Search engine optimisation is a widely used online marketing approach that continues to be effective for numerous businesses. SEO has grown and diversified considerably and so have the set of its fundamental methods. Marketers are having to relearn what works and what does not with each vital algorithm update. Adapting to new changes and focusing on the right SEO aspects make all the difference.

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Countless businesses falter in obtaining the desired rankings and traffic due to impractical optimisation methods. Trying outdated SEO activities can lead to continually disappointing results. So, what are the mistakes that should be avoided in search engine optimisation? Read on to get a better idea. 

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Top SEO Mistakes To Steer Clear Of 

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1. Placing content on images - Placing vitally important optimised text in images is an SEO mistake. Most search engine algorithms scan pages for text content, but cannot detect the text within images. So, web pages can fail to gain intended results even with high-quality content. Call to actions and can be included in images, along with a few lines of additional text. Keep the bulk of your SEO content in simple text format. 

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2. Working with outdated content - Many businesses do not achieve SEO results as their websites have outdated and uninteresting content. The solution is updating and optimising page content regularly. Having a blog section on your website will enable you to post fresh and high-quality content. Keeping content current will bump up your site in the rankings. If you need help with churning out fresh content, availing the services of a content writing company is recommended. 

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3. Not focusing on GMB listing - Google My Business or GMB is one of the key aspects of SEO, especially for small businesses. Yet many business owners are reluctant in claiming their local listings on this platform. This is a huge mistake and severely cripples their SEO ranking potential. Most potential customers today tend to trust only the businesses that feature on Google My Business.

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4. Lack of meta and title optimisation - The titles and meta descriptions on website pages are as important as the content within them. But many businesses do not optimise their meta and title components with optimised content. It leads to competing websites with SEO-friendly titles and meta gaining the upper hand. Any business aiming for higher rankings and more visitors with SEO should optimise these elements.

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5. Doing only on-page SEO - Having a fully optimised website is a definite requirement for any business today. Yet, focussing only on on-page optimisation is simply not enough for ranking on Google. Marketers and business owners must lay an equal focus on off-page optimisation. Publishing content on external online resources helps you gain quality backlinks to your website. Using off-page tactics can power up your SEO efforts and help you achieve SERP supremacy. 

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6. Not performing periodic site audits - A big chunk of SEO revolves around the usability of websites. The standards of usability and user-experience are also rising, as audiences are expecting faster loading and fluid navigation. To keep up to the modern standards, business owners must perform regular audits. These help to evaluate factors like the loading speed, quality of content, checkout process fluidity and mobile responsiveness. Site audits are quite essential for any business with an online website. 

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7. Trying to game algorithms with content - Fresh, dynamic and engaging content is the cornerstone of organic SEO, along with every other digital marketing method. One of the biggest SEO mistakes is trying to use keyword-optimised content that is not user-friendly. Many businesses are too focused on keyword optimisation in hopes of pleasing the search crawlers. Adopting such an approach often leads to pages failing to gain any ranking benefits. Even if the rankings do come, an algorithm-driven page will not generate any user interest. 

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8. Purchasing backlinks to your site - Many emerging business owners commit the mistake of buying backlinks to their websites. Backlinks should not be bought in the first place, as the practice is unethical. Your website’s SEO efforts can take a hit if you buy backlinks from websites that Google does not prefer i.e. flagged sites. If you are interested in obtaining backlinks, get in touch with high authority websites. 

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9. Not considering the latest SEO trends - The landscape of search engine optimisation is always changing with new trends appearing frequently. Businesses are now Newer SEO trends are growing even more frequent now as pages are being optimised for mobile devices. Voice search, structured data utilisation and technical SEO are a few of these trends. All SEO efforts can be ineffective if a website is optimised without acknowledging the most current standards. 

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10. Treating SEO as a set-and-forget method - Optimising a website for better search rankings takes continuous effort. Marketers should not mistake SEO as a quick-fix method to improve rankings at once. Search engine optimisation for any website requires continually trying different methods, frequent evaluation and proactive decision-making. Keep in mind that getting to the top of the SERPs is not enough, as you also have to stay there. Implementing a successful content strategy across your online resources also takes some time. 

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11. Over-optimising with excessive keyword usage - Another mistake many marketers and business owners make is stuffing too many keywords into too little content. This is a practice that has to stop as search algorithms penalise low-quality websites. Relevant keywords must be used in a completely natural manner, and with a frequency that is natural. For instance, it is not ideal to use an exact match focus keyword 5-7 times within a 300 words page content. Including too many keywords into a page can also backfire. 

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These are some key SEO mistakes that many online businesses and marketing professionals make. Fortunately, there are ideal workarounds to avoid each mistake and perform SEO naturally. Approach a reputed SEO marketing agency to gain insight into the latest SEO trends.

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