Business owners are often searching for new ways to boost their website’s visibility and rank well in SERP (search engine result pages). Most of them face tough competition even from other local businesses. It’s no longer difficult to get a shortlist SEO agency in New York.
SEO has remained a valuable tool for driving organic traffic, generating lead and boosting ROI. Website visitors will likely visit your site if it appears on the first page of search results. Avoid making any of these mistakes as you implement your SEO marketing strategy.
1. Slow-loading website
Consumers are used to getting information and products within a short time. They find it annoying to wait for more than 2 or 3 seconds before a site will load. A negative signal will be sent to Google as users leave your site.
It’s best to use a reliable hosting plan and optimize videos and images. Redesigning your site can help to boost the conversion rate. The bottom line is to make your site mobile friendly.
2. Duplicate content
Google has been against duplicate content for years now. This mistake often attracts a penalty. It has been proven that sites that share quality content tend to have a higher position in search results. Good content also helps to maintain an attractive brand image.
Creating awesome content regularly is an investment that you won’t regret. Optimize your content with target keywords and assign different meta description to each blog posts. A balanced combination of short-form and long-form content works best.
3. Pogo sticking
Pogo sticking occurs when a visitor has to go back to the search results after discovering that your content is irrelevant. Such visitors will likely check another site based on the same query. This may affect your SERP negatively if it continues.
Your best bet is to prioritize your users and be intentional when integrating keywords into your content.
4. Wrong link building strategies
Quality inbound links will help you to rank higher on SERP and boost website authority. Reputable websites will only link to valuable content. Working with a black hat link building agency won’t cut it in the long run.
It’s ideal to stick to white hat SEO tactics and remain patient. This is because it takes time to build relationships and get SEO results.
5. Broken links
This issue can affect user experience and SEO ranking even if all the other aspects of your web design are perfect. Ensure that you link to relevant and reputable sites in your industry. It’s risky to ignore broken links.
Get rid of them immediately because search engine bots can’t crawl inexistent pages.
6. Missing sitemap
Google needs a sitemap to navigate your site and discover the web pages. Creating one isn’t rocket science as there are several plugins online. It’s even easier to design and submit a sitemap to Google if you rely on WordPress.
7. Wrong keywords
Getting your keyword strategy right starts with conducting keyword research. Avoid skipping this step and adhere to best practices. Even though Google’s algorithm is ever dynamic, you still need to implement keywords naturally.
Consider using the long-tail keyword of a super competitive keyword. The other variants of this mistake that should steer clear of include not using keywords at all and keyword stuffing.