5 Common and Destructive SEO Mistakes to Avoid

In 2018, it’s pretty easy to do your own SEO. However, it is even easier to make the common SEO mistakes that will kill your web presence.

The things that worked in 2016 won’t work today. So, if you downloaded a tip sheet back then and have been using it as your playbook, you’re now using dangerously outdated information.

So let’s make sure you’re doing things that will work today, and avoiding these 5 common mistakes.

1. Spammy Link-Building

Link building is one of the core components of your off-page SEO strategy. It’s also the source of one of the biggest SEO mistakes that people make all over the world, every single day.

Do not buy links. Earn them. A few years ago, you could get away with buying spammy and irrelevant links on “link farms”. However, the Google Penguin update is now keeping marketers honest, and only real, good and organic links are rewarded.

This means if this is something you’ve done in the past, you need to take these links down as soon as possible. The good news is when you do, you will see almost instant results because the Penguin update is part of Google’s algorithm.

2. Out of Date Local Listings

There is one massive local SEO mistake that literally half of the businesses out there are making. They say their Google My Business listing is probably out of date or inaccurate. Come on, people!

This is free and takes five minutes to do, and has a massive impact on your local index. Once a month or so, make sure your Google My Business listing has your complete address, offerings, pictures, and customer reviews.

Doing this will push you above literally half of the businesses on the internet today.

3. Being Too Slow

How is your website’s time? It matters! Google looks at your site’s speed when assessing its SEO ranking.

And it’s important your users too. Most people will not wait for three seconds for a webpage to load. And if they get frustrated and leave, that’s going to affect your bounce rate, which really hurts your SEO score.

4. Treating Mobile as an Afterthought

Google has also announced that they are moving towards mobile-first indexing. Which means you need to move to mobile-first planning. Your mobile site has to be as good and optimized, if not better, then your desktop site.

And your mobile users are even pickier than your desktop users. 74% of people say they’re more likely to return to a mobile site. Meanwhile, 67% of mobile users say they’re more likely to buy a product or service from that mobile site.

5. Mistaking PPC for SEO

Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are amazing, but they’re not gonna do anything to help your search engine optimization. One of the biggest SEO mistakes out there is assuming that SEO is linked to PPC. They are not.

SEO is organic traffic you earn. PPC is paid traffic that you bid on. You need to strategize and track these things completely differently, even though they both may involve the same sets of keywords.

Let Us Help You Prevent SEO Mistakes

Mauve is a digital marketing agency based out of Joplin, Missouri. We work with our clients to develop customized marketing strategies.

How can we help you? Start by clicking here to contact us anytime.