5 Simple SEO Errors That Smart People Make

Mistakes happen.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re new to search engine optimization (SEO) or have a ton experience.
Some of the smartest people I know in the SEO industry have made dumb mistakes.

To be clear: making a mistake doesn’t make you dumb.
And dumb mistakes usually aren’t a reflection on the SEO practitioner.
Everyone makes mistakes.

We All Start at Zero

Why are there so many mistakes?
For starters, there is a monumental amount of disinformation about SEO available online.
In fact, when I got involved in this industry nearly 20 years ago, almost everything I first learned was incorrect.

Fortunately, I had stumbled onto a forum (which no longer exists today) that was run by Morgan Carey, the founder of Real Estate Webmasters, who graciously helped me get on track.

I was a fast learner, and before long, I was mentoring new SEO practitioners in the same way that Carey had done for me, in part because I was inspired by him and so many others in the industry who go above and beyond to help others improve their own skill set.

Take a look around the search community and you’ll see people like Alan Bleiweiss, Dave Davies, David Harry, Roger Montti, Bill Hartzer, Bill Slawski, and far too many others to list, generously sharing their valuable time and experience to help the next generation of SEO practitioners hone their skills.

Throughout my career, now spanning nearly two decades, I’ve seen a lot of smart people make the same dumb SEO mistakes.

Today, I’m going to share some of them with you so that you can identify and avoid them, and achieve success far faster and more efficiently.

1. Putting Bots Before Humans

The days of chasing algorithms, or worse yet, trying to trick search engines, are long behind us.
Despite that, I still see people putting bots above actual humans, which leads to ineffective tactics like keyword stuffing, specific content length, and manipulative linking schemes.

Look, I understand the logic behind that kind of thinking.
But the kind of thinking that drives people to do whatever they think bots, or more accurately, search engine algorithms, are looking for, is counterproductive in today’s SEO environment.

That’s because what it takes to rank well today is exactly the same as what it takes to satisfy visitors:
A mobile-friendly website with an excellent user experience, that loads quickly, and is filled with lots of useful, original, and well-written content.

Your first priority should always be satisfying your human visitors. They are the only ones who can buy your products or services.

If you can’t satisfy your visitors, they won’t buy from you. If they won’t buy from you, is there really any value in ranking well?

2. Focusing on Tactics Instead of Strategies

One of my former clients was obsessed with jumping on every new tactic that sparked his interest.
Unfortunately, this meant that he never really stuck with anything long enough to produce results.

Fortunately, he eventually stepped down and the new CEO appointed to lead the company possessed the discipline to stick to a plan.

A large part of the problem is that most people really don’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy, which causes them to be inefficient and aimless.

Image source and read full article here: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/dumb-seo-mistakes/232099/?ver=232099X2