Common SEO Questions

New ideas are the way to go in SEO with Google algorithms being updated left and right. Every now and then though, the bare basics of SEO are diluted and forgotten for wild ideas and bandwagon approaches that everyone wants to jump on because their competitor is doing the same thing. Here are some common questions businesses have in regards to their website and SEO.

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. An SEO campaign ensures your site has a strong technical foundation (crawler and user friendly) so it can be indexed by search engines. By improving your site structure, page content and building up your authority you have the opportunity to rank higher.

How many times should a keyword be used per page?

The right question to ask is, “Will this page help someone searching for this topic?”. There is no right amount of keyword use. If your page is relevant and on topic, your keyword will naturally appear. In saying that, there is no right amount, ALTHOUGH there is such a thing as too much. Make sure your keywords aren’t over used as Google will see this as keyword stuffing and will penalize you.

Why does my competitor have more links?

Now that brands are able to see their competitor’s backlinks with online tools, and get an information overload which can be overwhelming looking at the quantity of links they have, without looking at the quality of the links. All of a sudden you are in a rush to get just as many links, as their competitors, in a short amount of time.

90% of your competitor’s backlinks could potentially be low quality, spammy sites that are automated by a bot, or a team of people creating fake accounts that will eventually die out. This tactic does not work in the long run, and if you’re planning on keeping your business online for a while I would stay away from dodgy links. I have a feeling the internet is going to be a big thing so I would stay away from activities that could get you penalized.

Having more backlinks than your competitor does not necessarily mean you will rank above them.

Why can’t we do it but they can?

This type of SEO will work for a while, then, by chance, an algorithm update will be released and you’re ranks will plummet. It’s happened to some of the biggest brands and can definitely happen to you. Recovering is twice as hard and not worth the risk of a short term win.

Can we just negative SEO my competitors?

No. It may be tempting but there are ways to find out who has done what. The overall link war won’t help you, and again, will give you twice as much work, when you could be investing your time in optimising your website to its full potential. Worry about the quality of your own site and what you have to offer. If it’s what people genuinely want and you’re marketing it online and off, you’ll see results. Celebrate little wins otherwise you’ll be in for a headache when you don’t achieve your big goals.

Why aren’t I ranking?

SO MANY ANSWERS to this question (over 200 reasons roughly), to cover it I would possibly need to write a book. There are so many different factors that Search Engines look at when ranking your website. The main ones would be:

1. QUALITY, QUALITY, QUALITY – Content, images, information, website, user experience.
2. Relevance – Make sure your website is relevant and on topic. Only write or talk about things that has something to do with what you do, what you’ve done, tips for people who might want to do what you do etc… If you can’t fit this in your website, create a blog.
3. Consistently updating – Has something changed in your industry? Update your website. Do your pictures look a bit old? Update it. Did you discover something while working that no one in your industry might know about? Share it! A good way of keeping your website up to date even though nothing has changed is to update your blog with tips and information.
4. Healthy backlink profile – Every website would have a few bad links here and there, just make sure there’s more good then bad and that you aren’t over optimised for exact match keywords.

Don’t hide information about anything and become an authority website people want to go to or think of first when they have a question.

What’s the difference between SEO and SEM?

There is an anecdote about SEM and SEO that could not be truer. In regards to traffic, SEM is a pain killer. It can satisfy your traffic needs now, but is an expensive habit to keep up.  SEO are the antibiotics, it can be frustrating taking different approaches and changing your website to try different strategies and it might seem like nothing is happening but you need to have trust in your SEO provider.