Are you confused by all of the available options when it comes to SEO Maryland business owners have?
Keywords, Backlinks, Meta Data, Tags, HTML, CSS etc…
Do you want your website to generate more sales for your business?
Have you heard about people going online to search for things that your business provides, but you are not sure how to get them to come to your website?
Moz an inbound marketing and SEO education and research firm conducted a survey where they interviewed 35 local marketing experts to find out what key ranking factors have the most influence.
Specifically which ones they believe have the most effect positively and negatively on local SEO rankings in the major search engines.
Proper SEO can bring your website increased traffic, credibility, and long lasting results in a cost effective manner…
…but knowing what not to do can be just as important.
Here are the top 7 negative ranking mistakes to avoid:
1. Having a false location for your business detected
Some businesses provide false addresses online to try and improve their search rankings for specific locations.
The major search engines are very sophisticated and they can figure this out.
If detected, it will notify them that your business may not be legitimate.
This tactic should not be done regardless.
2. Adding Unnecessary Keywords To Your Business Name
This tactic will lower your company’s ranking in the search engines.
Keywords are important in getting ranked in the search engines, for relevant terms for your business, but you must not use them inappropriately.
For example if your company name is “Joe’s Plumbing” you would not want to list it as “Joe’s Plumbing Clogs Faucets Toilets Repairs”
3. Non-consistent Name Address & Phone Number Listings
You do not want to have inconsistent name, address, and phone number listings throughout the web.
This can hurt the credibility of your business in local search.
Make sure that your business has the same name, address, and phone number listed not only on your own site but other directory listings throughout the web as well.
4. Inaccurate Business Category
Your placement in the search engines can be effected negatively if your business is listed in categories for which it does not provide a product or service in.
This is in reference to any place across the web where your business is listed in which you select a category.
This can be services and/or directories such as YouTube, Google Places, Yelp, etc…
Make sure your business is listed only in relevant categories to what it actually does.
5. Having Multiple Google Business Pages For The Same Location
If you have more than one Google Business Page listings for the same location of your business, this can impact your visibility in the search engines.
Sometimes business owners think that this will give them a better chance of ranking, but this is simply not the case.
In other cases, Google may inadvertently list your business under similar names creating multiple pages.
If this is the case simply submit a request to have them remove the duplicates.
It is a good idea to review this periodically and remove any duplicate or additional pages.
6. Violating Google Business Page Terms Of Service
This can cause your Google Business listing to become de-listed in their directory.
Make sure to stick to their requirements and just give them exactly what they want.
You want to avoid things such as, posting fake reviews, false images of your business, inappropriate material and language, impersonating other people, etc…
Here are the guidelines for representing your business on Google.
7. Not Having Your Name Address & Phone Number On Your Website
If you have a local business you always want to make sure that you list your company name and business address on your website.
Not doing so, can negatively affect your local rankings.
You also want to make sure that the listing is text based and not just included on an image (Google will not be able to read the information off of the image).
Here’s What To Do Now
If you are looking to improve the search engine optimization of your business website, make sure to avoid these 7 common mistakes.
Some of these seem like common sense, however I see businesses make them all of the time.
If you would like to avoid these mistakes and get better results, check out our Maryland SEO Serviceshere.
Source: http://searchengineland.com/best-worst-ways-to-influence-local-seo-rankings-169840