10 Common SEO Mistakes Small Businesses Make

In recent years, more and more businesses have been prioritising the practice of SEO to boost their website’s search engine ranking. After all, 93 per cent of all online experiences start this way, while 70-80 per cent of users ignore paid ads altogether and choose to focus on organic results instead.
It is also particularly popular among small businesses, as SEO doesn’t necessarily have to cost you anything. But at the same time, this marketing tactic should not be considered a simple exercise, as there are several mistakes a lot of organisations make. Here’s what to avoid.

1. Building a slow website

Lots of images and animations might look good, but they can slow down your site and have an impact on search rankings. If you must publish graphic-heavy content though, speed up proceedings with 100TB Web Hosting Services.

2. Having an un-crawlable site

This is cited as one of the biggest mistakes people make when creating a new website. If search engine crawlers find it difficult to locate and index your content, they won’t be able to rank the entire website.

3. Stuffing your copy with keywords

Keyword stuffing is a tactic that involves using the same terms and phrases relevant to your business over and over again in the hope of manipulating a search engine’s algorithm. Although you might succeed in attracting the attention of Google and others, this won’t be a good thing and usually results in a penalty.

4. Having thin content

A website that features multiple pages on a variety of different topics can help attract more traffic. But failing to fill these pages with unique and valuable content won’t go down well with search engines and your ranking will suffer as a result.

5. Having duplicate content

Similar to the intentions of keyword stuffing and having multiple pages, this refers to websites that feature similar content on two or more different URLs. Again, it rarely works and will probably cause lower rankings and a loss in traffic.

6. Building low-value backlinks

If the Internet is full of links that point towards your website, this can be great for SEO. However, quality is much more important than quantity, as sites that have been built purely for the purpose of disseminating links will lead to poor SEO performance.

7. Lack of attention with title tags and meta descriptions

Title tags are crucial as they enable search engine crawlers to index your site correctly but also tell the user that your content is relevant and interesting.
The same goes for meta descriptions, which act as a sales pitch for your website.

8. Broken links

Despite the fact most websites will naturally accumulate broken links, they can be extremely detrimental to SEO performance. So, take the time to ensure your website’s links are all working correctly.

9. Focusing on SEO rather than the user

The algorithms of search engines are constantly changing to meet the wants and needs of users. This means that if you focus on your audience’s experience from the start instead of stressing about SEO, favourable rankings will come to fruition naturally.

10. Expecting immediate SEO success

Even though several SEO tactics are fairly straightforward to implement, you should not expect immediate success. SEO is a lengthy process that needs ongoing attention and effort.