If you own a business and, thus, a business website, then, undoubtedly, you are concerned with proper search engine optimization (SEO) on your site and for your business. Unfortunately, though, SEO can be a very difficult thing to master, which is why many businesses, despite their best internal efforts, end up turning to professional SEO firms to handle their search engine optimization needs.

Of course, there is no shame in finding yourself in this situation. Indeed, it’s quite brave to recognize that you need help and to reach out and get it. However, you’ll never get help if you aren’t aware of and constantly on the lookout for the tell-tale warning signs that your SEO isn’t doing its job properly. If, though, you know and are watching out for these signs, you can stop bad SEO in its tracks and end up helping your business in the process. Here, we’ll detail some of the warning signs that your SEO isn’t all that it needs to be, and, if you notice these signs in your own business, then you’ll know to get some help and/or change things up while you still can.

Sign #1: You Don’t Know What’s Going On…

First off, if you are working with an SEO firm already, you probably feel like you have a pretty firm grip on your “SEO situation,” but do you really? If you really don’t’ have a clue exactly what your SEO firm does or how it’s (supposedly) helping you, that spells trouble.

A good SEO firm will give you clear details on exactly what it is doing and what strategies it is using to better your business. If it hasn’t done that and if you don’t even know what you’re paying for, then you either need to ask for some answers or find an SEO firm that is more transparent and more interested in keeping you in the loop and educated so that, eventually, you can tackle at least some SEO tasks on your own.

Sign #2: Your Titles are Bad

Another important thing to know is that, if you don’t have good, properly optimized page/meta titles, you are hurting your Google rankings. Believe it or not, Google and other major search engines absolutely do care about and pay attention to what your site titles are, so they need to be good and fully optimized.

You also shouldn’t have any pages with the same title, only slightly varied. If you do, then this could be a major reason that your SEO isn’t garnering the results you want.

Sign #3: Your Company Makes Impossible Promises

Finally, if you are using an SEO company and it seems “too good to be true,” then there is a good chance that it is. If a company promises you, for example, a certain search engine ranking or makes other big promises, that’s a problem since even the best SEO is unpredictable.

Likewise, if your SEO firm is promising you a certain number of link placement per month, that’s also an issue since it’s likely using a link building bot, which could ultimately damage your Google standing.

As you can see, your SEO will let you know when it’s bad; you just have to be on the lookout for these warning signs, and, if you happen to discover any of them, then you need to take action immediately if you want your business to be the best that it can be.

If you own a business, then you probably also own a business website, and ideally, you should be making sure that your website is as search engine optimized as possible. Establishing and maintaining good SEO isn’t always easy, but, with the right, professional help from a qualified SEO and marketing firm and with adherence to a few basic tips, you can have good SEO and help your website and, by extension, your business to have success.

Don’t Just Focus On On-Site Content

Most businesses spend a big chunk of their time worrying about and focusing on their on-site content and how well-optimized it is. And, while this is certainly important, keep in mind that SEO also extends to outside of your website.

This means that you want to regularly be reaching out to try and get mentions on blogs and other relevant websites. You also want to try and get listed in relevant directories, link to your site on similar sites, send out press releases, utilize social media, and more.

If you can optimize your content both on-site and off, then you will definitely have success.

Choose Your Domain Name Wisely

If you haven’t yet launched your site, then, make sure that, before you do, you choose the best possible domain name. A good domain name for your website will, ideally, include both the general theme/purpose of your business as well as your location.

A pet store located in New York City, for example, would do well to have the domain name PetsNYC.com or PetsforSaleinNYC.com. A good domain name is so very important for proper search engine optimization and for drawing the right kind of traffic to your website that, if your site is already published and your domain name is lacking, you may want to look into changing it. That may be a bit of a hassle, but it should pay off enough in the long run to make it worthwhile.

Aim for Realistic Keywords

Finally, bear in mind that it’s very competitive to rank very high for super common, long-existing search terms like “LED TV” or “washing machines.” And, though these keywords may be perfect for and super relevant to your business, you’d have to spend a LOT of time and money to rank high with them.

Instead, aim for more realistic but still popular keywords like “best Italian restaurants in (insert your geographic area here)” or “washing machines in (insert area here).” These keywords might not be as big or far-reaching as the others, but, if they do their job, that is all that counts.

Really, we could list a thousand more tips on SEO and STILL not be done telling you everything you need to know. However, these tips are a good start, and, if you follow them, you should see big improvements in your SEO!

So, you’ve worked hard on your business’s website and have created (or hired someone to create) a load of relevant content, such as blog posts and articles. Chances are that, once you have reached this stage in the game, you are feeling pretty darn good about yourself and your business. Unfortunately, however, just “feeling good” isn’t a surefire sign that your content is all that it needs to be. So, before you settle for satisfied with your content, be aware of and on the lookout for the tell-tale signs that your content isn’t everything it needs to be.

Sign #1: The Comments Aren’t Coming

One of the easiest indicators of unsuccessful content is if you aren’t getting many or- even worse- any comments on your content. Hopefully, you have a space for comments in the first place. If you do, though, and nobody seems to have anything to say about what you’ve written, take that as a bad sign.

Comments equal reader engagement. If readers care enough about your content, they will comment on it, good or bad. If they’re not commenting at all, however, this is a good (well..bad) sign that, sadly, nobody really cares about what you’re saying and that it’s time to revamp your content to be more engaging and affecting.

Sign #2: There’s Been No Change in Site Hits

Another bad sign is if, since publishing your new content, there’s been no change or very little change to your site hits. Truly good and truly search engine optimized content is going to get readers to your page, end of story. If that’s not happening, then your content isn’t doing its job and/or isn’t fully or correctly optimized.

You should also see changes in the length of time visitors spend on your site, in the number of people who share or link to your content, and in the number of conversions. If you’re not seeing these things, your content is in need of some help.

Sign #3: It’s “Stuffed” with Keywords

Finally, if your content is so full of keywords that it’s hard to make sense of it all, that’s a major issue. Good content contains keywords, yes, but it contains keywords that are inserted in a seamless, non-noticeable way.

Not only is overly-stuffed content a turnoff to readers, but it’s also a turnoff to search engines and can have the exact opposite effect of what you intended.

If you are seeing these problems with your content, then it’s time to make some changes and maybe even get some professional help so that your site and your business can prosper the way you want and intended them to.

If you own a business, then you also (hopefully!) own a business website, and, ideally, that website should be filled with good, relevant content, such as blogs and articles, that drives people (and the major search engines) to it. If you don’t have a website and/or an online presence, then you have a whole other problem altogether and need to contact C0MPLÉX1 immediately to develop a presence on the web and help your business. If you do, however, then you really need to know our simple tips for writing the best possible SEO content.

Tip #1: Hire Professionals

The first and best tip we can give you is to NOT try and do all, or maybe ANY- depending on your skill level, of your website’s writing yourself. Writing can be very difficult, and it becomes even more difficult when your goal isn’t just to write content but also to promote your business and help your site climb to the top of the search engine ranks.

So, unless you are both a skilled writer and an SEO expert rolled into one, you probably don’t have any business writing the bulk of your site content. Fortunately, though, there are professional SEO writers out there who are skilled and knowledgeable when it comes to creating great content that not only shines and leaves a positive impression on viewers but that also understands and incorporates how the major search engines, such as Google, work and who use this knowledge to make your content as optimized and effective as possible.

The bottom line is that you probably shouldn’t be doing your writing yourself, so don’t be afraid to hire professional SEO writers to do it for you.

Tip #2: Know (And Write to) Your Audience

Another very important thing to keep in mind is that you should know who your audience is, I.e. who you are writing to. If you are unsure about who is most likely to purchase your products and/or services and benefit from your content, then you need to have some professional research done that can narrow down your target/most likely audience to one or more groups.

Once you have that information available, it becomes a lot easier to write content that is actually going to impact your audience in the way that you want. If, for example, your audience is made up of mostly young, college-age people, you don’t want to be using outdated language and basically just sounding old and “uncool.” Instead, you’ll want to present your content in a fun, interesting way that utilizes the major social media sites and apps popular with the younger generation.

Basically, you should always, always know and consider your audience and how it is likely to respond to any content before you post it.

Tip #3: Have Killer Headlines

As a final word of advice, make sure that all of your content has a killer headline that really draws in your potential readers. Make your headlines search engine optimized, and don’t give away “the good stuff”, I.e. the most interesting and intriguing parts of your content, in the headline. Come up with a headline that leaves readers wanting more and that makes them willing to click on your link to find out more.

Look at popular sites like Buzzfeed or even those “click-bait” sites that pop up when you’re online. How many times have you clicked on those to “learn more” or even just to hear the juicy details that the article promises? Work on creating headlines like those and on delivering on the promises made in those headlines.

If you can keep these tips in mind and get a good team of SEO pros behind you, you can watch your SEO content soar to success…and take your business along for the ride!

See Also:

Writing Ideas for SEO