Top 10 SEO mistakes to avoid in 2018
SEO is one of the best ways to attract organic traffic to your website. Understanding SEO and the importance of having an SEO strategy are crucial to any business, and particularly so for lodging businesses that sell the majority of their rooms online. Avoid these common mistakes in your overall SEO approach and you will be well on your way to getting noticed!
1. Not having an SEO strategy – It is true what they say, content is king, but having good content is not all you need to rank well in searches. You must have an SEO strategy to give your carefully crafted content the attention it deserves.
2.Keyword stuffing – While we know you spent time finding your keywords, don’t overuse them. Keyword stuffing will not only sound forced and turn your customers off, it will get your site penalized or banned from search engines.
3. Low-quality inbound links – Consider the quality of your inbound links. A low-quality inbound link is a link that comes from a poor-quality site, i.e. someone who tends to break the rules set by search engines. In general, it is better to have fewer high-quality inbound links than to have a multitude of poor quality inbound links.
4. Choosing highly competitive keywords – Start small and focus on low-competition keywords rather than highly competitive keywords. This is a bit more critical for newer websites as they are likely to not have enough clout to rank for highly competitive keywords.
5. Spam comments – The lowest of the low in the SEO world is to add spam comments on blogs, forums, online magazines, etc. It will make people, not like you and is a complete waste of time.
6.Target broad search terms – When it comes to targeting search terms, stick to the long-tail (a keyword phrase that contains at least three words). Using broad search terms might seem like the obvious choice but avoid the urge and stick to the long-tail. When searchers use broad terms, they are typically in the early stages of the process, not yet ready to convert. Long-tail captures those who are ready to purchase and make the next move. Additionally, broad search terms tend to be highly competitive. So, try to be as specific as you can.
7. Not building out internal links – Once you have captured your audience, keep them there by providing links to pieces of content on your site that are cohesive with the page they are on. Not only are you keeping them on your website but also offering them additional information that could further assist in making a conversion.
8. Not considering the “behind the scenes” details – While maybe not so obvious because they can’t be seen on the surface, elements like your title tag, slug (page URL), and meta description are all key factors in your overall ranking. So, be sure you are fully optimizing these attributes.
9. Not optimized for mobile – With Google rolling out mobile-first indexing, you can’t afford not to be fully optimized for mobile. While you can still rank with the desktop version of your website, mobile optimization will give you an additional leg up.
10. Not measuring your results – As with any strategy, the numbers are what paint the picture. So be sure to analyze your results and see where adjustments need to be made.
In the world of SEO, things are continuously changing. So, make sure when optimizing for SEO that you are not referencing out of date information. Follow the RezStream blog to stay up to date with current changes in the industry or contact our marketing department to learn more about our digital marketing services and how we can help maximize your SEO potential.