The demands on SEO are growing every day, especially now that digital traffic virtually exploded because of the coronavirus pandemic. Even some of the best marketing companies in Queensland struggle to keep up with all the changes. If you’re one of those who still struggle to get your website to appear on the first page of Google results, you probably need to make some adjustments of your own on your website’s optimisation. Consider the following common SEO mistakes that you should probably avoid in 2021.
Using Black Hat SEO Methods
In SEO circles, the term “black hat” has always been a cause for debate for many professionals. Black hat is basically the use of shady SEO activities with the simple goal of tricking the search engines and gaming the system. Black hat practitioners typically aim to get a high-ranking page in a short amount of time by exploiting Google’s algorithm. Some of the well-known black hat methods include:
- Cloaking
- Backlink Buying
- Keyword Stuffing
- Structured Data Abuse
Using any of these methods will probably earn you a high enough ranking on the search results page, but there’s also the risk of Google finding out and slapping you with a manual penalty.
Avoid using black hat methods if you really want to improve your website’s performance.
Ignoring User Experience
Google has always been clear about prioritizing user experience above everything else. Every successful lead-generating website relies on a good user experience to keep its status. This is because Google’s algorithm does its best to present users with pages that offer the best possible user experience. If you choose to ignore this on your website, you’re making a huge and costly mistake. A great user experience means your customers and prospects are comfortable and will always have a great time navigating through your website.
Playing Catch Up on Search Engine Changes
Google is constantly updating and refining its search engine algorithms to make sure users get the most relevant and useful information all the time. This means you need to up your SEO game by always staying up to date on search engine changes as they happen.
Remember, SEO is an ongoing process, and there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution to your online advertising strategy. Some optimisation techniques used a few months ago may be completely and utterly useless by today’s standards. Keeping track of all the changes may
seem like a daunting task, but it’s a crucial step that you need to make time for if you want to drive more traffic to your website.
