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5 Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid By Lindsey Wreggelsworth Product Marketing Manager, Commercial Web Services o you find your business’s website is struggling to gain exposure online? If so, it may not be optimized for searching. One of the best ways to ensure your website is properly optimized is through your website content. Writing content can seem overwhelming when you are unsure about what things search engines take into place for rankings. However, it should still be a top priority because 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. If Google can’t find you, neither will anyone else. Avoid these common SEO mistakes to increase your chances of being found by prospective buyers.

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Broken links:

A broken link is a hyperlink that limits the user from going to its intended page. If your link is broken on the page, it will cause you to have a bad reputation with search engines. A damaged hyperlink will deem your website unreliable. This causes search engines to lower your ranking when potential customers are searching for you. Make it a weekly task to visit your website to make sure everything is operating smoothly on it, and pay special attention to your links to ensure they are working properly.

Copied content:

Just like cheating in school, copying content from another site will award you a bad grade with Google. Creating unique content for your website can seem scary, but stealing it from a competitor is not only illegal, but it will also put you at the bottom of rankings. There are many resources out there that can provide content suggestions and helpful information. However, the best advantage you have over your competitors is what you do differently as a business. Highlighting these things on your website ensures your content is unique, so don’t be afraid to talk about yourself and your distinctive attributes.

Avoiding Analytics:

If you are not measuring your website’s data then it is very unlikely that you are achieving any of your business’s goals online. Using Google Analytics will show you how visitors interact with your website. For example, you can see where your visitors are located, what people are searching for, where they are clicking most often, and which campaign brings the most traffic. You can also check out how long customers are staying on your page and which pages are performing the worst. Google Analytics is definitely an investment that pays for itself in gained insight.

Keyword stuffing:

Including the keywords that your customers will search for is crucial for your content. However, you have to be careful of how many times you write those keywords on your website. Stuffing as many SEO keywords on every single page will cause Google to penalize your website. Everything is better in moderation. Instead of using the common keywords for your business, try using synonyms instead. Remember though, long term it’s better to create real value to your customers by providing them with useful information rather than providing meaningless information designed to trick search engines. If you’re stuck, a recommended word count for a single page on your website should include a minimum of 500 words and 5-10 keywords.

Poor Content Quality:

Did you know that 59% of consumers say they won’t buy from companies if they find bad grammar and spelling mistakes in their website content? Your content is an opportunity to make a good first impression on prospective buyers. Be sure to pick information that is interesting to your target market, yet simple to understand. Regularly double check your website manually for any spelling or grammar mistakes, or download the Google Chrome widget, Grammarly, which makes correcting mistakes on any platform seamless. Remember, quality is better than quantity and will give your customer the best experience on your site. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t see results immediately. Much like your customer relationships, a relationship with search engines won’t happen overnight. So be patient!

LINDSEY WREGGELSWORTH is the Marketing Manager at Commercial Web Services, a division of Dominion Enterprises which specializes in providing commercial dealers and manufacturers with products and services to establish and grow their online presence in today's market. 64 | www.cedmag.com | Construction Equipment Distribution | January 2017


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