6 SEO Mistakes You Should Avoid at All Costs

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of populating your website or online presence with relevant search terms to improve your ranking on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other popular search engines. Doing so has a strong correlation to increasing the online traffic (or number of people who visit) your website, which in turn generates more potential leads and profit.

To make the most of your SEO strategy, avoid these six SEO mistakes.

1. Not including meta data on your website

The number one most important element that search engines look at when ranking a website is the 'Meta Title' this is a small piece of code in the back end of your website that is used as the headline on search engines (the blue link on google search results.) Make sure you're using a SEO-friendly plug-in for your website (like Yoast), or a CMS like Bloomtools that has built-in SEO capabilities.

2. Thinking keywords are the end all be all

Yes, there's no denying the keywords are still important to your ranking. However, keyword stuffing, or the practice of forcing too many keywords into your content to sound natural, is a frowned upon practice that can get your website blacklisted from search engines. Instead, focus on creating valuable content that touches on the keywords that are important to you.

For instance, if you run a clothing company and 'women's t-shirts' is an important keyword you'd like to gain traffic from, try writing an article like '10 trendy t-shirts for women.' This type of SEO strategy is called contextual SEO.

3. Not using analytics to measure opportunities

Google analytics is your best friend when it comes to pinpointing areas of opportunity for your SEO strategy. If you haven't already, install a web analytics system to track visits, engagement and keywords, among much, much more. Installing an analytics tool will allow you to track what keywords are performing well, and which to support with strong keyword-driven content.

4. Not optimizing for local search terms

Local search is an oft missed opportunity, especially for small and medium businesses. To optimize for local search, include the city, province or country where your products and services are offered in your website and content. Doing so will ensure that your content is visible when people search for local options. Your business will pop up on the radar of people who matter most: those who can actually walk into your location and make a purchase.

5. Not having a link strategy

An important part of any SEO strategy is having a complementary link strategy. Links, or hyperlinks, are a small snippet of code that allow you to connect a webpage to another page. Links are one of the most important factors in search engine algorithms. Google and other search engines use links to your website to determine that your website is trusted, credible and popular amongst other web users. But be careful link buying is expressly forbidden and can get your website blacklisted. Instead, reach out to related sites and ask for a link back, add your site to industry-related directories, or write guest posts on other sites' blogs often.

Internal linking strategy is also important. Make sure that internal pages on your website link to related or relevant content. Search engines use the anchor text (or the text that is clickable) as a ranking factor. Including keywords in them can help boost your rank for those keywords.

6. Using poorly written or 'borrowed' content

Last, but most certainly not least, make sure you're using quality content on your website.

Using poorly written content can actually weaken your SEO strength. Search engines are becoming more and more intelligent. If they see that visitors are bouncing from your website because the content is poor quality or not relevant to their searches, your Google rankings can and will be affected. This means avoid buying 'SEO content' from sources you don't know or trust. If you can't write content yourself, work with a trusted SEO writer who understands the requirements of a good SEO strategy.

Along the same lines, don't use 'borrowed' content. You may think it's harmless to borrow a few lines here or there from Wikipedia or a competitor, but this type of content is flagged as 'duplicate' and can actually hurt your Google rankings.

Want to learn more about SEO, and how you can create a great SEO strategy and content for your website? Schedule a consultation with Bloomtools. We'll help you assess your website and provide SEO tips to help you optimize it to make the most of search engine traffic and increase your Google rankings.