SEO Mistakes: common mistakes when optimizing your website

SEO Mistakes: common mistakes when optimizing your website

The reason for this article is because of the number of people I have spoken to recently about organic SEO, and the common mistakes people make when trying to optimize their websites themselves. More and more people think they can simply research organic SEO tactics on the internet, get an understanding and now think they can optimize their website themselves; without fully understanding what is required with organic SEO to actually help your website rank.

Ranking your website in the organic results of Google takes a lot more than Googling SEO tactics and what you need to do to establish good rankings on major search engines.. I cannot stress this enough. You actually need to understand the basic principles of organic SEO, how search engines work and the algorithms search engines use to index websites; not to mention keyword strategy, keyword density and many other factors. Unfortunately, this is not something you can learn in a couple of days by reading articles, even articles as good as mine (!). It took me time to fully understand organic SEO, develop my strategies for  organic SEO and how to achieve good rankings. A lot of trial and error, pulling my hair out and learning; but I never made the mistake of jumping into it and potentially harming my rankings without a clear understanding of how it works.

So what advice can I give you , what NOT to do when trying to optimize your own website?

1. Be careful of the articles you read! Just because you found an article about organic SEO, doesn’t mean the author knows what they’re talking about. Think about it this way: when you visit your doctor and research his/her prognosis on the internet, does that mean that articles that contradicts your  doctors’ prognosis are correct? No! Any moron can publish something on the internet, you just have to be careful about how much you believe.
2. Keywords are important – the more the better! NO NO NO.. I cannot stress this enough. Google doesn’t even consider the keyword meta tag anymore, but smaller search engines do. by all means, keep using it, but use it correctly. Choose ONE main keyword, preferably a long tail keyword, to make it effective.
3. Learn how to use meta tags: Meta tags will help guide bots through your pages. Proper use of robot commands and meta tags will make a world of difference.
4. Stay up to date on the latest Google algorithm updates: Google is cracking down on unethical organic SEO tactics almost every 2-3 months. Keep yourself up to date on these algorithm changes; they can effect your rankings.
5. Last but not least – speak with a proven SEO strategist : Proven SEO strategists are up to date on all of the above, and can guide you to achieving good organic rankings. Keep in mind that real SEO experts don’t charge an arm and a leg; a fair price is between $100 – $150 /hr for a consultation, depending on your site and goals. Let an SEO expert handle this aspect of your marketing, so you can concentrate on running your business. Don’t be a Jack of all trades, master of none.. hire the right people to help which will free up your time to do what you do best; sell your products and/or services.