Being active online is no longer enough for you to stay on top of your game. As a business, you should also make use of Search Engine Optimization as one of your best approaches for online marketing. SEO is a great way to increase your online traffic and attract new customers, but you have to assess if you are committing these SEO mistakes. These mistakes could potentially affect your business in the long run, and you don’t want that to happen, do you?

1. Your content is unoriginal

Google only promotes content that is original for its users. Google prioritizes content which is educational, new and unique over than those which are full of recycled, useless content. From all the websites around the internet which often have similar topics, Google picks the best among them by checking its distinctiveness¾meaning that your website can stay on top of the search results list if you continually post content that is fresh and valuable.

2. You are using the wrong keywords

Your keywords are essential with your rankings on Google. Yes, you might have considered this before, but if your keywords are too generic, you still might be doing it wrong. Instead, do not be afraid to use long-tail keywords. Imagine yourself in the shoes of your customers and think what other related keywords they could use to search for your products.

You can also make use of several keyword picking sites such as AdWords Keyword Planner, Moz Keyword Explorer, and Uber Suggest. You have to be careful before you devote your time and effort to optimization and these websites will help you with that.

3. Your backlinks are of low quality

Websites are known to be of high content if other websites are using their address to support information. And Google understands this notion, as well. Google recognizes that for a website to be trusted, it should contain high-quality information. If you continually use and post sloppy content, Google will rank your website poorly, compared to other website domains.

Your ranking on Google will improve once you get quality links from other reputable websites. Backlinks and paid programs will not do the trick here. They might seem an easy solution, but they are counterproductive.4

4. Your website is not mobile-friendly

Google apprehends the fact that users access the internet through their smartphones most of the time. Websites which offer a smooth mobile experience and user-friendly interface are ranked higher than websites which can only be accessed through a desktop or laptop. It is like Google’s reward for businesses that take the time to address the current demand of the market.

If you are not sure whether your website is optimized for mobile users, use speed tools such as Pingdom and GT Metrix. These tools will analyze your website’s performance, both on desktop and mobile. Use the results to benchmark where your website can improve.

5. You do not have social media interaction

You might think that your social media engagement has no barring with your SEO, but you’re wrong. Google also looks into a website’s social outreach such as in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+. The more social media subscribers you have, the higher your rank is on Google. All the user’s comments, shares, and likes mean something to your SEO.

With this idea, you should build strong customer relationship through different social media platforms. Not only will you have online engagement but this will significantly improve your Google rankings.

6. You are using too many pop-ups

No online user would want to open a website and be bombarded with countless pop-ups. Yes, it’s a pain in the neck and customers would opt to close your website once pop-ups are just too much. There are even some which navigate the user to a different page, a page which has topics irrelevant to his original searches¾and this can be very annoying for the user. Google feels the same way with your website, too. Having a few pop-ups all at once is hurting your SEO goals.

With the latest update from Google, websites with too many pop-ups are punished by placing them last in the SEO results.

7. You are using broken links

It is always good to hyperlink other resources or websites which can provide support to the information you post online. But when you do, you have to see to it that these links are working so that when a user clicks it, it would lead to another informative site. Nobody wants to be redirected to a “404 page not found error” screen. Instead of removing all of these links from your site, the most sensible resolution is to fix them.

Web analyzers such as Google Webmasters and Ahrefs are useful in fixing broken links, including the dreaded 404 errors.

In conclusion

Ensuring that your website is on top of the search results page can be rewarding. It can bring a lot of traffic (and Automatic Likes) to your website which will eventually convert to customers and profits. Do not be scared to learn all about SEO. Take all the time you need to learn more about SEO and apply it on your website.