As you make your SEO plans for 2018, here are 8 perils that you MUST stay clear off!
“Today it’s not about ‘get the traffic’ — it’s about ‘get the targeted and relevant traffic’.”
– Adam Audette, Chief Knowledge Officer, RKG
Search Engine Optimization, or as it’s so lovingly called – SEO, is now almost a commonplace strategy. How else will you effectively get your targets to come to your site?
The process usually all sounds so simple: Get keywords, use the right phrases, include an array of links, and you’re done! But as many businesses have found the hard way, even after putting a lot of steam into their SEO efforts, search rankings remain poor.
SEO, as a strategy, takes little time to execute but takes longer to master. Patience, constant learning, and fine tuning some of the optimal points of consideration can get you there.
Remember, the right SEO approach can get your brand to page 1!
Avoid getting blindsided by these 8 (all too common) practices to get there.
1. Ignoring conversion analytics
Let’s not get into CPCs or PPCs here! But the miss is that SEO’s goal is conversion and this is often overlooked. To begin with, it’s time to withdraw primary focus from high-traffic keywords if they’re not yielding conversions. Low-traffic keywords, because they’re far more specific, can lead to much better conversion rates along with the prerequisite of page 1 results’ appearance.
Next, you need to track, measure, and analyze the performance of those keywords in terms of conversions and sales drive. This will help you compare the sets of keywords, so you can identify exactly which one of them are producing desired results.
2. Missing out on local search
It’s totally great to be a global player. If you’re already one, your site is probably already on page 1. For businesses whose main targets (leads/prospects/buyers) come from a particular region or city, they need more awareness through local search. Google, along with other search engines, have a different set of algorithms to handle local search as compared to global search.
Keywords that are specific to cities or regions must be included in your titles (pages) and meta descriptions to get the ball rolling for local search. Another handy way to optimize for local search is by including local contact number(s) and address(s) on your pages in their footers or headers to appear prominently in local results. And yes, don’t forget to get listed on review networks and local sites too!
3. Blurring keyword optimization
Many brands often step into this pit when they end up optimizing –
* Global keywords, but their products/services are for local customers
* Generic keywords, which lead to random traffic from visitors who’re not interested in their offerings
* Deceptive keywords, that only direct info-seeking visitors and not buyers to their site
* Dense keywords, which already have intense competition with top notch SEO teams defending their page 1 rankings
To get the best out of optimization, you need to be very specific. When you opt for generic keywords, you may get the intended traffic, but it’s not going to take you the whole way. Like they say, instant failure is better than transient success! When you’re specific with your keywords/phrases, in the long run, you’ll generate more qualified, relevant traffic and improved rankings.
For example, a provider of CRM solutions wouldn’t be served well with a generic approach – ‘CRM solutions’. It’s better to be precise with phrases like, ‘CRM solutions for B2Bs in Chicago’. With time, as your site performance and authority get better, you can opt for further optimization.
4. Neglecting meta descriptions and title tags
You’ll be amazed at how many seasoned players also make this mistake. How many times have you noticed websites with their company/website name on display as a title on every single page of the site?
It’s quite important and critical for your every page to get a distinct, unique title. Now, this practice goes beyond SEO usance. The page titles get shared when people tweet about you and are used as text when your site is bookmarked. This makes definitive, descriptive page titles a crucial element of your overall optimization efforts.
Meta descriptions are equally, if not more, important. In many ways, they act like a 160 character (max) sales pitch for your page to rank higher.
A few points:
-They should be convincing and clear-cut
-Try and include a customized meta description for your homepage and subsequent pages
-Including certain keywords within meta descriptions is not a bad idea either
5. Muddling anchor texts
Anchor texts are pivotal to an SEO strategy. And rightly so – the word ‘anchor’ is specifically used for them. Tailoring your anchor texts with authenticity is the bigger picture your SEO strategy should prime on. It’s quite common to see links such as ‘read more’ or ‘click here’ on a web page body. CTAs are good, no doubt. They might improve click-throughs. Or, they might not. Are you sure about that?
This is where anchor texts can make your page exclusive. Let’s say, there’s a blog post of yours on best email marketing campaigns you want to link to your site/page offering email marketing tools. A mere ‘learn more’, ‘buy now’ kind of anchors don’t hit the chord. Instead, go for anchors such as ‘click here to find an extensive range of email marketing solutions’. The latter will ensure relevancy of traffic and not random visits.
A few points:
-Avoid using the same anchor texts all over (It drives people away)
-Be sure to give your anchor texts a nice mix up
-Once in a while, it helps to give hyperlinks a break and just put the URL out there
-Play around the anchor texts using a smart permutation and combination of keywords, company name, geography, and more
-A good practice is to maintain a 50% usage of keywords in your anchor text. That’ll keep search engines happy and unbiased!
6. Botching up content
Onus and pride for your content is what would drive your SEO efforts. In-house content creators, third-party services (agencies), and article spinning software are the common choices today. The last of them is not a good idea because they simply rephrase, or rehash content and readers will not find any value in it even though it’s optimized. This is despite the fact that the search engines will take those software-generated rehashed content as unique articles.
7. Chasing quantity of links over quality
SEO teams can get misled when they start chasing the quantity of links and overlook their quality. It’s simple really: A single, high-quality link from an influencer or a well-known blog can propel your search rankings and traffic relevancy much more than a bunch of poor quality links. The former also provides authenticity and reliability to your site – this has a direct and positive impact on traffic/conversions.
Remember, target links should be:
-Specific and of relevance to your industry
-Not redirecting to sites with derogatory content
Free tools such as SEOquake can determine the true substance of the incoming links and domains to your page(s).
8. Too lazy to move with the times
Google AMP and voice search are my main references here. If your SEO scheme of things are without these latest trends, you’re wasting time, and worse, have got into the habit of it. It’s time that there are serious thoughts put into ‘mobile SEO’ for all businesses. Plenty are already reaping the proven benefits of mobile optimization and it’s never too late to join them.
An ode to that is Google announcing sterner AMP rules in November 2017 to secure the availability of full-page content on mobile devices.
Voice search is set to rule the mobile SEO roosts too. It’s a fair prediction going by the rising popularity of voice search apps and tools like Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, and Apple’s Siri.
# Currently, voice-based searches on Android devices stand at 20%
# By 2020, voice search is set to comprise 50% of all search queries
Source: Google
Staying clear of these landmines, your rankings and search appearance will probably be safe, secure, and strong. I’ll take your leave with this quote as you strategize your SEO efforts in 2018 –
“What gets measured gets improved.” – Peter Drucker