If your SEO is relying on tricks this Halloween, you may be treated to a loss of rankings or penalization.
On the other hand, if your SEO strategy is too mild, you aren't going to have much success either. Today, we are going to discuss a few mistakes that many of you are making and may not realize.
1. Scared to Act
The onslaught of propaganda from Google would lead you to believe they have near god-like powers. As a result, many large SEO agencies and companies have come to fear link building. Some SEO plans include only on-page work. If you are not building links for fear of getting penalized, your site is in the slow lane of organic growth.
2. Reckless Blogging
Day after day, you write post upon post, yet nobody is reading them. Are you a terrible writer? Is your niche boring an unengaged? Maybe, but more than likely the real problem is that you are not promoting your blog posts. Before you type the first word of your post, you need to know a few important details.
- Who is my audience?
- Where can I promote this post to them?
- What unique value can I bring to the topic?
- Is there supplemental information I can also provide to further engage a reader.
Once you understand who you are writing for, make a list of places those people gather. Use that list to create a promotion plan for your content. If you are writing about tips for DIY auto repair, automotive forums, FB groups, or even a car thread on Quora are a few places you can promote your content.
3. Misguided Effort
Work harder or work smarter? Maybe work hard smartly! When it comes time to promote your business, there are countless platforms and methods of promotion available. Many business owners fall into the trap of believing they need to be on all of them. Spreading yourself too thin will cause you to give less than your best efforts in the most important areas.
If you are using a method to promote yourself, make sure you are tracking the results with Google Analytics or something similar. If you are not seeing a return on your effort, it may be better spent on another platform. After testing and tracking, you should be left with a shortlist of effective ways to promote your business.
4. Failure to Adapt
There was a time, not so long ago when spending money on internet marketing instead of phone book ads was a risqué business decision. Today, if your main strategy is still phone book ads, you are way behind the curve, unless you are a criminal defense attorney.
Aside from making the shift from offline to online marketing, you also need to evolve as online strategies progress. In some cases, SEO was the perfect solution in the past but due to rising competition, you may be better served by PPC ads. A marketing strategy should serve two purposes, creating awareness about your offer and securing interested leads. If your strategy is not doing that, a change may be in order. Avoid the temptation to do things "how I've always done it" and let yourself progress with the times.
5. Fear of Failure
Marketing is far from a perfect science. Many times, throughout history two companies have offered a very similar product. One company prospered and the other one went out of business. In many of those cases, the marketing decisions made lead to their success or untimely demise.
Whenever you are planning your marketing strategy, don't be afraid to push the envelope. Don't be afraid to take some calculated risks, and stay nimble. If you test a strategy and it isn't working, pull the plug and try a new direction.
Don't let a fear of being penalized in 2099 stop you from dominating search in 2018 and driving revenue through the roof. Refuse to stick to "how you've always done it" and adapt, learn to do it better. Bust your butt, but do so intelligently. If you approach marketing for what it is, a continually evolving, never guaranteed way to dramatically multiply your market reach, you can leave the competition in the dust.
As T.S. Eliot once said, "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." If you want to succeed beyond your wildest dreams, be prepared to take risks and evolve.
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