With text that relates to pages or blogs, these links are a great way to improve your brand.
No sign of video content
Videos are easier to digest and more appealing. Easy to use and with Google showing them on SERPs, it’s no wonder it’s getting results. Don’t just add blogs, add videos to provide your customers with information…It’s the future!
Branding is ignored
Your branding needs to be trusted and show signs of being financially strong. Google will start to rank your business higher once people are searching for your business.
Not mobile-friendly
If you’ve not caught on to the fact that your website needs to be mobile-friendly, then you might be in the wrong game. A great proportion of your website traffic will come from people using their mobile phones. If a website is not easy to navigate from a mobile phone, they’ll go somewhere else, in an instant.
Writing content with no purpose
Write content for your customers and not for search engines. Keep your customers in mind and then the content will stay fresh and plausible. After all, it’s your business and you know what people want.
If you wish to utilise the many advantages of having SEO, then please give us a call on Brentwood 01277 849161. We can provide information and advice, or you can pop in for a friendly, no-obligation chat.
