Online marketing is becoming one of the focal points on many businesses’ to-do lists but working out was is right and what is wrong can be puzzling.
In truth, there is no definitive place to start, but there a number of things you should avoid as part of your strategy. Getting it wrong on Google is easily done and as the search engine is constantly changing its algorithm, it can be difficult to keep up with the change.
One thing is for sure, Google makes it very clear what you should avoid as part of your strategy, and some of the following tips include them, as well as our own:
1. Do Not Include Irrelevant Content
This year is going to show a huge focus on high quality content and if you’re not creating it then it could be detrimental to your campaign. Google is clamping down on content that isn’t relevant to you and your website. So, keywords and general content across your website should be relevant as irrelevant content will be judged as spam.
2. Do Not Dismiss Optimising For Mobile
Mobile has grown tremendously over the last couple of years and mobile optimisation is very important. Mobile provides the potential to be really influential for your business, so optimising for it makes sense.
Call-to-actions and useful content are essential for mobile. You want to show the important features of your website without too many words and words that are necessary. People ‘browse’ even more on mobile than they do on the internet.
3. Don’t Overdo It On The Keywords
Of course, key words are how Google can understand what your website is offering and it’s relevancy to someone’s search but that doesn’t mean you should spam each of your pages with loads of keywords. Instead, it should be as natural as possible.
You will need to think about the right keyword density yet keeping in mind that content written for customers rather than Google spiders is much more beneficial to your business.
4. Don’t Avoid Social Media
Although Google’s Matt Cutts has come out and said that there is no link to how your website will rank through social media signals, social media can still be extremely influential for your online marketing strategy.
As well as boasting a source of instant traffic to your website, it can also lead to conversions through your website and increase your regular customer base.
5. Don’t Focus Too Much On One Signal
Don’t just focus on social media or building links, focus on everything because each online marketing aspect can contribute to the success of your website on search engines. It looks more natural to Google too when you do things in moderate, so don’t overdo your link building or your content marketing and so on because this can have the adverse effect on your website.
If for some reason you focus solely on link building for example, if this doesn’t work for you, you will have wasted time and money on a pointless exercise.
Keeping on top of your online marketing campaign can be a job in itself, which is why many businesses decide to outsource it, which is not uncommon. Companies that understand your website and online marketing strategy are more likely to provide better results.
Many of these companies will begin with an SEO Audit on your website in order to see areas that they can improve it and best optimise it for Google. This is key to giving your website the best start in life and can have a huge impact on how it ranks in search engines.
SEO Audits look at all of the different factors of your website including key word density, navigation and uniqueness of content, so everything on your website is primed for a strong online marketing campaign.
There are a number of companies that offer this service and some offer this as a one-off service if you didn’t want to invest in the long term by paying a monthly fee. The important thing to know about SEO Audits is they are essential in getting your website in the best shape before tackling the puzzle of search engines.
