5 SEO Mistakes That Are (Seriously) Hurting Your Website’s Performance
And how to plug these leaky patches
I have come across many founders, CEOs, and Entrepreneurs who have coughed up large sums of money in SEO only to be met by marginal results and huge disappointments. Hence, they proclaim that SEO is not as effective a tool as projected.
One of them even called it ‘bogus’.
The alternative option of paid advertising has been around for ages and is backed by proven results. But it has a significant drawback — cost. And the bar keeps rising each year, making it difficult for businesses to keep a good margin.
SEO is a lifesaver that keeps costs in check and ensures long-term profits. But it requires one primary input — time. To remain invested.
I see SEO as growing a plant, which you nurture and take care of for a certain period. It doesn’t bear fruits in the initial days, but as it grows and gets proper care, it delivers the juiciest fruits to enjoy.
So, if you have invested in SEO and failed to see the results you expected, these might be the reasons.
1. Implementing generic SEO strategy across businesses
Just like a doctor prescribes different doses of the same medicine to other patients, depending upon their condition, the SEO strategy for one business cannot be replicated for another.
Many organizations need to be corrected here. Every business is unique in its way and requires a focused and targeted SEO approach based on its:
objective, target audience, and search potential.
The broad methodology of SEO is the same across all businesses. And the ultimate objective is to rank on top in Google since that is where all the cream is. But, it is to be remembered that the preferred approach and keyword will differ for different businesses.
For example, let’s take an eCommerce business.
The SEO strategy needs to focus on having a great product page with detailed product information that a buyer may want to know. Great product reviews must back that.
Having positive reviews helps the customer make that buying decision.
Amazon gets vast (and free!) traffic from Google because of an extensive review system.
Similarly, a local business has its clientele restricted to a particular locality. The SEO planning should involve optimizing the Google Local listing, backed by reviews of excellent service.
In another case of a SaaS business, the approach has to be entirely different and extensive. Educating the industry, projecting as a thought leader, and having webinars & videos, supplemented by case studies and real-time studies, will drive traffic to these businesses.
Fix it:
Simply put, putting square pegs in a round hole will not work. Only then can you see the results start coming in.
- Align your SEO strategy with the type of business.
- Understand the core necessity of the business and then plan your strategy.
2. Mediocre content
Who doesn’t want to spend less and get more? I doubt anyone is raising their hands to that. We all look for value. That is how we are wired.
The same logic applies to websites. What drives a person to come to a website? You guessed it correctly — information. And what is the person investing? Time.
So, if you provide good information for your users, it is a sold deal. So, let me say it out loud here —
SEO is not just keywords. SEO is content — great content.
Keywords serve the algorithms; content serves the customers.
Focus on that, and the customers are yours.
A case study:
One of my clients was a doctor. She was not having much luck with her website traffic.
I suggested she have explicit content on breast implants (her area of expertise) on her site because I recognized an information gap there. Despite being hesitant, she invested in videos, designs, and content on the topic, done professionally.
And boom! She recorded a 40% hike in her revenue for that year.
This is just one example where a business has resulted in better results when backed by factual information. Hence, blindly go for the latter whenever you have to choose between keywords or good content.
3. Allocating low budgets
Did you know that every day almost 250k websites are created? This is in addition to the billions and trillions of web pages already there.
So, tomorrow, if you decide to create a website, you must remember that many websites are already racing to rank in Google. And these websites are also spending thousands of dollars on their portals for many years now.
Beating such competition is a big challenge. It is possible, but expecting that a new website would start ranking on top immediately would not be fair.
SEO is a long-term strategy, and any mindful plan would take almost a year of a focused approach to start showing results.
Significant parts of SEO are planning, executing, researching, and content creation which requires investment.
Many businesses falter here — not having a budget or allocating a low budget for SEO. The reason is the lack of immediate results. This would have significant setbacks on the website’s growth.
Having a proper budget analysis to decide the budget is a crucial part of business planning.
4. Traffic not translating to business
The endgame of any business proposition is to acquire a customer who is ready to invest in the idea. Else there is no point.
A website can have massive traffic, but if the viewer does not ‘buy’ into it, the entire effort has gone waste.
So what makes a visitor turn into a customer?
Many things lead to the ultimate buying decision of a customer. And as a seller, the onus is on you to convince the customer to make that final call to purchase. For that to happen, you must think from the visitor’s point of view.
How to convert your visitors?
- Spell the problem for them: As we discussed, everyone seeks value for investment. ‘What’s in it for me?’ Demonstrate the benefit for the customer, so it becomes easier to make the decision.
- Educate them: In-depth content on the topic builds viewers’ confidence in you or your product. Guides, videos, and tools are lovely and engaging ways to give your viewers the overall experience.
- Back up their buying decision: No one wants to be the first to do something. What if something goes wrong? Eliminate that fear through elaborate testimonials from satisfied customers. Make sure that the testimonials answer every query a viewer can have.
5. Missing the ‘wow’ factor
The attention span of an average internet user is mere 8 seconds. A tiny window of opportunity to impress your viewer.
And how do you hold their attention? By giving them an experience. The User experience — is a popular business buzzword these days.
I have seen many websites that have focused only on content. While the content is excellent, the UX sucks. The font size needs to be bigger, the content needs to be formatted, and sometimes the loading time needs to be lowered.
User experience is a critical factor today in this attention-deficit economy. The aim has to be to provide a wholesome and positive experience for the viewer to take the next step.
So, how do you build a great UX?
You listen, observe, and ask. Understand your customer and visualize the persona. And then build on that.
A user looking for an estimate for constructing a house would like a tool than a text-heavy article. Similarly, a person looking for hairstyles or recipes would love a video to envision it better. And graphs would work better for statistical queries.
Stepping into your user’s shoes and creating the product is a better way to connect with them and develop a loyal and long-lasting relationship.
While viewers have a low attention span, they tend to stick to places they know they like. To save time searching for another great website that fits their requirement. Your job is to make it happen the first time they visit you.
Conclusion
In SEO, one size doesn’t fit all. Look from all angles objectively. A generic approach would not serve the purpose. Hence, diagnose the problem and then arrive at the appropriate solution.
