Mistakes can be costly for small businesses. This is why it’s important to hit the ground running and quickly see the benefits of your efforts. 

How can you ensure that you avoid rookie mistakes and leverage SEO to your advantage? Let’s explore some of the key mistakes that should be avoided when optimising a website.

Choosing the Wrong Keywords

SEO is all about choosing the right keywords that you want your website to rank for in search engines. But how do you know which keywords are the right ones?

One of the most common mistakes that businesses make is choosing keywords that are too broad or irrelevant. It’s important to recognise that the keywords you perceive as suitable may have entirely different meanings for others or prove too generic for your target audience.

 In either case, you run the risk of optimising your website for all the wrong keywords, missing out on valuable traffic and potential customers. Before you choose any keywords, you should do some research to see how many people are searching for them and how competitive they are. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush to help you with your research.

Duplicate Content 

Duplicate content is a major issue in SEO. When the same content appears on multiple pages, it can be difficult for search engines to determine which page is the most authoritative version. This can lead to lower rankings for all pages, or even the pages being excluded from the search results altogether.

There are a couple of situations that can cause duplicate content issues. First, there are cases where different versions of the same webpage are shown to search engines. This confuses the search engines, and sometimes they make mistakes in choosing the right version to index. Second, there are instances when similar web addresses (URLs) are used inconsistently, which also confuses search bots. This can make your web address less valuable in search rankings. Implementing good SEO practices can help prevent content duplication and ensure that search engines find and display your content correctly.

Keyword Stuffing 

Let’s talk about “keyword stuffing.” In the past, it was a common practice to stuff a webpage with lots of keywords to try and improve search rankings. However, with the advancements in search engine technology and their algorithms, keyword stuffing can actually harm your search rankings rather than help.

The key to success now is to prioritise your website visitors when creating content, and consider search engines as a secondary factor. A good rule of thumb is to read your articles out loud. If they sound unnatural or forced, it’s a sign that you might be overdoing it with keywords. Quality content that resonates with your audience will always prevail over outdated tactics like keyword stuffing.

Treating SEO as a One-Time Fix

SEO is not a one-and-done task. It is an ongoing process that needs to be constantly updated and refreshed. What may have worked to improve a website’s ranking one month may not yield the same results the next month. The behaviour of searchers changes as their needs and preferences evolve over time. Consequently, business websites must be nimble and adjust their strategies to address these changing needs effectively.

For example, a website that ranks well for a certain keyword today might not rank as well for that keyword tomorrow if the search landscape changes. This is because the way people search for information changes over time. Treating SEO as a long-term commitment ensures that your website remains relevant and visible to your target audience.

Having Unrealistic Expectations

One of the easiest mistakes to fall into is expecting immediate results. It’s easy to assume that once you’ve optimised your website and improved rankings for specific pages, you’ll quickly secure the top spot in Google searches and witness a flood of traffic pouring in. 

In reality, it can take months or even years to see significant results from SEO. This is because search engines like Google use a variety of factors to determine the ranking of websites, including the quality and relevance of content, the number and quality of backlinks, and the overall user experience. Focus on maintaining a strong online presence and offering valuable content to gradually improve your website’s ranking over time.

SEO is a Changing Game

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is constantly evolving. Every time Google rolls out a new algorithm update, businesses need to keep optimising and tweaking their websites to stay in the game. This can be a challenge for small businesses, which often don’t have the resources to keep up with the latest trends.

If you are a small business owner unsure how to get started with SEO, partner up with a professional agency like Creativ Digital. We have the expertise to help you achieve the results you want while avoiding common SEO pitfalls. And the best part? We offer competitive rates that fit your budget.

The post 5 Common SEO Mistakes Small Businesses Make & How To Avoid Them appeared first on Creativ Digital.

Businesses around the world are closing their doors and governments are imposing nationwide lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus. As the world braces for a global recession it is easy to see that changes to daily life are becoming clearer which in turn affects the economies of the world.

However, it is clear even today that Covid-19 will have a long-term impact, not only on businesses but on individuals too. The thought of going back to our normal lives in a few months now seem like a pipe dream considering the fact that global infection rates are still on the rise. Businesses that closed due to the virus will take time to get back on track if they ever do. The good news is that online shopping seems to be on the rise, leading to a major consumer shift.

Given this change, it is interesting to see what’s going on in terms of what’s happening from an SEO perspective. What are people interested in nowadays? What are they searching for? How are their online shopping behaviors changing?

Here are some of Covid-19’s impact on SEO.

Essential eCommerce Stores

The search for essential ecommerce stores are on the rise. Searches for “toilet paper near me”, “sanitizers near me” or “masks near me” and other related goods are on the rise. Covid-19 has brought major upheaval to everyday life that items not normally bought online are now being searched by people around the world.

When China got infected during late December and peaked during late January, the world experienced a shortage of face masks. In Asian countries like Hong Kong Japan and Korea, face mask use is normal in order to prevent the spread of disease. However, when Covid-19 started to appear outside China, sales and search for face masks soared in neighboring countries leading to shortages. The same is true with hand sanitizers, rubbing alcohol and gloves.

When the virus spread in the USA, it lead to hoarding and panic buying of toilet paper. This kind of behavior is vastly different from typical online sales because not only were masks and toilet paper normally bought in pharmacies and groceries, countries like the USA normally don’t wear them.

Health and Wellness

Because Covid-19 has influenza-like symptoms, many people are looking for ways to boost their immune system. Searches for health and wellness products like vitamins, anti-viral herbs, correct hand washing technique, essential oils and home remedies are rising. Searches for coronavirus symptoms are also seeing an uptick.

Covid-19 has no vaccine and cure as of this writing, searching for ways to boost immune system is a way for people to feel that they have some control over their bodies. Other searches related to home exercising, workouts and healthy living are also on the rise. The health and wellness industry is enjoying a +17% in searches right now.

News Medium

Covid-19 is a new disease with no guaranteed form of treatment or therapy. At this point it is important to separate facts from fiction which is why many people are searching for credible news sources regarding the disease and the current pandemic.

People want to know the real score which is why they are looking for news publications, credible sources and authoritative figures to deliver real data in order to arm themselves with the necessary knowledge to give them a fighting chance with the disease. News mediums are seeing a +34% increase in searches.

Travel

Search for travel deals and destinations are suffering an all-time low. With many countries imposing lockdowns and shutting down non-essential business, tourism and airlines are some of the losing industries in this Covid-19 pandemic.

News of cruise ships being refused by ports and limited flights to many destinations and stay-at-home orders are causing a downward trend not only for travel websites but for airlines, tourism and tours across the globe. Overall, the travel sector is seeing a -46% in searches.

Recipes

Since many people are stuck at home, they are entertaining themselves by cooking or learning how to cook. They are also searching for food deliveries.

Searches for Thai food, pizza and fast food are seeing more than 50% growth, while restaurants and cafes are down a significant number.  As more people are being asked to stay at home a while longer in order to curb the spread of Covid-19, searches for recipes and food deliveries will continue to see an uptick.

Wrap-Up

Dealing with Covid-19 will be the “new normal” for the foreseeable future. As infection rates around the world continue to rise, consumer behavior and search trends will continue to change.

Because of this change, SEO needs to evolve. Monitoring consumer behavior as well as SEO patterns will help you become a better marketer and boost your search engine ranking.

The post Covid-19’s Impact On Search Trends appeared first on Creativ Digital.

Search engines serve millions of users every day looking for answers to their dilemmas or for answers to their questions. If you have a website, a blog, or an e-Commerce website, SEO can help your business expand and meet its objectives.

The good news is that there are thousands of plugins you can install on your WordPress website to help you boost your SEO. However, selecting the most important and relevant plugins for your SEO needs can seem a bit overwhelming as many of those plugins offer the same service as the other. In this article, we chose only 5 of the best plugins for your website which we consider are crucial for SEO.

5 WordPress Plugins for SEO Power

Here are five WordPress plugins for your website which we consider are crucial for SEO

1. Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is one of the most popular plugins for fulfilling SEO needs. It’s a very user-friendly plugin both for newbies and the experienced. Yoast is a simple and intuitive plugin that makes everyone able to work with it. Its traffic light system gives detailed guidelines that will walk you through every step which is perfect for those who are new to SEO.

With its strong content analysis features, it can tell you what your focus keywords are, your content insights, and your content’s readability among others. It allows you to add SEO title, meta description, and meta keywords to each page of your website, which is perfect for your SEO needs.

2. Redirection

If your website contains broken links and 404 pages, then the chances are your SEO score is too low for search engines. One of the most important things website owners forget about SEO is user experience. Setting up redirects for dead links or deleted pages is key to securing a solid user experience.

Redirection is a helpful plugin that lets you manage all sorts of redirects from one open place. You can instantly make new redirects, control your present redirects, and fix any broken links. When all your links work, your visitors will be happy and they will learn to trust you which will lead to higher conversion rates and reduced bounce rate.

3. Smush Image Compression and Optimization

Slow loading time is a common reason people leave your website without even seeing your content. And when people leave your website, you get a high bounce rate that translates to poor SEO. Image size is the most common cause for sluggish loading times. Manually compressing each photo on your website is probably going to months.

Luckily, Smush Image Compression and Optimization is there to compress all of the images on your website at the touch of a button. Compressed images have reduced file size that loads faster both on mobile and on a desktop.

4. w3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache boasts of its powerful technology in improving your website’s performance by “caching” the data that have been previously loaded. It reduces loading time, boosts download speed and increases conversion rates. Thus, improving the overall speed and performance of your website.

So how do you benefit from this? Search engines like Yahoo, Google, and Bing consider and measure the speed of websites in their ranking algorithm. When your site’s load time is fast, visitors view more pages. With W3 Total Cache, you can enhance the user experience for your browsers without having to modify WordPress, your plugins, your theme or how you create your content.

5. All In One WP Security & Firewall

The security of your website is heavily taken into consideration by search engines. The most unfortunate kind of user experience would be one which ends in a malware or other form of a virus. In which case, search engines will rank you lower, or not show your website at all in their listings.

The purpose of the All In One WP Security & Firewall is to prevent this from occurring and put your website safe from hackers and spammers. To help you boost your security measures, invest in an SSL certificate.

Conclusion

Search engine optimization or SEO is a way to optimize your website so that search engines will understand it better and give you higher rankings. Nevertheless, a website with good content can do well with or without SEO. So if you try to SEO a website with poor content, your chances of succeeding are low.

Site speed and security is one of the many important factors in search rankings. Fast loading and virus-free sites can easily outrank slower and virus-filled websites. While you are spending a lot of time improving your content strategy, give some of that time to improve your security and site speed.

The post 5 WordPress Plugins to Turn Your Website Into an SEO Powerhouse appeared first on Creativ Digital.

This makes content creation an even bigger challenge, especially since it’s not just about infiltrating what you wrote with keywords from the title to the H1 tag and so on. In order to make it the very best there is, you’ll have to come up with a more in-depth content.

So what exactly does an in-depth content have? Compared to your normal blog posts that focus on a simple topic, an in-depth content comprises of pretty much all the necessary information they need clearly explained in one cohesive, albeit lengthy, post.

Easy Guide to Writing In-Depth Content

It may seem daunting to even begin crafting this type of content but don’t worry ‘cause we’ve got some quick and easy tips to get you started!

Tip #1: Craft Your Content With Context in Mind

As what’s been mentioned, Google now looks into more of how connected and elaborate your post is as opposed to stuffing it with keywords as much as you can.

With that in mind, your goal now shouldn’t be just about writing up a post for the sake of having fresh content. Your goal should be aimed towards delivering on extensive information that would make Google think that your post should be at the very top because it has the most substantial information in relation to a certain question.

Google wants to give users the very best results and being the best doesn’t mean it only has the right keywords. It has to have the most relevant, extensive, and informative content to satisfy a user’s query.

Tip #2: Make Your Content Longer–Like 2000 Words

So what does it mean to have an “extensive” in-depth content? Well, it takes about at least 2,000 words.

Don’t be surprised because long-form content has been gaining momentum for some time and readers are actually partial to it, especially if it’s well crafted and has all the information that they need.

However, this doesn’t mean that you have to stretch out a post for the sake of reaching the two thousand-word mark if it’s good enough to only have 500 words. What this simply means is you’ll have to come up with topics that are multi-faceted enough for you to segment into several sub-topics.

Just an added tip to make your lengthy content more readable, is to chop the paragraphs into shorter chunks. This way, your readers would have find it easier to digest the information and scan through the whole article without their eyes giving out. Shorter paragraphs also look better when viewed on mobile devices as well.

Tip #3: Insert LSI Keywords to Your Content

In crafting your in-depth content, don’t forget to include LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords into it.

LSI keywords are supporting words and phrases that are semantically related to your main keyword. Take note that these aren’t just synonyms or other terms for your primary keyword. These keywords should be strongly associated to your main topic, which would help in signalling the relevance and depth of your content to Google.

For example, if you’re talking about the trendy Ketogenic Diet, your LSI keywords should include the words nutrition, high fat, weight loss, meal plans, low carb, ketosis, and so on. Once Google crawls your content, it’ll verify the strength and context and think, “Great! This post clearly cover what the Ketogenic Diet is about.” Then off your page goes to the first page of search engine results.

If you’re wondering on how to get the LSI keywords for your primary keyword, you can start with using the LSI Graph, which is a free tool that provides several keywords you can add to your content. You can also use good old Google Keyword Planner or even just the Google results and go straight to the bottom where you’ll find “Searches related to..” words and phrases that you can use as LSI keywords.

Choose your LSI keywords wisely and use them appropriately within your content. Again, don’t just stuff keywords for the sake of doing so. Make sure that it makes complete sense and that it supports your main topic with the right information.

Conclusion

SEO is a constant game of stepping it up and taking it to the next level. You know what they say, it’s either you innovate or die. And this time around, it’s about upping your content game in a way that would bring some serious value to readers and customers.

While it’s true that you’ll need more time and effort to come up with in-depth content, the return proves to be well worth it, especially in terms of ranking higher and getting more backlinks–not to mention, a very probable higher conversion rate compared to shorter posts.

The post Quick and Easy Guide to Writing In-Depth Content appeared first on Creativ Digital.

Good news is, we’re not talking about trends you’ve never even heard of. A lot of what’s likely to get big in 2018 is also derived from the changes and updates that happened in 2017.

Suffice it to say, this new year combines tried and tested SEO tactics that you have to reinforce, alongside new trends that are sure to come up this year. And to help you reflect on what to prepare for, we’ve compiled 5 of the most actionable SEO tasks to cross off your checklist for 2018.

1. Optimisation for Mobile Devices

The rise of mobile search has steadily been on the rise over the years, and 2018 is the year that we will officially see Google implementing a mobile-first indexing. So what does this mean?

According to Google, they “will create and rank its search listings based on the mobile version of content, even for listings that are shown to desktop users.” This just means that as a developer and site owner, you now have to pay so much more attention to how the mobile version of your site is crafted.

It’s not enough to sit back and relax, thinking that you have a working mobile version of the site. It has to provide a seamless user experience. Best way to go about it is to have a website audit done on your mobile site to know points for improvement in terms of speed, layout, design, user experience, and so on.

2. Local Search Rankings

Both on-site and off-site optimisation for local searches have become more relevant than ever. In order to ensure that your site doesn’t fall out of the game, you have to constantly work on improving your local search optimisation.

Not only should you monitor your site’s activities and analytics, but tracking that of your competitors should also be on your checklist. Knowing how customers are finding your site or the site of your competitors would work wonders in winning the local rankings game.

3. Voice Search Optimisation

Did you know that about 55% of teens and 40% of adults use voice search daily? Those numbers are straight from Google’s reports and it could only mean that voice search may as well be the future of SEO.

But while this may be the prediction of many experts, it’s not something that you should be wary of. Take note that what sets voice search apart from your regular search engine optimisation is the format of keywords used.

Those who use voice search use normal and conversational questions, as opposed to oddly structured phrases that’s the norm for SEO keywords. Start looking for most commonly asked questions or sentences in relation to your main keywords and go from there.

4. Keyword Grouping

Nowadays it’s not enough to simply rely on a set of main keywords. What’s become more effective is the intelligent use of primary, secondary, and other related keywords–also known as keyword clusters or groups.

Having these related keywords present in your text content helps prove to Google that your content is actually relevant to searchers’ queries. There are keyword grouping tools that you can use, or you can do it manually, as tedious as that may sound.

You’ll be surprised at how well it pays off in the end, especially in proving your site’s relevance in search engine results.

5. Improve Site Speed

Are you even surprised that site speed has become even more necessary this year? Your site’s speed is not just an important ranking signal, it’s also a major UX factor, which of course impacts rankings as well.

To give you an idea of what your standards of site speed should be, Google expects your pages to load in under 3 seconds. Just three seconds.

If you’re not up to par with that, first thing you should do is to know your site’s speed using Google’s page speed test. You can check on individual pages there and identify problem areas that you should fix as soon as possible.

Conclusion

The new year is a chance for you to revisit your SEO strategies to see what’s been working, what’s lacking, and what you can improve on. At the same time, you have to be aware of the updates that are coming your way, so you can prepare for it ahead of your competitors.

If you feel overwhelmed, you can start with these 5 SEO tasks we’ve provided and go on from there.

Awareness is half the battle and since you’re already in the know, consider it as a small victory! Of course, just make sure to follow through in executing these tasks and strategies to win over the SEO game this 2018.

The post 5 SEO Tasks to Cross Off Your Checklist for 2018 appeared first on Creativ Digital.

While there are several optimisation tactics that you can very well do on your own, completely managing it while running your business may not exactly be the best idea. Here are 5 compelling reasons why you should just go hire a pro.

Reason #1: SEO requires technical knowledge.

Let’s get one thing clear: SEO is not easy. Sure, you can start and do some form of SEO yourself but there’s more to it than just reading an article on the best SEO practices. Professional optimisation covers a lot of technical ground, from content to user experience, as well as off-site and specific local SEO strategies that would prove useful for your business.

This is not to say that you can’t do SEO by yourself. It simply means that if you want a more comprehensive and effective way of optimising your site and get the results you want, then it’s better to invest in a dependable and trusted SEO agency.

Reason #2: SEO requires time and attention to detail.

As a business owner, you already have a lot to deal with in running your business on a day-to-day basis. Do you really have the time to constantly monitor and implement various SEO strategies for your site?

Your time is extremely valuable and it would serve you and your business well to leave it to professionals who can really focus on optimising your site, which entails a number of continuous and progressive tasks. A dedicated SEO agency is also updated with changes and updates in algorithms and rules, as well as keeping track of your competitors. All of these come into play into having a successful SEO campaign.

Reason #3: They can provide extensive analytics and do proper monitoring.

It’s not enough to simply see the numbers from your SEO efforts. What’s even more relevant is to know “why” that’s the case and how to go about fixing or improving it further. A professional SEO agency would know what to do with the numbers and more importantly, understand the relationships among your site’s key performance indicators.

Always keep in mind that optimisation is a continuous process. It’s not a one time, big time effort, which is why it requires consistent monitoring and analysis to identify points for improvement. With proper understanding of analytics come better strategies to improve ranking and online presence of your business.

Reason #4: The pros have the pro tools.

There’s a myriad of software solutions and online resources that can help in developing and executing SEO strategies. However, some of which cost more than your marketing budget allotment, which is why it doesn’t make for good business sense to acquire the program on your own.

The professionals are pros for a reason and this includes having the right tools on their belt that provide the right assistance and guide for various SEO strategies and tasks. A truly reliable and proven SEO agency invests in premium software for effective optimisation and they would be able to assess which applications would best work for your business.

Reason #5: Significant ROI potential.

Compared to other conventional means of marketing your business, SEO provides some serious potential for return on investment and a long-term one at that. Traditional advertising can cost you way more than having to pay for monthly SEO services from a reputable agency. With continuous SEO efforts, your business will certainly reap the rewards with the boost it’ll get down the line.

Don’t scrimp on your optimisation budget. It would benefit you, even more, to hire a professional and trusted SEO company Sydney to take care of boosting your business right from the get go. Leave it to the pros to help get your site ranking high, while you sit back and take care of other important business matters.

The post 5 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Pro For Your Site’s SEO appeared first on Creativ Digital.