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SEO

5 major SEO mistakes to avoid in 2021

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It’s no secret that to achieve any sort of success with your online business, you need website traffic. Regardless of how attractive and engaging your website is, you won’t get anywhere unless you apply the most up to date Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques.

The digital marketing world is constantly evolvingand it can be hard to keep up all the latest changes. So to make your life easier and help you to avoid some common SEO mistakes we’ve summarised some of the most common downfalls for you.

These are the 5 major SEO mistakes to avoid in 2021.

1 Neglecting your site’s speed

If you’re running an online business, there is no doubt you would have come across the term User Experience (UX). Over the past few years UX has emerged as one of the most critical components of a website. It refers to the full functional, brand and informative experience that a user has while viewing and navigating your site.

“But what does my site’s speed has anything to do with UX?”you ask.

Well, everything! From the get-go users are expecting a fast loading time and seamless navigation through your site. If they arrive to your landing page and it takes more than a couple of seconds to load – you’ll lose them. For visitors who find you during and organic Google search you have mere seconds to engage before they bail and try the next search result.

Not only is this bad practically, but Google knows what your site speed is and will negatively rank you if your site speed is too slow. On the other hand, if your loading speed is decent Google will prioritise it in search ranking.

You can check the speed of your webpage by going to Google PageSpeed Insights. This tool can give you a summary of things you can do to improve your content such as resizing your images, adding more videos, removing unused JavaScript and more.

2 Not writing quality content

Having high quality content is key if you want to drive more traffic to your site and improve conversion. But what does “quality content” mean? We refer to quality content as original content that offers value and information to your visitors. Sure it’s easier just to copy and paste content from other sites, but search engines HATE this – and quite frankly so do discerning visitors who are doing their research and come across the same content over and over again.

Google´s algorithms get better and more effective every day, and it can easily recognise if you have copied content from another website site. Once the engine realizes this, it will negatively rank your site which will inevitably mean less traffic, fewer conversions and little to no sales.

Another thing to consider is the length of your text. If it’s too short, Google won’t see you as an authority in the field and, for this reason, it won’t match your content to the search criteria. To avoid this, try to include a minimum of 600 or 1000 words per page that are relevant to your niche.

3 Not focusing on search-intent

While it’s important to keep search engines happy, the truth is you should always focus on your audience first and foremost. The content you write must be relevant to your market not Google, otherwise all the SEO in the world won’t help you convert visitors.

We get that all you want to do is talk about how great your product is in nitty gritty detail to show why your customers should buy. But the best way to achieve this is not by in depth technical descriptions – but by demonstratingthe benefits your product or service will create.

The best way to do this is by showing your readers how your product will help them achieve the goal they want to reach and include proof. For example, you can featuregood reviews, case studies, testimonials, answer “how-to” questions, upload news articles that talk about your product, etc.

4 Failing to provide a mobile-friendly site

Since Google launched mobile-first indexing in 2018, mobile search became more important for the search engine tool than traditional web search. Therefore, your site must be attractive and easy to navigate on a mobile device as well.

The best way to check this is to constantly test your site on your smartphone and tablet and answer the following questions:

  • Does it load fast on all devices?
  • Is the text size comfortable for reading?
  • Are you using a responsive theme?
  • Does it provide a good user experience?

Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test is another great tool you can use to test if your site is mobile friendly is. All you have to do is enter your website’s URL and you’ll get an overview of the areas you need to improve to make your page mobile-friendly.

5 Sticking to outdated SEO practices

The digital world is moving faster than ever and what’s useful today might not work tomorrow. To keep your business at the top of the search rank you have to constantly learn about new SEO practices.

Applying old SEO techniques not only fails to help you rank higher, but search engines can actually penalize your site for it. Methods like keyword stuffing or overloading your site with unnecessary links can damage your site’s ranking.

Nowadays, search engines are using AI technology which helps them improve their algorithm, meaning it’s easier for them to recognize old techniques.

After 2020 we learnt that having a strong online presence is key to run a successful business and apply the best SEO practices is a non-negotiable. If you’re still not sure what you should be focussing on contact the FrogOnline team. Call us on 1300 376 466 or contact us here to have a chat about how we can set up a strategy for your business.

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