For small businesses, mobile web traffic is more important than ever before. Just this past year, 53 percent of the traffic on the web was from mobile devices and that number is expected to continue rising.
There is a clear trend over the past 10 years, showing a growing shift in the number of users converting from desktop to mobile web surfing. Businesses are beginning to observe this behavior and making the necessary adjustments, including implementing a new digital marketing strategy.
Arguably the best way of generating mobile web traffic is through search engine optimization (SEO). Keep reading this guide to learn the common mistakes with mobile SEO and how to avoid them to get started on the right path.
1. Failing to Select a Responsive Design
Have you ever visited a website on your phone and thought to yourself, “there is no way someone designed a website this terrible?” It was most likely a poorly designed website that has no business being viewed on a mobile device.
Having a mobile-friendly website isn’t enough anymore with the number of different size screens and devices. Going with a responsive web design will ensure your website loads correctly, no matter the screen it is being viewed on. Having an inadequately designed website can lead to an increase in the bounce rate, and with a higher bounce rate, your SEO ranking can drop.
2. Choosing Quantity Over Quality
In the old days of SEO, you might be able to get away with a few things you wouldn’t be able to get away with today – like generating a ton of poor quality content filled with keywords in order to increase your google ranking.
This is not the case anymore – Google gets more intelligent with every update and will find those trying to cheat the system. Google’s latest update BERT involves interpreting search results more accurately to relay the best answer or suggestion to users. Google is becoming better and better at rewarding those who provide quality content rather than those seeking to increase their SEO ranking.
Generating quality material that your readers will find useful is a much better strategy than trying to rush through and put out as much content as possible.
3. Ignoring Social Media
If you are not utilizing social media marketing for your website, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to meet and engage new users from all over the world.
According to research from the PEW Research Center, 72 percent of U.S adults are currently using social media. Facebook is still the most widely used across all demographics, with over 70 percent of users logging on daily.
Engaging with individuals on social media can help attract new visitors to your website, and in turn, increase your SEO ranking. The more people who can see it and share it, the better results you will have in terms of SEO. If you are not social media savvy, you may want to consider choosing an agency to run it for you. This way, you can still enjoy the benefits of an active social media account without having to take the time out of your day.
4. Not Focusing on the Right Keywords
Search engine optimization is all about keywords, right? Sort of, and here’s why – Google’s algorithm is becoming more advanced, and it’s beginning to have the ability to decipher between quality content and keyword-stuffed articles.
Keyword stuffing is a thing of the past. If you get caught doing this, you will get penalized on your SEO ranking. Another thing to take into consideration with keywords – is everyone else targeting this keyword as well? If so, you may want to reconsider.
Try to focus on what the consumer would be looking for when searching for your business and learn to utilize long-tail keywords. Using long-tail keywords, you may captivate a smaller audience. However, the users you attract will be more relevant to your mission.
5. Poor Quality Links
Link building and receiving is a critical aspect of how SEO works. Building links is one way google helps determine what sites are authoritative and which ones should rank higher.
The problem is many individuals new to SEO will add links just to add links, and by doing this, they may actually be hurting their SEO ranking more than helping it. Instead, focus on building quality links that are relevant to the information you are trying to portray.
Building links too quickly can also hurt your SEO ranking. Build them naturally as they needed in your content, and you will have much better results.
6. Poor Website Performance
Google, in 2010 made an announcement that they would be factoring website speed as a ranking factor for SEO. It has become increasingly more important not just for SEO but for the user experience as well.
According to research from ThinkWithGoogle, if your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, 53 percent of visitors will leave and look elsewhere. Increasing website speed is not as hard as it may seem. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Optimize images
- Reduce redirects
- Minimize HTTP requests
- Compress files
- Allow browser caching
- Use a CDN
After making the necessary adjustments, you can then run a performance test to see the difference in load times. Google recognizes the importance of the user experience and will continue to provide updates that help users find the most relevant results. Decreasing the time it takes for your website to load can bring about other benefits as well, like a lower bounce rate and higher engagement.
7. Ignoring Analysis
By utilizing analytics, you can discover key insights about your website and visitors to help you make decisions based on the facts. For example, you may discover that one social media channel is generating most of your visitors.
You can then run further analysis to see what content is being engaged with the most, giving you a good idea of what is resonating with consumers and what you should be altering.
Avoiding Common Mistakes With Mobile SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is becoming one of the most effective ways of increasing your visibility on the internet. It may take time to grow and expand your network, but anything is possible with the right resources. The more time and effort you put into SEO, the better your results will show over time.
To learn more about the common mistakes with mobile SEO and what to avoid, check out the rest of our blog!