Knowing how to use SEO can be an art unto itself. It can take time to research and find the perfect SEO formula to drive traffic to your website, bring in customers, and raise your ranking on popular search engines, like Google and Yahoo. When used incorrectly, not only does it not bring in potential customer to your business, but you risk wasting precious time getting customers to your business and have the possibility of losing out to the competition.
We are going to show you some DOs and DON’Ts of using SEO and how it can affect your business and Google ranking.
BRANDING
This is most important when looking for SEO that fits with your brand.
DON’T - water down your branding or have no concern about your brand at all. Watering down your brand so that you don’t offend any customer shows that you are afraid of taking risks. It also feels exactly that - water-down and ho-hum. It also conveys that you don’t have the confidence in your brand or the services it provides to your potential customers.
DO - use SEO enough to emphasize your brand and get people interested in your business and mission. This will allow you to rank higher on search engines and also promotes more organic visibility, which will give more credibility to your brand. Be original and don’t be afraid of taking calculated risks.
CONTENT QUALITY
Having quality content is vital if you want to increase your customer base. Content and SEO go hand-in-hand to help your business get in front of the eyes of customers.
DON’T - write vague content titles or those that are extremely generalized. Not only will this cause your content to become lost in the sea of other content titled just like it, but it won’t build trust with your customers, and it looks like little effort was put into creating it.
DO - mix up the type of content on your website. Not all of your content needs to be the utmost highest quality. Have some good content mixed in with amazing content. Create an SEO plan before you start on a content strategy. Research keywords and user intent keywords to find SEO that aligns with your brand and target audience. Then, go on to create your content around that. Also, base your content on your audience, not on gaining high search engine rankings. The ranking will come because you are posting valuable and interesting content that many customers trust.
ON-PAGE SEO USAGE
This is the biggest pitfall most business fall into; how much SEO is too much?
DON’T - use a keyword over and over on every page. Some may think that this will increase their rankings but it actually works the opposite. Not only do you risk the chance of your website staying stagnant in searches, but the possibility of it lowering in rank is there. Search engines are programmed to see this type of usage, so more does not always equate to better.
DO - take a look at a thesaurus and find synonyms for your chosen keywords. This is a better approach than using the same keyword to death. There is always the chance that your audience may use several synonyms of the keyword you chose, so why not include those words too? Use word forms and even related words to help your site rise in the ranks of Google. Mix it up and see what works and what doesn’t.
Creating and implementing an SEO keyword plan doesn’t have to be difficult. While much time and effort are required to find the right path, enjoy the journey and have fun with it. Original and well-thought out SEO plans are always primed to bring in the traffic your business is striving for.
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