SEO lies in the heart of digital marketing. It helps you gain organic traffic by showing up at the top of the search results. As easy as it might seem, some people tend to make common mistakes that decline their SEO performance when they see the search engine rank report for the website. So, let’s take a look at some of the most popular SEO mistakes to avoid.

Not Doing Keyword Research

Many website owners believe that they can create and put-up content on their site and visitors will somehow end up reading their content magically. However, what they do not know is that if they are not talking about the content that people are talking about, no one is going to show up.

In simple words, you will be putting up content that simply does not exist for the majority. This is why you’ll be using keywords. Keywords are phrases that people are using on Google search and other search engines.

Surprisingly, the majority of the websites either don’t research keywords or do not choose the right ones. As a result, it has been estimated that around 90% of the websites on the internet do not receive traffic.

Not Matching Search Intent

The next mistake you want to avoid is not matching the search intent. Users over the internet are not always looking to buy products. Some of them will be looking for things to compare and will make the decision later on. So, if your content does not have what the users are looking for, your site won’t show up in the search results.

The best way to avoid this mistake is by following the three Cs of search intent i.e. content type, content angle, and content format. Your content and search intent will depend on these three factors.

Targeting The Wrong Keywords

Targeting the right keywords is an art. You cannot always work with ultra-competitive keywords as every website in those relevant niches would like to rank for the keywords. However, it doesn’t mean you should ignore them.

The mistake made by most in such situations is that they ignore the market competition. If you find a keyword that is important for your site and makes you money, you should target it. But if you have just begun, start by targeting the relatively less competitive keywords and gradually build up to the competitive keywords.

Not Building Enough Backlinks To Rank

While keywords are just one part of the equation, backlinks are another. If you observe that your site is simply not showing up in the highest search ranks, it means it simply does not have enough links. Now, the thing with building backlinks is to connect with people who can link to you.

For instance, if you are running an online business and put up some blogs as well, you can search and contact other website owners to help create backlinks. However, keep in mind that not everyone will agree to this since it won’t be bringing them any money. So, you will need to persuade them. Maybe, offer them a discount when they buy from your online store.

Having A Slow Site

Users on the internet will always prefer sites that are easily accessible and fast. Considering the number of options they have, the last thing you would want is your site taking minutes to open. You will need to make sure that your site is optimized. For that, you can use free online tools and see how fast your pages are.

And once you find out the areas where your site is lacking, you will need to start working on them as soon as possible to help improve the visitor experience.

Not Catching Up

Finally, the biggest mistake or misconception surrounding SEO is that people take it as a one-time thing. If your site ranks at the number 1 spot today, there is no guarantee it will be the same the next day. Ranking high on search engines is a competition and your competitors will do anything to take your spot.

That said, it is important that you remain committed, work hard and keep up to date with the latest SEO techniques. Not only will this help with the rankings but also improve traffic.

Final Word

Although it will take time and consistent effort on your part to learn and avoid common mistakes, if you get the basics right, you will kickstart your SEO journey comparatively better. Use a rank checker to monitor your performance to keep improving.