When it comes to websites, many business owners think they are doing everything right with their SEO efforts. However, many don't realize that they may be committing critical mistakes that are doing more harm than good.
Sadly, if you talk with some business owners, they only think that the title, meta tags and descriptions are the only thing that matters to search engines. What they don't realize is that there is much more under the hood such as drawing in backlinks, on page optimization strategies, content creation and more. Yes, title, tags and meta tags worked in 1999, however, this is only a small piece of the pie today.
When small business owners hear you have to get links, they often think of a number they have to get. When trying to get a backlink, numbers don't matter anymore – quality does. So to put it in a nutshell: It's going to be a lot better to get a link from the Wall Street journal than 10,000 low-quality directory links.
There are no quick ways to get you to the top of Google. Yes, while there are some strategies that can work instantly, they are only going to be limited. Plus, once Google finds out you're trying to cheat the system, they are either going to apply a penalty or ban you from their search engine. In the end, work hard to create quality and don't try to find spam methods that may give you instant gratification.
Your website isn't going to draw in thousands of customers over night. Instead, it's going to take time and effort. If you focus too much on your stats, it's going to take away from what matters – your marketing and content. Try your hardest to focus on creating compelling content and developing unique marketing strategies. If done right, the traffic will follow.
It's great to write compelling content, however, in today's world, people love video and social media. If your small business doesn't have a presence on places such as YouTube, it's time to start considering this marketing giant as well. Always make sure that you have more than just content.
Sure, while you need to focus on SEO, it isn't going to be everything. Don't forget that you should focus on other things such as developing content, interacting with your customers and reaching out to industry experts to promote your product. If you do these things effectively, a lot of times you won't even have to think about SEO because others will link to you naturally.
Yes, SEO has changed over time. However, when you look at a change, it's a way to combat spam and cheap tricks that get people to the top of the search engines. If you're looking for the tricks that work today, it's not going to work. You have to remember that good content, solid links and a legitimate marketing strategy will always work, even years from now.