Small businesses have been making the same SEO mistakes for years, impacting their brands’ visibility and even the trust they receive from consumers. To save you from making the same mistakes, here are a few common mistakes which are easily fixed.
Info you should know: Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the practice of bettering a site’s visibility and search engine rankings.
Neglecting Keyword Research
One of the biggest SEO mistakes that small businesses make is skipping the chore of keyword research. This is when you find words / phrases that people use in search engines and match them with the diction used in your site. Lack of keyword research could mean that you are using terms that no-one uses and therefore will go unnoticed.
An easy fix to this is by using tools like Google’s Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or SEMrush to find realistic keywords to embed into your pages.
Lack of On-Page Optimisation
Another really common mistake that small businesses in particular tend to make is failure to optimise their pages correctly. Titles, descriptions and headers are usually left incomplete, with many people not even knowing they could be helping them with their battle for exposure.
Each page should have a unique title and meta description with your keyword integrated within it. Also, you should use header tags and ensure that any images have adequate descriptions.
Bad Quality Content
A third SEO mistake that small businesses make starts with bad quality content. Search engines try to find valuable and original content, so if one thinks that your page is full of thin, repetitive or duplicate content, it will impact your ranking. Not only will having this type of content negatively impact your SEO scores, but it could also leave people less engaged as they simply don’t care as much.
The obvious and simple fix for this is to create useful, unique content that your audience would be interested in. This means that both the search engine and consumers will be content with what’s in your site.
No Local SEO
Small businesses tend to rely heavily on local business, usually because their brand recognition is limited. When this is paired with a site that doesn’t have a focus on local search visibility, it’s usually a recipe to get no traction.
An incredibly straight-forward fix for this is to create / optimise your Google Business Profile, as this will inform search engines of where you are located to better your results. Also, include local keywords in pages and encourage customer reviews when you do business.
Final Thoughts
Avoiding these SEO mistakes that so many small businesses make can change your visibility and overall online authority for the better and change the way people view your company.
SEO isn’t about ranking higher, it’s about building a consumer-first experience that aligns your services with their needs.
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