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A Practical Guide to Enhancing Your SEO Strategy
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that maximising your business’ digital presence has become one of the most important drivers of conversions. And in the world of digital marketing, conversions generally mean leads and sales.
Being visible to your target audience is the first step to driving conversions. This isn’t at all surprising given that a vast majority of online consumers rely on search engines to find the products or services they need.
According to DataReportal Global Digital Insights, over 96 percent of Singaporean users are connected to the internet, with the number of e-commerce users continuously increasing year by year.
Maximising your business’s digital presence, beyond enhancing sales and lead generation, allows people to discover your products and services.
And while there are a number of ways to boost your brand’s digital presence, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) lies at the core of an effective digital strategy.
Effective SEO strategies can propel a website to the forefront of the search engine results pages (SERPs), attracting organic traffic and potential customers.
What does organic traffic mean? Simply put, organic traffic is traffic garnered from organic search engines. Despite its importance, many businesses fall short in their SEO endeavours due to common pitfalls that ensnare one’s SEO efforts.
In some cases, progress is stifled and in others, one’s SEO efforts can be negated. What’s worse is that if your SEO isn’t done right, your website could even be completely de-indexed from search engines such as Google. To help you avoid this, we thought it would be useful to compile common SEO mistakes and how to avoid them. In this article, we’ll provide you with a list of common SEO mistakes, delving into how they affect (positively or negatively) your business’s online presence.
Keyword Selection Errors
It is absolutely essential to be aware of the phrases your customers search for. Why? These phrases (or keywords) act as the bridge between what your potential customers search (demand) for and what businesses provide (supply). However, several mistakes plague keyword selection strategies, inhibiting the potential reach of websites:
Mistake 1: Using Overly Generic Keywords
Opting for broad, generic keywords may seem appealing due to their high search volumes. But is search volume everything in the realm of SEO? It depends. Why? Solely focusing on high search volume keywords often leads to stiff competition since everyone wants to rank for the most popular searches. Also, you’ll be competing against competitors who have been doing SEO for years. This makes achieving high ranks in SERPs nothing short of difficult. Instead of targeting broad terms, narrow down your keywords to be more specific and relevant to your niche.
Keep in mind that this does not mean you should exclude generic keywords entirely from your SEO strategy. The effectiveness of generic keywords can vary significantly depending on the size and scope of your business. If you are a small shop specialising in women’s bags, using the generic keyword “bags”, is not the best strategy. This broad term is highly competitive and doesn’t effectively target your specific niche. Instead, focusing on more specific keywords like “women’s bags” will attract customers specifically looking for the products you offer.
On the other hand, if you are a larger brand or a departmental store such as PAZZION or Charles & Keith, you will likely offer a wide variety of shoes. In this case, a generic keyword like “shoes” can still be effective because of the broader range of products you carry. However, even larger brands benefit from narrowing down their keywords to focus on specific types or categories of shoes. For example, PAZZION might focus on keywords such as “high heels,” “loafers,” or “women’s shoes” to attract a more targeted audience interested in specific products.
What if you’re a global brand that carries all types of shoes (e.g. men, women, sports, formal etc) such as ASOS? In this case, “shoes” would definitely be a relevant SEO keyword. This is why when researching your SEO keywords, it is important to consider their relevance to your business.
If you are just starting out with SEO, it is advisable to target more specific keywords first. These long-tail keywords are less competitive and easier to rank for, which can help you establish a presence on Google quickly.
For instance, a new online store selling skincare products might start with keywords like “cleanser for sensitive skin” instead of the broader term “skincare.” As you build your site’s authority and gain visibility, you can gradually expand to high search volume keywords.
By initially focusing on specific, relevant keywords, you can achieve quicker wins and create a strong foundation for your SEO strategy. Over time, as your site gains more traffic and credibility, you can start targeting broader terms with higher search volumes to further expand your reach and attract a larger audience.
Mistake 2: Failing to Conduct Keyword Research
Without thorough research, it’s easy to miss valuable keywords or target keywords that are not relevant to your business. Investing time in comprehensive keyword research is essential for crafting an effective SEO strategy.
Leverage keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs to identify relevant keywords, search volumes, competition levels, and related terms. These tools expose patterns in user search behaviour that—when used correctly—can help you to discover valuable keyword opportunities.
Be mindful not to confine your research to a single dimension; identifying keywords with high search volume is all well and good, but, for example, one could identify keywords used by the competition. Or, taking it one step further, you could look for keyword gaps missed by the competition to stand out and attract more customers.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Search Intent
Understanding the intent behind user searches is essential for selecting relevant keywords. Why? Because ignoring search intent results in content that doesn’t match the expectations of your target audience, resulting in wasted resources, reduced user engagement, negative brand perception, and ultimately poor SEO performance.
One effective way to address this problem is by analysing user intent and search behaviour using keyword tools. Intent typically falls into awareness, consideration, and conversion categories as a reflection of the different stages that a user goes through before making a purchase.
By aligning your keyword strategy with the different stages of the marketing funnel, your content is better equipped to meet the expectations of your target audience, improving engagement and SEO performance.
Poor Content Optimisation
Failing to capitalise on proper keyword research due to subpar content can end up hurting your business.
In fact, low-quality content can do more harm than good. Content is the foundation on which your website stands, attracting visitors and converting them into loyal customers. Here are a couple of content mistakes that you’ll want to avoid:
Mistake 4: Lack of Keyword Optimisation in Your Content
It is not enough to populate your website with keywords and hope to call it a day. No, it’s imperative that your target keywords are used correctly; failing to optimise content for select keywords diminishes the impact of your SEO efforts on SERPS. This can be achieved by strategically incorporating your target keyword into the title, content, images and meta tags.
Keywords are to search engines what signposts are to travellers—they direct search engines to the most relevant content to the users’ queries.
While optimising for keywords in your content is important, avoid keyword stuffing or overusing keywords, as this not only results in a negative user experience (think cluttered and awkwardly phrased content), it is also perceived as spam by search engines. Instead, focus on creating high-quality, informative content that naturally incorporates relevant keywords where appropriate.
Mistake 5: Ignoring Quality and Relevance in Content Creation
When it comes to SEO content, quantity should never overshadow quality. Why? Irrelevant or badly written content reflects poorly on your website’s authority and credibility, increasing bounce rates (visitors immediately leaving after visiting your website), reduced conversions, wasted resources, and lower search rankings.
Conversely, high-quality content establishes your brand as an authority, engendering trust, brand loyalty, and, subsequently, customer retention.
To create better content, take the time to understand your target audience. Tailor your content to address their needs, answer their questions, and provide solutions to their problems.
Keep track of key metrics such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and social sharing insights to gauge what works and what doesn’t (more on that later), and use this data to identify areas for improvement, and refine your approach to more effectively attract, engage and convert your target audience.
Mistake 6: Failing to Optimise Meta Tags and Meta Descriptions
You’d be surprised at how many people neglect to optimise meta tags and descriptions, but this is a big mistake because both search engines and users use these elements to determine the relevancy of a page.
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Neglecting these elements can result in missed opportunities for boosting click-through-rates (CTR) and conversions.
For the uninitiated, CTR is a measure for the number of users that click on a search engine result. It is expressed as a percentage, and calculated by dividing the number of people who clicked on the result by the number of people who saw it (impressions) and multiplying the result by 100 to get the percentage.
(clicks / impressions) x 100
There are a number of ways to increase CTR. We recommend writing clear, concise meta descriptions that accurately summarise the content of your web pages and entice users to click through to your site. Include brackets in your title tag (a Hubspot study found that brackets in headlines increased clicks by nearly 40%) as well as numbers whenever possible, either as listicles or percentages—whatever is relevant to the post. Don’t forget the compelling call-to-action (CTA) to encourage user engagement.
You’ll also want to tailor meta tags and meta descriptions to the specific content and purpose of each web page. Avoid using generic or duplicate meta tags across multiple pages, as this can dilute relevance and confuse search engines and users.
Mistake 7: Neglecting Image Alternate Text
Not optimising the image alternate text, or alt text for short, is another surprisingly common SEO mistake. Like meta tags and meta descriptions, search engines like Google primarily make use of alt text to understand the content of a webpage and when to surface your products or services in response to a query.
Images themselves don’t inherently tell the search engine what they represent. Think of them sort of like a caption, providing a description of the image for search engines to index.
When writing alt text for an image, be sure to be concise and informative. It’s important that the alt text accurately reflects the content. Avoid keyword stuffing; instead naturally include relevant keywords within the description in accordance with the goal and objective of the webpage.
Neglecting Technical SEO
Content is vital, of that there is no doubt. Slogans like “Content is King” have ensured that a majority of businesses, in some shape or form, have integrated content into the SEO strategy. But the same cannot be said of technical SEO, whose importance is so critical that overlooking it can undermine even the most robust content and keyword strategies. Here are the most common technical SEO mistakes:
Mistake 8: Slow Page Loading Speed
In today’s fast-paced digital world, users expect websites to load fast. Slow loading times not only frustrate visitors but also adversely affect search rankings, as search engines prioritise user experience.
For context, consider these statistics: according to Google/SOASTA Research, as page load time goes from 1 second to 10 seconds, the probability of a mobile site visitor bouncing increases by 123%.
Moreover, search engines like Google prioritise websites that provide an excellent user experience, which—besides elements like how easy it is to navigate a website—includes page loading speed.
If a website is slow to load, users are more likely to get impatient and click away. This increases the bounce rate–a metric that tells the search engine that the website isn’t very useful, resulting in a lower ranking in SERPs.
Are there ways to address slow loading times? Yes. One effective way to speed up your website is by compressing the images on your site. Reduce the file size of images using tools that do not sacrifice quality. In addition, you should also consider using modern image formats like WebP if your users’ browsers support them.
Sometimes slow speed can be due to a poorly built website. In situations like this, we recommend consulting experts for assistance in building a website that is optimised for performance.
Mistake 9: Crawlability Issues
Just as librarians carefully examine books to understand their content and organise them in a catalogue for easy retrieval, search engines crawl websites to gather information and then index that information, so users can quickly find what they are looking for.
If your website is not crawled and indexed, your customers will have a difficult time finding your products and services. As such, it is imperative to address any crawlability issues as soon as they surface.
Before you can fix crawlability problems, you first need to identify the issue. Utilise the “Index Coverage” report in Google Search Console to identify pages excluded from indexing and the reasons behind it.
If there are any broken links, it would be best to identify and redirect them. Too many broken links can hinder crawlers from navigating your website effectively.
Mistake 10: Lack of Mobile Optimisation
With an increasing number of users accessing the web via mobile devices, mobile optimization is no longer optional—it’s imperative. This is doubly true when you consider that nearly three-quarters of the world will use just their smartphones to access the internet by the year 2025. Failing to cater to mobile users can lead to a significant loss in potential traffic and rankings.
Provide sufficient spacing between elements to prevent mistaps and reduce frustration. You’ll also want to choose a font size and typeface that is easy to read on smaller screens, as well as pick a good contrast between text and background to make your website user-friendly and engaging on all devices.
Mistake 11: Publishing Duplicate Content
Duplicate content, according to Google, refers to “substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.”
Contrary to popular belief, Google doesn’t penalise duplicate content, but it can still affect search engine ranks. Why? Because a) it makes it difficult for search engines to determine which content to rank and which to exclude and b) search engines don’t know whether to confine link metrics such as trust, authority, link equity to one page or, separate between multiple versions.
Now, there are a number of ways to check for duplicate content. If you have a small website, you might be able to manually identify duplicate content by carefully examining your pages.
However, manually examining pages becomes less practical with larger sites that have hundreds to thousands of pages. The Index Coverage report on Google Search Console, in this case, might also help you identify duplicate content, as Google flags duplicate content issues.
If you have old pages that are very similar to new ones, implement 301 redirects to permanently redirect traffic from the outdated pages to the preferred versions. In cases where some duplication is unavoidable (like printable versions of a page), use the “noindex” meta tag to prevent search engines from indexing the duplicate version, and to retain link equity which helps with maximising SEO presence.
Ignoring Analytics and Data
Ignoring or failing to track analytics can lead to overlooked opportunities and suboptimal strategies to grow your business online. Analytics provide invaluable insights into the performance of your website, the behaviour of your users, and the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.
Mistake 12: Failing to Track and Analyse Website Traffic
Understanding where website traffic originates from, which pages are most visited, and how users interact with the site provides invaluable insights for refining SEO strategies. For the best results, make sure to dedicate time to regularly analyse and interpret your analytics data to gain insights into your website’s performance, user interactions, and, in general, the results of your SEO.
Which pages do website visitors drop out of the most? What’s the average time spent on your website? How many users does your website garner every day, week and month?
Experiment with different tactics, such as content formats (infographics, long-form content or videos), keyword combinations or meta descriptions, track their impact on key metrics and iterate based on data-driven insights to continuously improve your SEO performance.
When monitoring site interactions, don’t forget to take conversion rates into consideration. Conversion rates, which measure the percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action (e.g., making a purchase, filling out a form, signing up for a newsletter), serve as a critical indicator of the success of SEO efforts in driving desired outcomes.
By tracking conversion rates alongside other critical metrics, such usage statistics and SERP rankings, businesses can assess the holistic impact of their SEO strategies on bottom-line results.
Mistake 13: Under-utilising SEO Tools
SEO tools are widely available to aid businesses in optimising their online presence. However, failing to utilise these tools effectively means overlooking opportunities for performance improvement and competitor analysis.
Your business may miss out on valuable opportunities to analyse data, identify trends, and gain actionable insights into SEO performance. This lack of analysis hampers the ability to make informed decisions and strategic adjustments to improve SEO effectiveness.
We highly recommend Screaming Frog SEO Spider for website crawling and technical audits. SEMRUSH and Ahrefs are great for comprehensive SEO analysis.
Google Search Console comes in handy when you need to monitor, maintain and troubleshoot your website’s presence in the SERPS. Google Trends, meanwhile, is singular in its ability to analyse the popularity of search queries.
Deftly managing and navigating these platforms might be difficult for the uninitiated but the effort in learning is well worth it in the long term. Failing that, the alternative, and often best course, is to consult a digital marketing agency. They often have access to these tools, with years of experience helping businesses achieve their SEO goals.
Mistake 14: Failing to Take User Behaviour Metrics Into Consideration
Bounce rate, time on page, pages per session, and other critical behaviour metrics are essential to enhancing the user experience—whether it’s engagement or satisfaction. Use them or miss out on insights that prevent your website from fulfilling its true potential.
Implement robust analytics tracking and that it entails, include, custom event tracking, goal tracking, or e-commerce tracking to capture relevant user interactions and conversions
Once you’re keeping track of the important metrics, use what insights you derive to fine tune your website, whether it’s in improving the content or user experience. Evaluate, once again, the performance of the changes and iterate continuously to remain competitive.
Ineffective Link Building Strategies
Link building influences website authority and credibility. In fact, one could say that is one of the most important factors in search optimization. However, misguided link building can do just as much harm than good. Below are a couple of link building mistakes that could be harming your SEO efforts.
Mistake 15: Low Quality Backlinks
Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites, indicating that your website is reputable and trustworthy. However, not all backlinks are created equal; just as an endorsement from a criminal can harm your reputation, a backlink from a low quality site can negatively affect your site’s credibility and authority.
Conversely, links from authoritative, relevant websites carry far more weight than amassing numerous low-quality backlinks.
It pays to prioritise backlinks from authoritative and relevant websites within your industry or niche. According to Ahref backlink statistics, there’s a positive correlation between the number of websites linking to a page and its search traffic. You’ll also want to seek opportunities to collaborate with reputable influencers, industry publications, and organisations that align with your brand and audience.
Mistake 16: Wrong Internal Linking Structure
Internal linking is a fundamental aspect of website architecture and SEO strategy, shaping the flow of link equity and user experience throughout a site. When executed correctly, internal linking can improve navigation, distribute authority, and enhance indexation for search engines. Google states that “it plays a critical role in Googlebot’s ability to find your site’s pages and ensures that your visitors can navigate and enjoy your site.”
Have you ever wondered why some websites feel easy to navigate while others leave you feeling lost? The answer often lies in the internal linking structure. To address this issue, make sure to choose anchor text carefully when creating internal links, using descriptive and relevant keywords that reflect the content of the linked page. Don’t settle for generic or vague anchor text that leaves users guessing. Opt for meaningful phrases that provide context to users and search engines.
Mistake 17: Breaking Google’s Terms of Service
One surefire way to hinder your SEO efforts is by breaking Google’s terms of service. Why risk losing valuable organic traffic by not adhering to Google’s guidelines? Organic search traffic drives targeted visitors who are actively seeking information, products, or services.
Violating Google’s terms of service can lead to a loss of organic visibility and traffic, causing your website’s rankings to plummet or even resulting in removal from the search index.
In the pursuit of backlinks, some websites resort to dubious tactics such as buying links or participating in link schemes. However, these black hat SEO practices violate search engine guidelines and can result in penalties against your website’s rankings.
Can you imagine the damage to your website’s reputation and performance if your rankings were suddenly slashed? To avoid these pitfalls, regularly monitor your website’s backlink profile using tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or Moz.
Identify and disavow toxic or spammy backlinks that may be harming your website’s SEO performance and reputation. By maintaining a clean and ethical backlink profile, you can protect your site’s integrity and ensure long-term SEO success.
Lack of Regular Updates and Maintenance
Websites that remain static and neglect regular updates and maintenance risk losing relevance, authority, and visibility in search engine results.
Indeed, a lack of regular updates (outdated content, unaddressed technical issues, e.t.c) can have far-reaching consequences for SEO performance. Here are some common issues when it comes to updating and maintaining your website:
Mistake 18: Failing to Keep Up with Algorithm Changes
Search engines continuously refine their algorithms to deliver more relevant and accurate search results. In 2023 alone, Google launched nine updates to its search engine. Staying informed about these changes and adjusting SEO strategies accordingly will help you remain aligned with each search engine’s evolving standards, and, in doing so, maintaining visibility in SERPs.
Mistake 19: Ignoring Outdated Content
Trust is a vital commodity in today’s modern, information-heavy world. A website that contains outdated content, or worse, inaccurate information, not only diminishes its values to users but risks losing customer trust.
A website that doesn’t address the needs of its audience (by providing accurate information) will lead to low engagement and high bounce rates, falling behind competitors in search ranking.
To avoid this, regularly review and update existing content to ensure accuracy, relevance, and alignment with current best practices and industry trends. Could your content benefit from a fresh perspective? Consider expanding or repurposing existing content to provide additional value to users and target new keyword opportunities.
Mistake 20: Failing to Update SEO Strategies
Failing to update SEO strategies means ignoring algorithm updates and changes in ranking factors, potentially resulting in decreased visibility, traffic and conversions such as leads, store visits and sales.
Google frequently updates its algorithms to improve the quality of search results. These changes can significantly impact website rankings if no adjustments are made to the existing relevant SEO strategies.
Regular updates to SEO tactics ensure alignment with algorithm changes and mitigate the risk of sudden drops in search rankings.
When in doubt, consult SEO experts for assistance in adapting your website to meet the continuously evolving standards and best practices.
Conclusion
By avoiding these common SEO mistakes and adopting best practices, you can maximise the chances of your website ranking prominently, attracting more traffic, and achieving higher conversions.
Proactiveness is key to remaining competitive in what is today, an ever-evolving landscape. Yes, it takes time and energy. Yes, it requires constant monitoring and updating. Yes, it demands a willingness to adapt and experiment with new strategies. But in the end, the rewards make the effort worthwhile.
Rogue Digital helps clients achieve superior digital ROI and lower marketing costs. Our expertise spans SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Content Writing, Web Development, Social Media Marketing, and more.
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