5+ SEO Mistakes That Can Doom Your Website to Low Rankings (and How to Fix Them)

As a business and website owner, you know that SEO should be an essential part of your digital marketing campaign and growth strategy. And yet, search engine optimization can seem like a minefield at first. Choosing to target the wrong keyword to target can be as damaging as not creating backlinks, and black-hat pitfalls always seem to be around the corner. 

Nonetheless, SEO is an essential part of your strategy, and the fear of making mistakes shouldn’t stop your business from growing. Gain confidence by looking at the most common mistakes and how to fix them. 

Not Investing Enough Effort or Funds in SEO Can Fail Your Campaign

It isn’t a secret that a large percentage of SEO campaigns are unsuccessful – or, at least, end up not meeting set expectations. While the fierce competition and lack of SEO knowledge do play a role in how successful your campaign will be, a lot comes down to better managing your expectations and investing enough time, effort, and funds. 

Unlike other marketing campaigns, SEO is a long-term game rather than a one-off effort, and, to be successful, it requires commitment and effort. Luckily, there is an easy fix to this mistake: don’t quit too soon and continue building your SEO knowledge! 

Not Focusing on Local SEO Can Harm Both Local and International Businesses

There are many misconceptions about Local SEO, including the fact that it is only beneficial for local companies. But, no matter whether you are a brick-and-mortar business or an international startup, Local SEO best practices are something you should not overlook. 

Today, nearly 50% of user searches on Google are for services, products, and information in the area. Building your Google My Business profile and using location-specific keywords are only two of the many tools to increase the visibility of your company among users who are already in the area and looking for your services. 

Not Keeping Up With Google’s Latest Updates: Hire an Experienced SEO Firm so You Avoid Making Mistakes Based on Outdated Advice

While Google’s core updates only take place every few months, minor – but still impactful – updates happen at a rate of 400-500 per year. 

Content and websites negatively affected by these updates might not recover and be able to climb ranks so easily, which makes it paramount for businesses to stay up to date with changes that might disrupt their campaign. 

The best way to fix this mistake is to find a local and specialized SEO firm that can help you understand in advance how your website will be impacted. For example, if you own a retail store in Victoria, an SEO firm based in Melbourne should be your first port of call to get updated advice. 

Ignoring the Importance of Backlinking and Missing Internal Linking Opportunities

In the eyes of the search engine, backlinks represent a “vote of confidence” from other, high-ranking websites and are at the core of Google’s PageRank algorithm. Having a backlinking strategy in place and working towards gaining links pointing back to your site from authoritative sources can help you rank higher and build credibility among users. 

On the other hand, internal linking to other relevant blog posts and pages on your site can make your website more easily crawlable by Googlebot. 

Pro tip: using black-hat SEO techniques, such as buying backlinks or placing backlinks in exchange for money, can go against Google’s Terms of Service and penalize your site. 

Not Doing Keyword Research or Not Matching User Intent Is Just As Harmful as Keyword Stuffing

SEO isn’t just keywords management – but it is undeniable that the keywords you choose, how you target them, and whether they match your users’ search intent will greatly impact your campaign’s success. 

For example, if you are selling hiking shoes, and you target keywords like “best hiking shoes” you might not achieve your goal! Google knows that keywords like “best hiking shoes” are used by those looking to compare items rather than buying them, and it can cause your website to rank poorly. Make sure to understand what your users are likely to search for. 

Fix this SEO mistake by using keyword research tools and work with a content creator who can help you use your chosen key phrases wisely.