{"id":12444,"date":"2021-09-09T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T05:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/?p=12444"},"modified":"2022-09-05T19:25:07","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T17:25:07","slug":"seo-mistakes-to-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/seo-blog\/seo-mistakes-to-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"SEO Mistakes To Avoid. Find out more in this article."},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_3-1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-image align_center\"><div class=\"w-image-h\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/shutterstock_1567596796-e1631108485998.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing - SEO\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/shutterstock_1567596796-e1631108485998.jpg 680w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/shutterstock_1567596796-e1631108485998-600x376.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>Many digital marketers and business owners fail to get results from their search engine optimisation efforts. Frequently, it\u2019s because they\u2019re falling prey to common SEO mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>The demands on SEO are growing every single day and so are the opportunities in SEO. Not only is the SEO discipline expanding rapidly but so is the size of the market. The SEO market is predicted to reach $1.6 billion by 2027 (in rand terms, this is about R22.9 billion). SEO has expanded over the last couple of years from being a siloed practice to a massive revenue channel. A channel which is becoming integrated into content marketing practices as well as overall digital strategies.<\/p>\n<p>From shifting marketing circumstances to changes from search engines and customers\u2019 main concern, marketers always have to stay on top of many changes. As a result, SEO methodologies are constantly evolving owing to search engines\u2019 developments and consumer behaviour changes.<\/p>\n<p>It is never quite that straightforward to stay on top of the most successful optimisation techniques. And when done incorrectly, recovering can be difficult and even more time-consuming.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Not Setting Clear SEO Goals<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It comes as no big shock that you need clear goals in order to succeed with SEO. However, many business owners and digital marketers run SEO campaigns without having any clear-cut goals. They believe that doing SEO will boost their traffic, which in turn will boost their <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/how-digital-marketing-can-boost-your-sales\/\">sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that things are not always quite that straightforward.<\/p>\n<p>For your SEO efforts to pay off, it is necessary for you to understand what you want to accomplish. Is it better quality traffic, increased numbers of organic leads, or \u2013 alternatively &#8211; more sales you\u2019re trying to get?<\/p>\n<p>For instance, let\u2019s say you\u2019re getting 10 000 monthly organic users to your website however only 1% of them end up purchasing from you. If that\u2019s the case, there are two possible reasons, either:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>You\u2019re driving the wrong type of traffic to your <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/how-can-website-analytics-drive-business-growth\/\">website<\/a>, or<\/li>\n<li>Your website does a poor job of converting visitors into customers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Without clear goals, you\u2019ll end up with a bunch of vanity metrics and not much else.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Not Understanding Your Audience<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>One of the underlying tenets of SEO is to understand your target audience. This means knowing your audience at the most minute as well as granular level. SEO is the customer\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n<p>While many marketers think that they know their audience, they frequently fall into the trap of not fully understanding how consumers behave in their market and then further at a granular level. Simultaneously, as consumers expect instant responses and results to their questions they frequently want this in real time.<\/p>\n<p>While historical data still gives SEO great insights into seasonal trends, marketers\u2019 methods to understand their customers need to be holistic. One of the most widespread errors in selecting keywords is not taking into account the preference of search engines \u2013 as well as users &#8211; for long-tail keywords. While you might define your products and services in a particular way, it\u2019s more important to understand what words your potential customers would utilise to refer to them.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-video align_none ratio_16x9 has_iframe\"><div class=\"w-video-h\"><iframe title=\"Vimeo video player\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/285084947?autoplay=0&loop=0&autopause=0&color=00adef&portrait=0&byline=1&title=1&controls=1&muted=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><div class=\"w-video-icon\" style=\"font-size:1.5rem;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:#fff\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h2><strong>Trying To Rank For The Incorrect Keywords<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you would like to rank in Google you have to ensure that you\u2019re making use of the correct <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/why-you-should-be-using-negative-keywords-on-google-ads\/\">keywords<\/a> for every page.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most significant mistakes we often encounter is that website owners optimise their pages for generic keywords. If you are a relatively small business which wants to rank for \u2018rental car\u2019, you\u2019re aiming far too high. Attempt to come up with something more specific. If not, you\u2019re competing with all the car rental companies who are all over the world, which is impossible to do. You could, for instance, add the area in which your company is located to the keyword. However there\u2019s more you can do to make your keywords more long tail.<\/p>\n<p>The longer and more limited the keywords are, the higher your chances are of ranking for this keyword. Not surprisingly, this also means that the search volume for this keyword is far lower. However, you are able to compensate for this by optimising a lot of pages on your website for different long tail keywords. Your website will eventually gain more traffic for all of these keywords combined, than it ever would if you optimised for one main keyword, for which your page will never rank on page 1 in Google.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/contact-us\/\">Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>If you want to discover more information about SEO then you need to do our SEO and Web Analytics Course. Follow this <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/seo-and-web-analytics-course\/\">link<\/a> to find out more.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/seo-and-web-analytics-course\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11381 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SEO-and-Web-Analytics-600x96.jpg\" alt=\"DSM digital School of Marketing- SEO and Web Analytics\" width=\"600\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SEO-and-Web-Analytics-600x96.jpg 600w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SEO-and-Web-Analytics-300x48.jpg 300w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SEO-and-Web-Analytics-1024x164.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SEO-and-Web-Analytics-768x123.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SEO-and-Web-Analytics.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-btn-wrapper align_justify\"><a class=\"w-btn us-btn-style_2\" href=\"#enquiry\"><span class=\"w-btn-label\">Enquire Today<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Blog Categories<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/blog\/content-marketing\/\">Content Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/digital-marketing\/\">Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/cyber-security-blog\/\">Cyber Security<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/graphic-design-blog\/\">Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/blog\/public-relations\/\">Public Relations<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/blog\/seo\/\">SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/social-media-marketing\/\">Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/web-design-blog\/\">Web Design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">You might also like<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"w-html\"><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/social-media-marketing-blog\/zero-moment-of-truth-benefit-social-media-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Use the Zero Moment of Truth to Benefit your Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/your-complete-guide-to-ppc-marketing-basic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Your Complete Guide to PPC Marketing Basics. 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