“The best place to hide a dead body is the second page of a Google search.” It’s a funny joke, but it’s actually true – most people will never bother looking beyond the top 10 results of any query. That’s why the best website design services in Singapore include SEO. Without optimization, nobody will be able to find or much less read the content you worked so hard to create.

But there’s more to SEO than bombarding your content with keywords. Here are some common SEO mistakes that will actually hurt your traffic and website ranking.

Poor Keyword Planning

Any good SEO strategy starts with picking the right keywords. Some keyword phrases are too competitive for a new business to realistically rank in.

Let’s take the example of a new dance studio in Singapore. It’s useless to make “dance studio” as a keyword phrase, because 1) competition is too high and 2) it’s not specific enough to get the people who’d be more likely to sign up for the classes.

It’s better to rank for “dance studio Singapore” or “dance classes Singapore”. You can even get more specific, and target “street dance Singapore or “Singapore ballet classes for kids.” Try to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and imagine how she would go about a search.

Neglecting your content

Google uses a lot of complicated algorithms that are meant to measure one thing: the quality and relevance of your content.

That’s why any good SEO strategy is partnered with a good content strategy. This includes creating quality content that targets different keywords, and (this is what websites often forget) constantly adding to it.

Don’t forget the “little content details” like metadescriptions, title tags, image ALT tags and file names, etc. Too many website design services are too focused on putting the text and design together that they forget to optimize page headlines, URLs and more.

And always, always update and refresh your content. Google reindexes pages all the time, so you can’t create a website and then forget it for the next three years. That’s why when you get website design services you should also invest in content creation.

Lack of Internal Links

You need to link your internal pages to help both your readers and search engine robots navigate your website. It also signals that a page is important for a particular keyword phrase, especially if you use strong anchor text (or the highlighted phrase that serves as a jumping off point for the link).

Weak content distribution

When other websites link back to your site, Google interprets it as a validation of your content. “Hey, people find this information useful – plus points for ranking!”

Link building is time consuming and involves a network of communities that accept guest posts. Like other website design services, you’re better off leaving this to the pros.

Trying to Shortcut your SEO

No website shoots up to the top 10 after a few months. It’s a long game where you’re constantly finetuning your SEO strategy based on your analytics.  Anyone who promises you instant ranking is either lying or using Blackhat SEO tactics that violate the search engine’s terms of service. These tactics include hidden text or links, keyword spamming, buying links or link farms, and creating duplicate content. If Google finds out, your site will be banned from search engines.

There are no easy ways to get a top Google Ranking. But with a solid SEO and content strategy, you can rank in the queries that matter most to your business. And that gives you not just more traffic, but more conversions.

MapleTree Media is a Singapore website development company that offers the full suite of website design services. We also offer SEO and digital marketing services. Contact us to find out more!