8 Common Mistakes In Website Promotion According To Semalt Expert
We have all been there. We get to know the world of SEO, and immediately the dream of free organic traffic to our site becomes our main goal.
After doing every possible optimization on our site, scouring the internet, and reading all the existing guides, we invested in quality content and got lots of links from other sites.
The site is slowly climbing in the rankings, and we tell ourselves that we are doing it right. Weeks go by, then months, maybe even years; but getting to the first page of results on Google? We're still not there yet. After doing everything that can be done, we can't help but wonder "why?".
After all, we've done everything, followed all the advice, and invested a lot of time in the promotion.
Well, SEO is the kind of field that anyone can get into and start working on immediately, but to be a true SEO expert takes a lot of hands-on experience.
Sometimes a small mistake can mean the difference between dismal results and impressive ones.
Here are 8 common mistakes that may be the reason you're not getting the results you want, and, of course, an explanation on how to fix them.
Let's look at one important detail before we start!
It's important for me that you read this before we start: Google SEO is a complex field that is constantly being updated, so if you find out that you've made any of the mistakes I'm going to present here, don't despair... You're not the first, and you're not the last, and I've been wrong many times until I got to where I am today. I have learned a lot from each of my mistakes, and I am still learning and improving.
Now, let's get to the heart of the matter with the very first mistake!
1. Do you only focus on on-site optimization?
On-site promotion, that is, the optimization you do on the site itself, is a very important thing. But even so, focusing only on optimizing your site and ignoring other aspects can actually hurt your goal.
Successful organic promotion requires more than just optimizing the site itself, it also requires a focus on off-site strategies. So be aware that neglecting the off-site aspect can prevent your site from ranking.
By taking on the task of writing compelling content for sites that are relevant to your field of business, you'll get links that drive users to your site.
And it will even help you generate traffic and increase your score in authority and trustworthiness metrics.
2. Lack of investment in quality content
Your site is beautiful, the user interface is convenient, and you also make sure that it loads as fast as possible. But what about content marketing?
Quality content is one of the important tools a site has in terms of promoting itself in the eyes of Google's algorithms. And that's not all! It is also important in terms of promoting the site in the eyes of Internet users who come to it.
If you don't have a blog or a place to upload articles to the site, you should create one and start regularly uploading quality content that adds real value to readers.
3. Reference website promotion as a task
Of course, it is very important to build a quality website infrastructure and invest in building it. However, you should not forget that this is an area that requires constant and continuous maintenance.
So, don't neglect your site and leave it inactive, Google does not promote sites that are not updated. Upload relevant and current content regularly. Also, keep up to date with the SEO world all the time and treat the promotion of your site as a never-ending process.
4. Identical page titles
Too many business sites give all pages on their site the same title tags. Usually, it's either the company name or a general domain title such as "phone lab".
This mistake is detrimental to your site, you have no idea how much. Each page should have a unique title that explains what the specific page is about.
Here's an example to help you understand what I'm talking about: Let's say your company is called "Mushon's Phone Lab," and your main page title tag is "Mushon's Phone Lab".
Now that you are creating a page that focuses on iPhone repairs, an appropriate title for this page would be "Mushon Phone Lab - iPhone Repairs".
The title of the page is important in terms of promoting your site on a technical level. But beyond that, it's also important because it's the title that people will see if someone shares the same page of your site.
I'm sure you can see why someone who gets the link to that page should know what the page is about and not just see the company name.
5. Misuse of external links
As we said in the previous section, links from other sites can lead to amazing promotional results. But for this to happen, it is very important to focus on the quality of the links, not the quantity. Instead of investing your efforts in getting a large number of unwanted links, focus on getting high-level links.
So what not to do?
Don't buy links, Google knows most sites that sell links and recognizes them as such. So instead of increasing your site's ranking as a result of a link you bought, Google may punish you.
So don't ask for links from any site you can get them from. Also, don't waste time on links from small, low-quality sites.
What to do?
- Get quality links from great, authoritative sites.
- Focus on getting links from sites that are relevant to your site and related to your field or industry.
- Write quality, engaging content on other sites that link to your site.
- Write quality, engaging content on your site to make other sites want to send people to your it.
6. Ineffective keyword promotion
One of the most important mistakes that can prevent a website from progressing while wasting mountains of resources like time and money is the ineffective promotion of the wrong keywords.
Here are some examples to help you understand when you are not promoting the right keywords:
If you're promoting general keywords, you're wasting resources on attracting users who aren't looking to consume your service or product at all.
For example, if you have a business that provides locksmith services, promoting search terms like "doors" and "locks" would be very unnecessary and ineffective. Most people who search for these phrases are not looking for a locksmith.
There is also the case where you are promoting keywords that are not targeted by region when you have a business that only provides services in a particular area. You are then also competing with large companies that provide services or products like yours all over the country and are also promoting your site to people you don't particularly want to visit. In fact, you have no way to help them find what they need.
This is still the case if you are promoting broad keywords with very high competition, even if you don't have the resources to rank high in those words...
So how do you choose the right keywords?
Choose specific keywords that are highly relevant to your business.
Promote phrases with less competition and focus on promoting your site in specific search terms that are related exactly to what you offer.
I'm sure you already know this! But let me remind you because this is extremely important!
You need to invest in a quality tool such as the Dedicated SEO Dashboard to do the keyword research.
Why is using a quality tool important for keyword research?
Keyword research is a necessary step in website design, organic SEO promotion, and sponsored advertising on Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords), and also on YouTube.
Keyword research can help to create comprehensive and rich content that Google increasingly understands and of course, loves.
SEM - Search Engine Marketing, which mainly consists of organic promotion and sponsored advertising on Google, brings a lot of traffic to many sites through this channel, which is also considered to be of the highest quality, which further increases the importance of keyword research.
Besides, you have at your disposal the Dedicated SEO Dashboard, which is one of my favorite tools. The reason is simple: in its structure, it reminds you a lot of Google's keyword planner, but in its richness, it is unmatched. It displays a good amount of search terms that no other tool displays.
The Dedicated SEO Dashboard provides a wealth of data, such as the number of searches, level of competitiveness, and trend, but it does more than that: it displays competitors' listings. That's right! With this tool, you can see competitors' listings and much more.
The SEO Dedicated Dashboard reports will show you the number of ads for competitors, the number of clicks on competitor ads, the breakdown of competitor ads by month, the landing page addresses, keywords, etc. Lots of data about your competitors that you want a lot to see.
The good news about this tool is that you get 14 days of free trials to witness its performance and speed.
7. Old and poor quality promotion
This case is the opposite of section 3.
Many business owners let their nephews who "understood computers" create a website for them 8 years ago, and now they are spending money to promote a poor quality, outdated website.
An old site that doesn't look good, loads slowly, and is built incorrectly simply won't do well in Google's results pages.
Long before good content and links from great sites, Google wants to bring its users quality, organized sites with a convenient user interface.
Before investing money and time in promoting your site, it is important to check if you should create a new site first.
8. A site that is not optimized for mobile is very detrimental to the process
Some publishers don't bother to check what their site looks like on mobile, which can lead to different site ranking results between mobile and desktop.
It's been several years since Google announced that it would give more weight to the mobile user experience in site ranking than to the desktop user experience.
A site that is not perfectly adapted to mobile, loading quickly on mobile, and offering a quality browsing experience for smartphone users, will simply not rise in Google's rankings and will certainly not reach the first page of results.
If you need to learn more about the subject of SEO and website promotion, we invite you to visit our Semalt blog.