SEO Do’s and Don’ts

By: Team WTI | Date: March 1, 2022

Categories: Search Engine Optimization, Team WTI Articles,

Tags: Digital Marketing, Google, SEO, SEO Articles, Team WTI,

Any business with a website will need SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. Just having a website will not automatically bring in visitors and conversions. Putting consistent work into your site is the only way to stand out to search engines like Google and Bing and help users find your content. Here are a few do’s and don’ts for a solid SEO strategy. 

Do’s of SEO

• DO conduct keyword research. Keyword research is where it all starts. It tells you what your audience is searching for, how competitive it is to rank for those keywords, and what kind of content you need to create. In this case, if you’re looking for an excellent first step, it’s best to start here!
• DO write strong title tags and meta descriptions. Title tags and meta descriptions show users the title of a page and a description of the content. This is the first impression your site will make on your audience and will help them decide whether or not they want to click on your link. Good title tags and meta descriptions have relevant keywords and show the user you can answer their question or give them the information they want. 
• DO use Images and videos in your content. For the most part, humans are visual beings. We like to take in information through graphics, photos, and videos. So even if your written content is top-notch, you still may rank lower than competitors with images and videos. Visuals help trigger emotions, which can help customers relate to your business or your products and want to know more. They can also give you a leg up on social media, as most of the content people respond to on any social media platform is either an image or video. 

• DO use internal links. Internal links are hyperlinks that point to other pages on your website. They not only create a good experience for your users by providing easy navigation, but they also help search engines determine the structure and hierarchy of the site. Consistent internal links will allow spiders to crawl your site, which can increase your rank easily. Using descriptive anchor text, or hyperlinked text, helps Google understand your content even further. 
• DO keep your Google Business Profile updated. Google Business Profile, formerly known as Google My Business, is a free tool Google provides for you to get your business information out to searchers. It shows people you have the content or products they are looking for, that you are a legitimate business, and where they can find you. The extra engagement you get from having a robust Google Business Profile will likely put you into the top results of Google searches. 
• DO create a positive user experience. SEO used to be all about keywords and tricking the system into thinking you had the best content in your industry. At this point, Google has gotten smarter and wants you to prove it. Google can tell how people interact with your site and can determine whether the content is written with people in mind. Gone are the days of keyword stuffing and writing content just for content’s sake! Therefore, your goal should be to provide users with the answers they are looking for; if you do, the rankings should follow. 

Don’ts of SEO

• DON’T stuff your content with keywords. As mentioned before, keyword stuffing is a thing of the past. Google can tell when text is not written like a normal human would speak. It knows when it is being manipulated and will penalize those who attempt to do so. 
• DON’T buy backlinks. Having many backlinks is a great way to show that you are a reputable source in your industry. But buying links to increase those numbers won’t help. Google is pretty smart and will likely know that the links were paid for instead of earned. In fact, Google’s Webmaster Guidelines say that buying or selling links will result in a penalty if caught. 
• DON’T have inconsistent NAP. NAP, or name, address, and phone number, is extremely important for SEO. Search engines might see you as less legitimate if your identity isn’t the same across the internet. Check your business NAP across platforms to ensure your ratings don’t decline. 
• DON’T duplicate content. Google does not officially penalize sites with duplicate content. But identical content, whether internal or copied from another website, will confuse Google and likely cause a loss of rankings for your pages. 
• DON’T provide a bad user experience. You already know that creating a positive user experience is a big part of good SEO. So it only makes sense a bad experience will cause a loss in rankings. Always check your content for flow and ease of use, whether there are enough images and video content to keep the user’s interest, and whether your content is relevant to the terms, people are searching for regularly. 

This list is just the start of some good practices for effective SEO. This list can look overwhelming, but we can help! If you have a website that needs optimization and aren’t sure where to start, contact Team WTI! Our team of digital marketing specialists is ready to help take your business online and upward.