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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has taken over internet marketing completely. But as it becomes more popular, search engines are tightening the rules regarding its use. As a result, it is easier to get SEO campaigns wrong than to get them right. There are several mistakes people make when using SEO techniques so the effort invested in a campaign will not correspond with the output. In order to get the best results from your SEO campaign, it is necessary to do it right. Here are six common SEO mistakes you should correct immediately in 2017.
1. Keyword Stuffing
Although it is encouraged to repeat keywords, it shouldn’t be excessive. Keyword stuffing makes content look spammy and might affect the performance of your site. The strategy may work initially, but the moment Google discovers what you are doing, your website will lose ranking and be far worse than it was before.
2. Broken Links
Broken links are links that no longer lead to the intended destination. Simply put, they are links that have stopped working. This needs to be addressed immediately. When broken links remain in your content, they will have a negative effect on your traffic, search engine ranking and website domain authority. One good way to correct this is to have a company like clickintelligence.com perform a site audit for you. They will be able to inform you of any broken links and suggest modifications you could make to improve your site’s on page SEO.
3. Copied Content
Copying content is also a common SEO mistake that needs to be corrected in 2017. Some website owners, especially those with e-commerce stores, tend to prefer to copy content from their competitors’ website and then paste it on their own website. There is no shortcut to creating original content. Copying other website’s content is plagiarism, and will attract severe penalties from Google. Not only could your website lose its ranking, it could also be de-indexed.
4. Unfocused Content
Creating unfocused content is another one of the common SEO mistakes. Search engines aim to find relevant content that answers a person’s query. The popular search engines like Google, AOL, Yahoo! and Bing have optimised their search engines to display the best content available on the web. An example of unfocused content is creating an article that has ‘an amphibian’ as the keyword whereas the bulk of the content is about reptiles. Unfocused content impacts negatively on search engine rankings and may cause a website to be de-indexed.
5. Missing Quality Links
Another common SEO mistake involves a lack of quality links. Quality links are links to reputable websites. It is always good for a website to link to reputable websites. This is one of the proven ways of getting better search engine rankings.
6. Not Paying Attention to Analytics
Not paying attention to analytics is a mistake that many new website owners make. Tracking the progress of an SEO campaign is vital. Without analytics, you won’t be able to tell how well your SEO campaign performs.
SEO mistakes are serious oversights that can defeat the purpose of an SEO campaign. These mistakes are disastrous in the sense that efforts and resources are wasted without yielding any positive results. If you are not confident in your SEO ability, it is always wise to hire a professional.
