Web traffic can make or break a small business. While many brands turn to SEO to help attract more visitors and grow their leads, the fact of the matter is that many businesses don’t quite understand SEO. To stand out among the competition, you should make sure that you aren’t making these common mistakes. Consider the following four things that many small businesses get wrong about SEO:
Choosing the Wrong Audience
Many businesses hear about the success that other businesses have experienced with SEO and try to take advantage of it themselves without properly considering best practices for SEO. One mistake that many businesses make is targeting the wrong audience. Even with well-made content designed for SEO, businesses can fall flat in their marketing efforts. For the best results, businesses should pinpoint their ideal customer and use the proper keywords designed to reach that niche audience.
Using the Wrong Keywords
Keyword research can be tricky for small businesses. If a keyword is too general or niche, it won’t be very effective in reaching your target audience. Consulting with a small business marketing agency will help any business owner choose the most effective keywords for their brand. With a list of highly relevant keywords, businesses will be able to optimize all content for the best results.
In addition to improving your keyword research, the right agency will help you improve your content marketing in other ways to increase conversion. Establishing a long-term collaboration with a marketing agency will give you the high-ranking results you’re hoping for with your SEO campaigns.
Failing to Consider Mobile Optimization
We live in a mobile era with most people using their phones to browse the internet. With this in mind, effective SEO must take mobile devices into consideration. With Google using mobile optimization as a factor in ranking, businesses that don’t make their content optimized for mobile devices will lose out in search ranking. By formatting web designs and digital content for phones, tablets, and other devices, you’ll have the best opportunity to reach all users on whatever device they may be using to browse the Internet.
Using Low-Quality Content
Just a few years ago, many brands tried to rank higher on search engines by using poorly-written content packed with relevant keywords. While keyword usage is a major part of SEO, quality content is king. With Google and similar search engines cracking down on low-quality content, businesses that invest in creatively written and well-designed content will always rank higher than those using content designed for keyword stuffing.
Don’t jeopardize your business’ search engine ranking by making common SEO mistakes. Keep these four things in mind as you continue to refine your content marketing campaigns.