You’re a new webmaster learning the ropes and trying to figure out what is SEO. We totally get you. The thing is, you may be committing a crime. Google mostly runs the Internet, and if you don’t catch up, you will get behind millions of websites in their index.
Don’t fret.
If you don’t have an SEO company at your disposal, it’s alright. You will live. But to save you from misery, we wrote a few mistakes common to rookies. You might be guilty of them too.
1. Not Knowing Which Type of SEO To Use
There are two types of SEO: Black Hat and White Hat.
We don’t know where they got their names, but we understand how they work.
White Hat SEO operates on methods and techniques that follow the search engine’s guideline to improve the ranking of the website. Most companies and websites with long-term, stable and sustainable goals use this. It provides growth steadily and gradually for conversion.
This squeaky clean SEO technique includes high-quality content development, website HTML optimization, and restructuring, link acquisition campaigns supported by high-quality content and manual research and outreach.
Black Hat SEO is the naughty one. It exploits the weaknesses in the search engine algorithms to have quick and short-lasting growth in rankings. It uses techniques and methods in conflict with the search engine guidelines. Some techniques of the Black Hat SEO are link spamming, keyword stuffing, cloaking, hidden text, and links. However, using these techniques may end up penalizing your website.
If you are using a combination of the two, then you are wearing your Gray Hat. Most SEO companies employ a mix of both techniques to deliver results to their clients. Gray Hat SEO also allows companies to offer affordable services because costs are less when questionable methods are involved.
There is no wrong and right way to do SEO, but it’s better to know and be aware of the types and the risks involved when dealing with them.
2. Not Utilizing Links
Links can either be a follow link or a no follow.
What does that have to do with anything?
SEO is all about putting yourself out there and having links pointing to your website earns you brownie points. Google keeps track of how many links are on a page, and if a lot of pages link to that particular page, then that page is valuable.
A follow link also allows Google to crawl on the pages. It gives your site a higher chance of appearing in the SERP. Google also has a metric for calculating link points. Link points or link juice can flow through the sites. If your site from a reputable site, you’d get a fair share of link juice. Large boosts in link juice give a higher ranking.
3. Not Checking for Duplicate Content
Duplicate content is having the same content on multiple URLs. You may be caught up on filling your website with details and information, but it’s best to do it in an organized manner. Google won’t be ranking a site with a bunch of duplicate content.
Before adding a new page to your site, check if there’s already an existing one with the same content. You can use no follow links, 301 redirects or the canonical tag to fix this.
4. Not Setting Up Landing Pages
Having designated landing pages for each keyword minimizes the probability of having duplicate content. At the same time, it increases the traffic to your site, and it puts everything in perspective. It is useful to direct users to the information they need or to the things you want them to see.
5. Targeting The Wrong Keywords
Choosing the appropriate keywords for your content is crucial for SEO. At most, choose high-value keywords that are relevant to your brand, company, product, and service. It’s best to go for keywords that are unique. Some keywords belong to a competitive niche. You will have a hard time directing the users to your content if thousands are doing the same thing.
Here’s an alternative, optimize your content for Rich Answer. Rich Answers are the results that appear on top of organic search results. It’s the first thing users will see upon searching for their query. It makes them think that information in there is reliable and highly recommended.
6. Expecting Results Overnight
SEO is an ever-evolving process that requires an enormous time investment and plenty of hard work.
Anytime someone offers you or tells you of instant results, don’t be fooled. A high ranking is not possible without influencers, capable webmasters to navigate the algorithms and understand analytics, and a [content marketing] plan.
We hope you picked a thing or two on the mistakes SEO rookies are bound to make. You may have committed a few of these, but now you know how to deal with them. Remember, SEO is a concept not set in stone. It’s always better to keep learning and stay up-to-date on the changes to the search engine’s algorithms. You will learn to catch up, eventually.
