Search engine optimization (SEO) has gone a long way, with many twists and turns along the way. With constant changes to what’s deemed “best practices,” remaining acquainted with what’s ideal and, more crucially, ahead of the competition may be intimidating. This unfamiliarity might cause you to make SEO blunders.

Nevertheless, you need to keep improving your SEO efforts, as 68 percent of customer online experiences begin with a search engine. As we enter the year 2022, you need to eliminate any damaging errors or oversights that are holding back your rankings. 

Here are the top seven most harmful SEO mistakes you need to avoid In 2022:

1. Not Understanding Your Audience

The first and most crucial mistake a business can make is not knowing its target audience. “SEO” has become a generic term for the concept of marketing online. Without first knowing who you’re marketing to, you’re likely going to fail to attract customers.

Who’s your target audience, and what are they looking for? Who is likely to buy your product or service? What questions do they most commonly ask, what problems do they usually have, and their average income?

2. Skipping On A/B Testing

Conducting A/B testing is an effective way to increase traffic and conversions. Still, many businesses skip the A/B testing phase of their website development and go straight to the launch. This is a huge mistake. Every page should be A/B tested, regardless of whether they’re content pages, about pages, sales pages, etc.

3. Not Paying Attention To Mobile

Nearly a decade into the smartphone boom, many businesses still have problems with their mobile optimization. With the change to mobile-first indexing, many companies will find themselves unable to rank on Google.

4. Not Optimizing For Local

What’s local optimization? It’s establishing a keyword ranking in the local search results. This is important because it plays heavily in the local search ranking factors and the local packs on Google search pages, resulting in hundreds of extra clicks each month.

5. Not Investing In Video

As mobile devices continue to dominate internet use, video is one of the fastest-growing marketing, business, and social media fields. Video can help to increase engagement, which is seen as a strong ranking signal.

6. Not Focusing On User Experience

User experience is a key ranking factor. The user experience (UX) is what the user feels when using a website or mobile app. It’s about how effectively the website or app solves their problem. Using user experience best practices isn’t just about creating a functional website or app; it’s also about creating a website or app that keeps users coming back.

7. Not Investing In Local Advertising

This is a bit controversial, as some say you should focus on local SEO alone. In contrast, others claim you should focus on online advertising. There is no right or wrong answer here—if you’re trying to grow your business and aren’t focusing on both local SEO and online advertising, you’re missing out on potential customers.

Conclusion

Many factors go into creating a perfectly optimized website. Each local business is different and should always be approached differently. A good digital marketing agency can help formulate an effective strategy to increase traffic, conversions, and ultimately, revenue.

When it comes to digital marketing and local SEO services in Frisco, TX, Calling Digital is driven by a desire to help your business or church succeed online. We also provide data aggregation, local SEO, web design, and other SEO marketing services. Contact us today!