Common SEO Mistakes Companies Make, Part 2

The internet is a vast wonderland of information just waiting for consumers to discover it. The problem is that as a business who is vying for those consumers’ attention, you have a lot of competition. This is why search engine optimization, or SEO, is so important. In our recent blog, we explained a few of the most common SEO mistakes companies make, but we felt that we could share more tips to help even more businesses improve their digital reach. For this reason, we’re revisiting the topic with the second edition of our blog.

Focusing on Short-Tail Keywords

In SEO, keywords can fall into two categories: long-tail keywords and short-tail keywords. Short-tail keywords are either single words or brief phrases that are extremely general. Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, are more specific.

For example, “dermatologist” would be a short tail-keyword. It’s a very general term, and if you are trying to rank for this broad search term, you are competing with every dermatologist throughout the world. Even worse, you are competing with larger sites that have information about dermatologists among other topics, like Wikipedia. The chances of your site showing up on the first page for “dermatologist” are almost none. With a long-tail keyword like “experienced dermatologist Atlanta,” for example, you have a far higher chance for success.

On top of the competition problem for your search engine optimization, you have a lower chance for a conversion from short-tail keywords. Someone may be looking for a dermatologist, but they want someone who offers a treatment you do not provide. A long-tail keyword like “Atlanta dermatologist Botox®” has a higher chance for a payoff in your profits by pulling in a new patient.

Cramming in as Many Keywords as Possible

It used to be good form in SEO to put as many keywords as possible in your online content because search engines would look for those keywords. Today, it’s the opposite. Google and other search engines have become far more sophisticated. When you are trying to cram in too many keywords and it makes your writing sound unnatural, Google sees this as a sign that you are trying to pull the wool over their eyes and are trying to trick them into showing your site for irrelevant searches. Instead, have a few keywords in mind and work them into your content, but prioritize high-quality content writing.

Having Too Many or Too Few Internal Links

Internal links are hugely underestimated in SEO, and they can be tricky. If you have too many internal links, it makes your content look like spam when Google scans it. At the same time, if you have too few internal links, you are missing an opportunity to improve your SEO. Internal links engage readers and get them to travel to other parts of your site. This makes you more likely to convert those readers into customers, and it increases the average time users spend on your site which makes your site look more credible to Google. The trick is finding the happy medium between having too many links and too few links and knowing how to strategize with your links.

Underestimating the Performance

When people think of SEO, they think of the content on their business website. They don’t think about how quickly and efficiently the site runs, and this is a problem. While there are plenty of user studies and they differ a bit, most say that if a page doesn’t load within about three seconds, many of your readers will leave. While the exact load time depends on many factors, like the reader’s internet connection and the device they’re using, there is plenty you can do to make sure your site runs well.

If people are leaving your site because of its slow loading time, it affects many of your statistics. It impacts your bounce rate, the average time users spend on each page, and the average total time users spend visiting your site to name a few. All of this makes Google think that your website has poor content, so your site will rank lower in search results in the future.

Without a doubt, search engine optimization is a complex task, and it is a job that never ends. That is why more and more businesses are realizing that they don’t have the time or expertise to handle it themselves, so they are calling SEO experts instead. To find out how we can help your website pull in more traffic and more revenue, call McCauley Marketing Services today. Be sure to stay tuned for more SEO mistakes too, as well as tips for avoiding those mistakes.