SEO in Kansas City has become more important ever since social media had less influence on driving traffic. In 2017 Google took its place as the major source of referral traffic, driving 35% of site visits.
With SEO, you can rank higher on Google’s SERPs (search engine results pages). This is vital for your business since the first result almost always gets more clicks than the others.
When working on your website, there are some things to keep in mind. You should avoid the following SEO mistakes so that you don’t end up damaging your reputation. Here are the biggest broad term and Kansas City SEO mistakes to steer clear of in 2020.
1. Wrong Search Intent
You might have done everything right. You have well-written content, and you’ve done thorough research on your target audience. However, if you don’t create it for the right search intent, then it could all be in vain as readers won’t find it to be useful.
Search intent basically describes what the reader who is behind the search is looking for. If your content doesn’t provide the solution, then they will leave unsatisfied, which will hurt your rankings.
2. Not Following Modern Day SEO Rules
As the internet changes so does SEO. To keep on top of all the changes and stay at the top of search engines, you must follow modern-day SEO best practices.
In fact, if you do try to follow the old and traditional SEO methods (such as keyword stuffing), then your website will get penalized for it. Google is too smart for that now.
3. Not Staying Up to Date
As we said, SEO in Kansas City and across the world changes as the internet changes. What this means is that you have to stay up to date with the latest industry news. Within the news can be Google updates that you would otherwise have missed out on knowing about. If a major update slips by your radar, your website can be put into serious jeopardy, meaning that you can lose a big chunk of traffic.
4. Ignoring Structured Data and Internal Search Functioning
Structured data can help you in multiple ways. If you rank number one, it will help you keep your position by making your search result appear even more prominent. On the other hand, if you aren’t ranking number one yet, it can help you climb the ranks faster since your result will appear bigger and therefore more clickable.
You should also improve your site’s internal search functions as well. Too many websites these days have done a poor job at this, and you can really capitalize on this against your competitors’ websites.
5. Ignoring the Bottom of Your Funnel
The goal of a business is to get customers. Every business must generate leads and convert them into customers. Most businesses focus on only the first part which is getting leads and not the second part. A funnel is composed of two parts, leads at the top and conversions as the bottom. You need to focus on both parts to succeed.
To succeed with conversions, you must provide leads with everything they need to know to convert (case studies and reviews) to show them why they must buy from you.
6. Ignoring Video Marketing
You probably have heard that videos are the future, and this is absolutely true. People prefer to watch videos to absorb information more than any other content format. This is what explains the popularity of YouTube.
You’ve also probably noticed videos in the SERPs. This is Google’s acknowledgment that people love to watch videos and that videos will be the future of search.
And finally, videos can rank quicker on Google as well, and they are more engaging as well. So now you can see why it’s a mistake to ignore video marketing.
7. Not Focusing on Your Brand
Google loves brands. And brands should love Google as well. If nothing else, SEO is a necessary evil for promoting a brand these days. If your website doesn’t rank on the first page of Google for your keywords, then how can prospects trust the legitimacy of your business? Having the approval os Google is a big deal for your brand’s credibility.
Begin by increasing the number of branded searches for your business. This will help your business rank at the top of Google.
8. Being Unprepared for Mobile
At this point, nearly 50% of traffic comes from mobile devices. So if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, then Google won’t want to represent it in search. It’s that simple.
To make sure that your website is mobile-friendly by Google standards, make sure that it’s responsive. Build it with the philosophy of “mobile-first,” and you’ll do just fine.
Page speed and mobile-friendliness are considered ranking factors. So you can’t forget them if you want to grow your business.
9. Not Having an SEO Strategy
If you don’t set SEO goals, then you aren’t likely to get anywhere. What do you want to achieve with SEO? To answer this question, you need to know what your goals are for your website and find the SEO strategy that will best accomplish those. A bad SEO strategy will get you nowhere.
10. Forgetting That the Customer Comes First
Write content and formulate your SEO strategy for customers, not search engines. Because ultimately, they are the ones who matter. After all, you need customers to generate sales to run your business at all.
Remember always to keep things in perspective. Google is just a search engine. Things can change at the drop of a dime and they could decide to penalize your website and other websites. However, if your focus is on your customers from the very beginning, then you’ll create a more loyal customer base. They will promote you if Google doesn’t, and this will increase the chances that Google will promote you anyway. This is why you must always make sure that your customers are happy and satisfied with your products and services.
If you’re ready to get ahead with Kansas City SEO strategies in 2020, then contact Salt Manage today.
