Semalt Points Out 9 Mistakes Why Your Company Is Invisible On Google
Everyone wants to be №1 - that applies to Google search results as well. But many companies block their chances of ranking higher because they fall into SEO mistakes. So, to help you better understand SEO, we invite you to discover through the content of this article 9 mistakes for which your company might be invisible on Google.
Mistake 1: If I hide important keywords on my site, it benefits my ranking on Google
Writing white text on a white background, hiding dozens of keywords in the HTML source text that have nothing to do with the actual content of a page: are these tricks enough to get the page to the first result page on Google?
Clumsy tricks like this may have succeeded many years ago, but search engines have long since stopped falling into such a trap. In fact, according to SEO expert Ralf Seybold: "Google wants to show its customers the most useful search results possible, and some white text on a white background does not add any value." Such cheating can even be punished.
Mistake 2: Once optimized, my site will always be in the top positions on Google
"We optimize your website - for a one-time fee of 179 euros" - such dubious offers exist on the net. However, you should know that it can't work like that! And yet, small businesses in particular fall for it again and again. They actually tell themselves that they don't have the money for a more expensive optimization.
Nevertheless, if you want to keep your site in the top spots for years to come, you need to review its structure from time to time and update it regularly. However, if a page hasn't been updated in a long time, Google's algorithm will let it slide back: after all, it might contain outdated information - and therefore no longer be useful.
Mistake 3: The more often I put the keyword in a text, the better it will be found
"Keyword stuffing hasn't been useful since 2012" and most SEO experts agree on that. Today, according to these same experts, such a tactic may even devalue the many efforts made to bring your site to the top position of Google. This is because Google prefers naturally written text, in which synonyms and subject-related terms appear.
Anyone who searches for "company car" on Google today will see exactly the result of their search because the search engine understands exactly the meaning of the term searched for. You can't type in the term "chips" and see the search engine show you information about "electronics" or about other things not related to such a search term. By "flowers" do you mean flowers or fake money? Today Google can understand that too.
Such a development has consequences for the entire search engine optimization. Thus, we need to break away from thinking about keywords and instead consider the best SEO strategies that will help our site rise to the top of Google.
Mistake 4: The best keyword for my site is the one that the largest number of people possible search for
This statement is not entirely true. In reality, most key terms that have a high search volume are often very competitive. Let's say you have a small computer store and you also want to sell your goods online: then you probably dream of appearing in the top 10 when someone searches for the term "buy a computer" on search engines.
But you would have to face big retail chains, as well as well-known online stores: powerful competitors whose marketing budgets are supposed to exceed yours several times over. In this specific case, you agree with me that it will be difficult or even impossible for you to succeed in positioning yourself on competitive terms.
You will have a better chance if you focus on less searched but also less competitive keywords. This way, it is easier to make your way to the top positions in the search results.
If many users access your site via Google and you manage to be found for many small keywords of the same topic, Google recognizes that your site is a good place to go for topic X. This also increases your chances of ranking for search terms with greater reach.
However, to know exactly what to do and avoid navigating blindly, it's best to use a better SEO tool such as the Dedicated SEO Dashboard, which will show you exactly what to do and which keywords you can rank for to position well and gain visibility in a short amount of time.
Mistake 5: I can easily improve my ranking by buying links from other websites
Links from external websites are an important signal to Google that others consider your site interesting and useful. But if you buy links and fill your website with them, it will not benefit you in the long run and will only hurt your search engine ranking.
Indeed, search engines make a very precise distinction between link spam and high-quality links. When a new page is published on the Internet, the number of links pointing to that page usually increases slowly; the links also come from a large number of different sites. However, if hundreds of links point to your site at the same time, possibly from dubious link networks, Google sees this as an indication of targeted manipulation. So be sure that your site will be penalized.
Mistake 6: Google's optimization works immediately
Unfortunately, it's usually not that simple and any SEO expert worth their salt will tell you that. Unless you resort to the many dubious and deceptive techniques used by ill-intentioned people that will only hurt your website overnight, in many cases it takes patience before you see improvements after an optimization.
If Google knows that your website is a good place to go for a topic, the new content may also appear at the top of the search results. But you have to work hard to earn that trust first: with useful content that routinely informs and helps your readers.
Indeed, high-quality content also gains more and more external links over time. This also benefits the placement.
Mistake 7: I can just Google everything there is to know about SEO
Warning! Google changes its criteria for evaluating the relevance of websites about 1000 times a year. These changes are big and small, but they affect all the pages that appear at the top of the search results and those that disappear into nothingness.
In the meantime, Google is no longer forcing changes in the form of big updates, but is making small updates in real-time. As a result, there is much more movement in the search results than before - and it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with SEO developments.
Important to know: There is a lot of outdated information on the subject of SEO on the Internet. This is where the most effective SEO tool helps, the Dedicated SEO Dashboard! You don't need to be an expert to understand that the SEO tips from 2009 can't be useful more than a decade later.
Moreover, the knowledge you read can often not be applied without modification to your own page. You will certainly not get the same results. To assess which measures have a good chance of success, you need one thing above all: experience and that is what Semalt's services offer you. For example, an experienced doctor may interpret symptoms differently than someone who has just graduated from university and has only practiced on corpses.
Mistake 8: I just leave the referencing to my programmer
If you've read the previous mistakes carefully, you probably already think this is nonsense. A technician can lay the technical groundwork for a team to have a chance at the top spots.
But if you want to be found, you need a good SEO specialist. So the golden rule for more visibility on Google is: "Fix the technical mistakes and take care of the text".
Mistake 9: If my customers can find me via Google, I don't have to worry about marketing anymore
"Google alone doesn't do everything." Anyone who relies solely on the search engine becomes dependent on it. Google could change its rating criteria for websites as soon as tomorrow - and your site might not be found anymore. Moreover, no one knows how long Google will be able to maintain its supremacy. Examples such as Nokia or IBM show how quickly established companies in the technology sector can be ousted.
Therefore, you also have to use other channels to reach potential customers. Because they are not only looking for you and your offer via Google, but also, for example, in social networks, review platforms, price search engines, or company directories.
An entry in the Google business directory, Google My Business, is also useful. The crucial question here is: where is my target group? For example, many experts recommend that retailers represented on Amazon take care of search engine optimization specifically for Amazon search: "It pays to be found on Amazon: the purchase conversion rate there is significantly higher than on Google."
Conclusion
As we've just seen, when it comes to SEO, there are many mistakes you shouldn't make at the risk of seeing your site completely plummet.
If you don't know much about SEO and want to improve your website's ranking, you might as well call in an SEO expert to avoid trouble and unnecessary loss of money.
Moreover, the days of going blind are over. Tools such as the Dedicated SEO Dashboard show you daily what to do to improve your website's ranking in search engines like Google.