Are You Sabotaging Your SEO – How You May be Zapping the Power of Your Online Touch Points

Many companies are not doing themselves any favor by approaching Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with self-sabotaging practices.  The way a company optimizes their online touch points can really make or break a company’s sales, business development, reputation management, customer relationship building, and Marketing/PR efforts.  
 
The Top 5 Ways Companies Compromise the Power of SEO  

1. Having an “either or” attitude.  Successful SEO Strategies require Social Media and effective Social Media requires SEO.  By having an “either or” attitude, a company misses out on great business advantages that come with the necessary integration of SEO and Social Media. 
2. DIY SEO.  SEO requires specialized expertise.  Most companies have an idea that SEO is important and that they should be using it with their website (and since many of these companies have an “either or” attitude Social Media doesn’t even come into the SEO discussion). However, many companies believe that an intern or employee can do a little reading up about SEO and develop a “good enough” strategy that will get their website to the top of the search listings.  
3. Hiring Cheap “Experts”.  More people are jumping on the SEO bandwagon to promote themselves as “experts”.  You may be seeing this in action when you get email spam from companies that offer SEO services for $15 (USD) per hour.  On the other side, some companies are seeking an SEO “expert” that will create and manage strategies for $17 per hour. 
4. Depending on Web Designers.  Good website designers and developers are crucial to creating a professional website but they are not typically SEO experts.  Finding a balance between good design and usability with SEO is important and some designers may have a lopsided perspective about that balance.
5.  Ignoring online content standards.  To get top search engine positioning your online content must be optimized.  SEO requires a specific style of writing that incorporates very specific SEO tactics. Many Marketing execs, teams, writers, and managers don’t understand the necessity of using a writing style that is appropriate for the Internet and SEO.

Do any of the above sound familiar? If so, just stop!

Till next time!

Carole