{"id":42144,"date":"2021-08-06T15:49:59","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T19:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/?p=42144"},"modified":"2021-08-06T15:50:01","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T19:50:01","slug":"the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5 Top SEO Mistakes You Could Be Making"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Search engine optimization (SEO)<\/a> is a tricky process to master, especially as technology continues to evolve. For many business owners, it\u2019s becoming harder to pinpoint appropriate keywords, boost rankings on search engines, and create quality content. In such a complex marketing field, it\u2019s often easy to make certain missteps. However, these mistakes can be detrimental to the success of your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this guide, we examine some of the top SEO mistakes you could be making in your professional ventures. We also provide you with some helpful guidance on how to fix them moving forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Not Knowing Your Audience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
5 Ways to Boost Your Website\u2019s SEO Rankings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate goal of SEO is connecting with customers<\/a>. Before you can do that, though, you need to know who they are. Some important questions to ask include:

\u2022 What\u2019s their gender?
\u2022 What do they do for a living?
\u2022 How old are they?
\u2022 Where do they live?
\u2022 How do they behave in the online space?
\u2022 What are they looking for from the businesses they buy from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding these key aspects about your target audience is crucial in crafting an effective SEO strategy. Use historical data and conduct in-depth market research to get to know your customers on a deeper level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Not Optimizing the Right Keywords<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
3 SEO Strategies That Are Dead in 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to SEO, keywords are essential, but you need to ensure you\u2019re optimizing the right <\/em>keywords for them to serve their purpose. For instance, if you\u2019re offering services to local customers, you shouldn\u2019t be optimizing global keywords. Specifically, if you run a nail salon based in Los Angeles and you\u2019re only offering services in that region, you wouldn\u2019t optimize a long-tail keyword like \u201cnail salon Phoenix.\u201d It would be completely inappropriate based on your company\u2019s capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Not Backlinking to External Sites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
What Google Doesn’t Want You to Hear About Link-Building for SEO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Backlinks<\/a> are incredibly valuable in the SEO world. If you\u2019re not using them, you\u2019re missing out on an incredible opportunity to boost your web traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people have the misconception that backlinking isn\u2019t worthwhile because it directs users away from your site and onto another. In reality, it\u2019s extremely worthwhile, and helps boost your credibility. By providing a backlink, you\u2019re proving to the reader that what you\u2019re saying has been corroborated by other sources..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Including backlinks can also help you earn your own backlinks in return. The more other sites are backlinking to you, the more SEO algorithms recognize your content as being rank-worthy. Earning backlinks can help improve your site\u2019s ranking position and search visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Prioritizing Quantity Over Quality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
What Matters More: Backlink Quality or Quantity?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You should never prioritize the quantity of your content over the quality. If you\u2019re focusing your efforts on producing a higher number of blog posts, but not refining the quality of the content, you need to adjust your approach. Producing a lot of content sounds good on paper; you\u2019re generating more content for consumers to find on search engines. It increases your credibility and reputation. However, if the content is mediocre, it\u2019s not going to achieve results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same principle applies to links. For example, if you manage to get a link from a high-quality, traffic-heavy blog, that\u2019s far more valuable than a hundred links from smaller, low-quality blogs. These links are harder to come by, but they\u2019re far more powerful and reliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Neglecting Search Intent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
How To Effectively Use Search Intent In Your Content Marketing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When formulating your SEO tactics, you need to know the answer a few questions:

\u2022 What is the ultimate motivation behind my customer\u2019s search?
\u2022 Are they trying to buy something?
\u2022 Are they looking to learn something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answers to these questions reveal the user\u2019s search intent, which is integral in building a strong SEO strategy. Having this insight allows you to choose the most appropriate and effective keywords. For instance, if someone searched \u201cleather jacket,\u201d you can\u2019t be sure of their exact intent. If they search \u201cleather jacket under $100,\u201d however, it\u2019s more than likely that the user is looking to purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Fix Them<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The best strategy you can use to overcome your SEO challenges is seeking the assistance of a specialized SEO consulting firm like Kinetiks Consulting<\/a>. Experts like these can help you with all of your SEO needs, from WordPress maintenance to site edits to blog content marketing. Many SEO firms offer free consultations, so you can see in advance how they can help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although conquering SEO can feel like a tall task, it\u2019s made much easier when you know the mistakes to watch for. By familiarizing yourself with these five errors \u2013 and how to fix them \u2013 you\u2019ve taken an excellent first step in strengthening your SEO approach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tricky process to master, especially as technology continues to evolve. For many business owners, it\u2019s becoming harder to pinpoint appropriate keywords, boost rankings on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,5695,111],"tags":[1146,102,7494,5891,9195,8886,14575,5892,4211,4298,9607,14576,5893,4302,14577,5664],"yoast_head":"\nThe 5 Top SEO Mistakes You Could Be Making<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tricky process to master, especially as technology continues to evolve. For many business owners, it\u2019s becoming\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 5 Top SEO Mistakes You Could Be Making\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tricky process to master, especially as technology continues to evolve. For many business owners, it\u2019s becoming\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daily Business Resources for Entrepreneurs, Web Designers, & Creatives by Andy Sowards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/andysowardsfan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-06T19:49:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-06T19:50:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Thou-hast-commanded-Lord-and-it-is-truly-so-that-every-disordered-mind-is-the-punishment-to-itself.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"959\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"638\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Sowards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@andysowards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@andysowards\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Sowards\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/\",\"name\":\"The 5 Top SEO Mistakes You Could Be Making\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Thou-hast-commanded-Lord-and-it-is-truly-so-that-every-disordered-mind-is-the-punishment-to-itself.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-06T19:49:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-06T19:50:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e0f72bd7f6497fd883e2bd67d9f3415\"},\"description\":\"Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tricky process to master, especially as technology continues to evolve. For many business owners, it\u2019s becoming\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Thou-hast-commanded-Lord-and-it-is-truly-so-that-every-disordered-mind-is-the-punishment-to-itself.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Thou-hast-commanded-Lord-and-it-is-truly-so-that-every-disordered-mind-is-the-punishment-to-itself.jpg\",\"width\":959,\"height\":638},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The 5 Top SEO Mistakes You Could Be Making\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Daily Business Resources for Entrepreneurs, Web Designers, & Creatives by Andy Sowards\",\"description\":\"Design Inspiration & Business Resources for Creatives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e0f72bd7f6497fd883e2bd67d9f3415\",\"name\":\"Andy Sowards\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15f95b011563b5894883b22bd4b32d59?s=96&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15f95b011563b5894883b22bd4b32d59?s=96&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Andy Sowards\"},\"description\":\"Im a professional Freelancer specializing in Web Developer, Design, Programming web applications. Im an Avid member of the Design\/Development community and a Serial Blogger. follow me on Twitter @AndySowards\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 5 Top SEO Mistakes You Could Be Making","description":"Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tricky process to master, especially as technology continues to evolve. For many business owners, it\u2019s becoming","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 5 Top SEO Mistakes You Could Be Making","og_description":"Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tricky process to master, especially as technology continues to evolve. For many business owners, it\u2019s becoming","og_url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/","og_site_name":"Daily Business Resources for Entrepreneurs, Web Designers, & Creatives by Andy Sowards","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/andysowardsfan","article_published_time":"2021-08-06T19:49:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-06T19:50:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":959,"height":638,"url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Thou-hast-commanded-Lord-and-it-is-truly-so-that-every-disordered-mind-is-the-punishment-to-itself.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andy Sowards","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@andysowards","twitter_site":"@andysowards","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andy Sowards","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/","url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/","name":"The 5 Top SEO Mistakes You Could Be Making","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Thou-hast-commanded-Lord-and-it-is-truly-so-that-every-disordered-mind-is-the-punishment-to-itself.jpg","datePublished":"2021-08-06T19:49:59+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-06T19:50:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e0f72bd7f6497fd883e2bd67d9f3415"},"description":"Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tricky process to master, especially as technology continues to evolve. For many business owners, it\u2019s becoming","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Thou-hast-commanded-Lord-and-it-is-truly-so-that-every-disordered-mind-is-the-punishment-to-itself.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/assets\/Thou-hast-commanded-Lord-and-it-is-truly-so-that-every-disordered-mind-is-the-punishment-to-itself.jpg","width":959,"height":638},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2021\/the-5-top-seo-mistakes-you-could-be-making\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The 5 Top SEO Mistakes You Could Be Making"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/","name":"Daily Business Resources for Entrepreneurs, Web Designers, & Creatives by Andy Sowards","description":"Design Inspiration & Business Resources for Creatives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e0f72bd7f6497fd883e2bd67d9f3415","name":"Andy Sowards","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15f95b011563b5894883b22bd4b32d59?s=96&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15f95b011563b5894883b22bd4b32d59?s=96&r=pg","caption":"Andy Sowards"},"description":"Im a professional Freelancer specializing in Web Developer, Design, Programming web applications. Im an Avid member of the Design\/Development community and a Serial Blogger. follow me on Twitter @AndySowards","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.andysowards.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42149,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42144\/revisions\/42149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}