5 of the biggest SEO mistakes in 2021

Search engine marketing is constantly evolving, so much so that techniques that worked five years ago are all but worthless today. This can lead many small business owners confused about which practices they should be deploying to get more traffic.

So in this blog, we are going to look at five of the biggest SEO mistakes we see daily. Eliminate these mistakes and you’ll go a long way to improving your search engine marketing results.

1. Not setting clear SEO goals

Most SEO campaigns don’t have a clear objective. You need to be clear about what you want to achieve. Is it better quality traffic, higher conversions, more leads? Think about your objectives first and then build a strategy around them.

2. Ignoring search intent

Search intent is a primary ranking factor, so it pays to not ignore it. The intent of a search refers to the user’s motivation behind it. Are they looking for more information, researching prices, looking for reviews… Give the user what they want, don’t fight it.

3. Not optimising for mobile

With 50% of all searches carried out on smartphones, it pays to ensure your website is optimised for mobile use. Search engines will only show mobile optimised websites to mobile users so your website needs to be responsive or you’ll be missing out on half of them.

4. Focusing on the text above anything else

Most search engine optimization strategies focus on text and forget about other elements on a page such as images. But these are just as important as the text. So make sure your images are labelled with appropriate alt text and optimised for the web.

5. Buying backlinks

Buying backlinks to boost web rankings might work in the short term, but search engines are getting better at identifying paid backlinks and they will hit you with a penalty if they find one. So do yourself a favour and invest in a proper backlink strategy instead.

Need help with your SEO strategy?

Do you need help developing your SEO strategy? Get in touch with the search marketing experts at Excalibur Digital for a full evaluation of your website and search marketing efforts.

Give us a call on 01622 535331 or complete the contact form here to arrange a FREE website audit today.