For a business to be successful, it has to create a name in the online world. All of your marketing efforts will be useless if you’ve never considered being present online. You understand that this is the status quo now; that’s why you’ve decided to hire professionals to create your business website for you. And now that it’s been up and running for months now, you’re expecting an increase in your customer base and eventually, with your profits as well. However, none of this is happening. Your website has been available online for everyone to view yet, no increase is taking place – both in your customer base and your profits. Sorry to burst your bubble but although your website is professionally made, it’s never an assurance that you’ll immediately earn more customers and profit. Have you considered your search engine optimisation (SEO)? Because yes, SEO matters in the online world.

But first, what is SEO and how is this important in your business?

Online users (aka your potential customers) would use the internet whenever they’re looking for a certain company they want to do business with. If they’re looking for a florist or a veterinarian, they would immediately use search engines to find what they’re looking for. On the results pages, users would usually click the website that’s on top of the rankings. Some users would think that the higher the rank the website has, the more credible it is. This is the very reason why you should improve your search engine optimisation – for you to be placed on top of search engine rankings (especially in Google rankings), and for your website to be preferred by more online users.

So what are the killer SEO mistakes that can wreak havoc on your Google rankings?

Search engine optimization is crucial in your business. It can make or break your business’ appeal to online users and of course, you would always want them to choose your business among others. For you to achieve that, you should know what to avoid. You should know the killer SEO mistakes that can affect your Google rankings. You might be doing some of these on your website, so it pays to know what these mistakes are:

  1. Your website contains unoriginal content: Although there are businesses which offer the same set of products and services like yours and produce content about it, Google can distinguish which websites have unique content. The website which has the most unique content are the ones which are promoted by Google and are placed on top of the rankings. The more original and unique your content is, the higher the chances your website will improve on Google rankings.
  2. Your website is using the wrong keywords: Keywords might be something that you’ve considered before making a website but are you sure that you’re using the right keywords? Take the time to assess if your keywords are too generic. If they are, you’re making your business synonymous with other businesses, and this will not create a difference in your Google rankings. Instead, opt to use long-tail keywords. There are a lot of keyword picking websites which you can use for this purpose so coming up with long-tail keywords will be a piece of cake for you. Think of all the possible keywords online users would affiliate with your website. Put yourself in their shoes and think what they would use as keywords to find your business.
  3. Your website is not mobile-friendly: Because most of the users are accessing the internet through their handheld devices, Google rewards businesses who adapt to this culture by placing them on top of the rankings. This can be bad news for you if you’ve never even considered whether or not your website is accessible on a tablet or a smartphone. Remember that you should always guarantee that your website can be accessed by users in all possible mediums. This is your way of reaching out to them and improving your Google Rankings at the same time.
  4. Your website uses too many pop-ups: Pop-ups can be useful, especially if there are promos which you think are appropriate for your target audience. However, too much of anything is never good, and this includes the pop-ups on your website. No user would ever want to navigate through a page when it’s filled with pop-ups of all sorts. And Google feels the same way too. If Google sees that your website has too many pop-ups going all at once, your website will be punished by appearing last in the SEO results.

You might not be getting the results you’re expecting from your website, but you don’t have to fret. There are a lot of ways to turn things around, and one of these is by considering your SEO and your Google rankings. If this is your first time to manage a website for your business, improving your Google rankings might seem like a challenging task. The key to improving your website is to implement changes and learn all the processes involved gradually. Don’t force yourself to learn all of these overnight as you might end up producing a website that’s ineffective  – and you don’t want that to happen. Take all the time that you need and learn from your mistakes. All of these things will help you craft a website which is not only appealing to your target audience but is also placed on top of different search engines – you’ll be hitting two birds with one stone once you’re improving your rankings along with your SEO! We hope you like this article from U-Thrive Marketing.