Not developing a digital marketing plan for growing your business on the web is a rookie mistake that, unfortunately, is seen quite often. Great search engine optimization, which includes keyword research, optimization, valuable content and more, requires a solid plan. Getting your ideas in line is key to launching a successful campaign, and building credibility and brand authority.

Not Blogging

Blogging boasts many great benefits, including improving your website’s SEO! In addition to offering fresh, interesting content to site visitors, optimizing blog posts with relevant keywords adds pages for Google to index, increasing your chances of ranking in the search engine results pages. Not blogging is an SEO, and a business, don’t.

Not Considering Local Search Trends

Many of the searches conducted by large search engines like Google and Bing focus on a specific area, such as Toronto or the Cayman Islands. If your business is targeting a narrow market, this knowledge is key to attracting customers and clients located in your area. Instead of focusing on national, or even global, search trends, narrow it down. You won’t be sorry.

Not Maintaining It

Good SEO requires maintenance. Google consistently releases new updates, meaning results are always shifting, algorithms are being updated regularly and ranking factors are changing. Keeping tabs on which step in your plan is next is a great way to analyze your progress and stay on top of the competition and emerging websites. Set it and forget it? I think not.

Forgetting Your Users

As important as ranking in the search engines is, it’s important to remember who your website is for: the users. Current and potential business, your website must adhere to SEO best practices and offer unique, valuable content, provide information in a clear, concise and trustworthy manner, be easy to navigate and engage the audience visually.

Not planning ahead, not blogging, not considering local search trends, not maintaining and forgetting the user experience are 5 more SEO don’ts that must be avoided. Interested in learning more? Check out our posts covering the important aspects of on-page SEO and the importance of SEO to small businesses for more information.

Image Credit: How to SEO WordPress Site by SEOPlanter, CC License

Don’t Steal Content

Plagiarized, or duplicate, content is a big no-no in the world of the Web. While taking small sections from other sources and citing them properly is permitted, think twice before you copy and paste information that belongs to others. Google, which values unique, valuable content, will figure it out.

Don’t Stuff Keywords

A well-known black hat trick, keyword stuffing is the practice of adding extra keywords (in some cases, many extra keywords) to page content in order to try and improve rankings on search engine results pages, or SERPs. Outdated and considered poor etiquette, you’re much better off not.

Don’t Use Link Schemes

A technique that used to be all the rage, Google has been cracking down on websites with unnatural link schemes via updates like Penguin 2.0. This includes using article directories, blog comments, link farms, hidden links and similar tactics to build backlinks to your website that, unfortunately, won’t be recognized as legitimate.

Don’t Rely on Content Spinning

Spinning content, or rewriting existing articles so that they appear different to search engines, is an SEO don’t due to the increasing focus on originality. Many of the for-hire writing services turn out inferior work at a low cost and, while you may not be flagged for duplicate content, readers gain no value from this. Repurposing content, if necessary, is a much better bet.

Don’t Spam Users with Ads

At the risk of sounding repetitive, a key part of SEO these days is, to put it simply, creating websites based around offering real content to real users. Google is getting better at detecting this, meaning sites that are overrun with advertisements are less likely to rank properly. Part of search engine optimization is offering a great user experience.

When it comes to SEO, stuffing keywords, stealing information, building unnatural links, spinning content and going overboard on ads are 5 key don’ts. Learn more about the relationship between businesses and search engine optimization here and here and stay tuned for Part 2 for 5 more tips!

Image Credit: SEO Punishment by Sean MacEntee, CC license