27 Mar SEO Mistakes You Didn’t Know You Were Making (Part 2)
SEO Mistakes You Didn’t Know You Were Making (Part 2)
STUFFING KEYWORDS WHERE THEY DON’T FIT NATURALLY
Traditional wisdom suggests that including your keyword in the title, URL, subheadings and throughout content is how to optimize for a keyword. This is true, but not to the extent that you should stuff terms where they do not fit. If you have to leave the keyword out of all subheadings to make the content effective and readable, just do it. The numerous benefits you will receive from having high-quality content will outweigh the benefit of stuffing a keyword. In case you didn’t know, you should keep your keyword density below 2 percent.
NOT ADDING FRESH CONTENT
We live in a content-driven world and not producing quality content is a great way to never rank for anything. I love SEO, but even I admit that content is crucial to the equation. Creating fresh content is so important because every page you create is another opportunity to earn inbound links and improve your rankings while gaining notoriety and exposure within your niche.
NOT MENTIONING LOCATION SPECIFIC TERMS IN CONTENT
Above I mentioned how you should not stuff keywords in your content or place them where they do not belong. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you should make sure you have your keywords somewhere on your page. Preferably in the content, Meta description and the page title (at a minimum). Just like walking the high wire, balance is a must in organic and local SEO.
NOT INCLUDING LOCATION DATA IN IMAGES
Images are a great way to add extra relevancy to your pages. Most pages have at least one image. When you are adding the image, make sure to create a relevant file name and alt text to include with the image. I add the target keyword plus that target location in the file name and alt text.
FORGETTING ABOUT HYPER-LOCAL DIRECTORIES
You have to remember that the key to ranking number one is to do everything your competitor has and more. Hyper-local directories are ones that cover a city or even a single zip code within a larger city. These citation opportunities are often overlooked but can provide an advantage over the competition with only standard local citations.
PROVIDING INCONSISTENT NAP DATA
If you use “St.” on one page and “Street” on another directory; does it make a difference? Yes, but it will likely be a small one. On the other hand, using different phone numbers across a number of major listings can have a major impact on how you rank. It has also been shown that having an address on your website that differs from the majority of your citations has a negative impact. To avoid this, create a template with your address and add it identically to every citation site, local blog and anywhere else that will take it.