SEO, or search engine optimization, is an excellent internet marketing tool that empowers local and small business owners to reach their prospective clientele and build a strong presence online. While some small business entrepreneurs like to have their own in-house team of internet marketers skilled in various aspects of digital marketing, yet others like to outsource the complex task of promoting their business to a specialist digital agency.
Whichever path you have chosen to market your business, SEO should be an integral part of your digital strategy. However, steer clear of the following common SEO mistakes when designing a campaign.
Using generic or wrong keywords
The success of an SEO campaign depends wildly on keywords. If you’re not using the right keywords both on your website and in your offsite content, you’re not only misleading search engines and sinking your rankings, but also letting competition score a one-up as they target customers that should be coming to your site.
Another SEO mistake made by small businesses is using generic rather than specific keywords. If you’re a local baking business that thrives on offbeat offerings, why not use “Silver Jubilee Cakes” or “baby shower cakes” rather than the tepid and overused “anniversary cakes” or “birthday cakes.”
Keywords are tricky terrain and shooting in the dark won’t get you results. So make keyword research an integral part of your SEO strategy.
Trying to do it all in-house
Contrary to popular perception, internet marketing involves a lot more than creating social media pages and blogging occasionally. To evaluate the real ROI of your DIY marketing initiatives, compare the cost of hiring a full-time employee—who may not be well-versed in all aspects of digital marketing—with the cost of hiring a professional SEO service that has the experience and expertise to serve clients of your niche, size and scale.
Instead of investing time and money in doing it all yourself, outsource your online marketing to a seasoned digital agency, such as Submitcore SEO, that offers bespoke SEO packages custom-designed for your business niche.
Forgetting about mobile SEO
More and more online shoppers are using their cell phones to search and to buy products and services. As a result, search engines are being tweaked to factor in mobile optimization when ranking your business.
Mobile optimization refers to building a mobile-friendly version of your desktop site that loads quickly, is easy to navigate and offers exactly what your target audience is looking for. For instance, if you want to reach millennial house buyers in a specific town or neighborhood, use tools such as submitcore’s guest posting service to reach your niche audience on their cellphones.
To sum up, local SEO is a consistent and complex endeavor that requires special skills and deep knowledge of how search engines rank sites based on keywords, content quality and optimization. If SEO is not quite your area of expertise, it’s best to look for a reliable local SEO service as soon as possible.
