7 Ways Businesses Sabotage Their Own SEO Marketing Strategy

7 Ways Businesses Sabotage

Their Own SEO Marketing Strategy

Over 50% of all website traffic begins with an online search. As a result, over 60% of marketers are focusing on search engine optimization (SEO). Without a strong SEO strategy, your organic rankings might not improve.

Your would-be customers will see your competitors during their online searches instead.

Before you rush to develop your own SEO marketing strategy, make sure you're avoiding these seven mistakes. Otherwise, you could end up sabotaging your own plans.

Set your SEO strategies up for success by discovering which mistakes to dodge today!

1. Never Gathering Research

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when developing your SEO strategy is neglecting to gather research. Without research, you could make assumptions about who your customers are and what they care about. You could struggle to create content that aligns with the user's search intent as a result.

The search intent indicates what your audience hopes and expects to find during an online search. If your content doesn't match their needs, they won't click on the link to your website.

Your clickthrough rate won't improve. As a result, your organic rankings won't, either.

Instead, start your SEO strategy off on the right foot by gathering audience research. Segment your broad audience into buyer personas based on demographics and psychographics.

Focus on the pain points your customers are experiencing. Then, you can start developing content that helps solve their problems. Offering helpful solutions can help you become a go-to resource for your customers.

For example, you might define your audience based on:

Gender
Location
Age
Career
Marital status
Education
Language
Salary
Hobbies
Interests
Buying behaviors
Pain points

Keyword Research

Segmenting your target audience can also help you gather keyword research. Your keyword research will help you plan your SEO content strategy. Don't write your content, only to add the keyword in after the fact.

Otherwise, the keyword might sound awkward within the existing text.

You can use SEMRush, Answer the Public, and Keyword Planner to gather keyword research. Focus on long-tail keywords that feature four or more words. Since these keywords are more precise, you'll have an easier time determining the user's search intent.

For example, "pizza" is a broad search term. The user's search intent might be:

Where to buy the best pizza
How to make pizza
What ingredients go in pizza
Best pizza place near me

If you don't understand the user's search intent, you'll have a more difficult time creating the content they want.

2. Not Investing in UX

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when developing your SEO marketing strategy is neglecting your website. Your website's design and development can have a major impact on your rankings.

Google will first review the mobile version of your website. Run your site through the Mobile-Friendly Test to make sure it's already optimized.

Run your site through Google's PageSpeed Insights and Core Web Vitals, too.

If your site isn't secure, mobile-optimized, or user-friendly, visitors will leave. Your bounce rate will increase, which can hurt your organic rankings.

Review your site for broken links, readability, and navigation next.

If your site doesn't offer the best user experience (UX), consider working with a digital marketing agency this year. They can design your site with Google's criteria in mind.

3. Creating Low-Quality Content

Creating a strong SEO content strategy can help you rank for a range of keywords. Google prioritizes fresh, unique, and informative content. Make sure you're creating content on a schedule throughout the year.

Invest in creating high-quality, engaging, helpful posts, too. Otherwise, consumers might not read your content.

As you work to avoid these SEO strategy mistakes, also avoid:

Posting content that isn't original
Not updating old posts
Not updating old links
Posting duplicate content
Failing to repurpose old posts
Neglecting to post regularly

Don't neglect to diversify your content strategy, too. Create infographics, polls, quizzes, and videos in addition to blog posts.

You can work with an experienced SEO marketing agency to develop your content.

4. Forgetting Local Customers

Don't neglect your local SEO strategy. Local SEO can help you reach nearby customers. You can start directing more traffic to your storefront this year.

If you have more than one store, make sure to add location pages to your site. Embed a Google Map to each page, too.

Otherwise, optimize your Google Business listing. Make sure the information matches what appears on your site. Ask your happy customers to post their reviews on your listing as well.

5. Ignoring Trends

Google's search engine algorithm changes throughout the year. If you neglect those algorithm updates, you could miss chances to improve your SEO strategy and rankings.

For example, you might come across:

AI
Voice search
Image search
Video content
Core Web Vitals
Featured snippets

If you're struggling to keep up with these SEO strategy trends, work with an agency this year.

6. Neglecting Link-Building

Backlinks are one of Google's top ranking factors. These links appear on other sites before directing readers to your content. You can start generating backlinks by guest blogging on other websites.

If you're struggling to build backlinks, work with an experienced SEO agency.

Otherwise, develop an outreach program and start encouraging other blogs to create links to your site. Make sure the anchor text they use is relevant to your content, too.

7. Not Analyzing and Adjusting

It's not enough to develop an SEO strategy or avoid the six SEO mistakes above. You need to keep reevaluating your strategy over time.

Once you start posting on your blog, review your analytics. Which posts help you generate the most traffic? Consider the topics you're covering and formats you use.

Then, start adjusting your SEO strategy to make improvements.

If you're still struggling to generate results, work with an experienced agency.