SEO simply "translates" your website into language that's easily understood by search engines -- so users see your pages when they go hunting for offers, products, services, information or answers to specific questions.
The exact formula used by Google and Bing is subject to debate. RankBrain, content and links that point to your site are three of the biggest ranking signals. But other factors play their role, too.
Keywords used to be ... well, key. But then content became king.
You still need keywords. Two mistakes that novices and “experts” alike continue to make? Stuffing keywords and targeting the wrong words.
Stuffing aims to trick the engines by using an exact keyword phrase in an unnatural frequency.
Do that, and the engines will penalize you.
Have a keyword focus, but don’t force it. Include the keyword and its variations in the title, opening paragraph, meta-description and throughout the body of the text (within reason).
Anchor text -- the clickable words in a hyperlink -- can land you in hot water.
You want your page links to point toward other content on your site as well as relevant material on external sites. Businesses used to get away with exact-match or keyword-rich anchor text. Not anymore.
We love visuals, and they increase engagement. Visually charged content gets more clicks, likes and shares.
But there's a problem: Search engines can’t “see” images. Engines need textual explanations to understand what the image represents and how it connects to your topic.
Include a highly relevant file name, alt-description (a description of the image, as if you were telling a friend what the image depicts), caption, and image title. Some studies found captions are read 300 percent more than body text.
Backlinks matter. In the 2016 State of Link Building Survey, 90 percent of respondents reported they use content publication/promotion and guest posting as part of their link-building strategy. And 78 percent of survey participants believe it's the most effective SEO-boosting strategy.
It's still a case of quality over quantity. You run the risk of Google's wrath if you include links from penalized sites or those with a domain authority less than 20. Populating with too many backlinks, too quickly, also could have negative effects.
Social media is fantastic, but your number of fans is irrelevant.
It’s about engagement: How are you connecting and interacting with people, and how are they engaging with you?
An active community of members who share your content and link back to your site can spread your brand awareness and authority. In turn, this increases your site traffic. Social activity signals to Google that people are interested in your site and spreading its message.
SEO is a complicated beast, after all. Avoiding these common pitfalls will help you play it smart and pay off in the long-term.
Courtesy of Entrepreneur
