Search engine optimisation is the development of a strategy that can get your website to the number one spot on google or Bing. It can really make the difference between you getting noticed and your website not being registered by search engine users. But when it comes to SEO, where do you start? There are plenty of pitfalls when it comes to SEO and some of the mistakes are more common than others, so here is how to avoid this common mistakes. 

Overlooking Mobile Traffic

Mobile traffic is now the main sources of website traffic, which make it something that you need to consider when you are developing your website. Most sites now give you the option to build a mobile version whilst you develop the desktop version, but you should focus your effort on the mobile site. The reason for this is not just because most website traffic now comes through our phones, google is also updating their service and how it ranks websites, with sites that are optimised for mobiles being ranked higher automatically.

Buying Backlinks

When it comes to buying items for your website, it is really easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you need to invest in items that you simply don't need one of those things, is backlinks. Backlinks are what they say on the tin, websites that link to one another. These backlinks, like the ones at t-ranks.com, build the validity of the website and occur organically. The trap is really easy to fall into though of buying backlinks thinking that will increase traffic to your site. In actual fact, it is damaging to your site as google will penalise you for buying these. Google will also devalue the sites that you buy them from, rendering them useless. 

Relevance over Intent

Back in the day, we could write articles that were loaded with key words in the hope that it would get our site ranked, nowadays with the development of SEO and the technology behind search engines, we are no longer able to do this as now, search engines look for search intent. Intent is thinking about what the user wants and why they are searching. So, when you are creating the content for your site, you need to consider the search intent behind it. By switching from key word relevance to intent you are not only ahead of the game, but you are also going to increase the chances of you ranking higher. 

Wrong Tools For the Job

SEO isn't one of those things that you can pick up and put down as and when you feel like it. If you are wanting your website to rank highly on google then you need to be investing time in not only knowing how SEO works, but also understanding which tools are right for the job at hand. There are an array of services online that say they are your one stop shop for SEO products and the answer to all of your prayers when it comes to getting your website to number one. Sadly, this isn't the case as SEO is not only a skill set, but is also something that takes time. Before you spend any money and invest in a system it is always worth doing some background reading. This way you will not only learn about the subject at hand, you will also know what to look out for when it comes to spotting products or services that won't do as they suggest. 

Not Keeping Up To Date

When it comes to SEO you want to make sure that you are keeping up to date with all of the changes and updates that search engines makes. One of the easiest mistakes to make is thinking that once you have optimised your website and have it ranking well is that you can leave it alone. This isn't the case at all as SEO requires constant optimisation to make sure that you are up to date. Google and Bing also regularly update their engines to make sure that their users are getting the best experience possible, so you need to make sure that you are staying up to date and constantly updating your strategy. 

Wrap Up

When it comes to SEO there are plenty of common mistakes and pitfalls you can make when you are optimising your website. The ones that are easiest to make are those that cost money and say that they can rank your website in a day. If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. You also want to make sure that you are staying up to date with SEO and not thinking of it as a linear process as it requires constant updating to make sure you continue to rank well.