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Tag: content creation

SEO Blooper #2: Optimizing, Then Changing Everything

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Best SEO Bloopers - Optimizing Then Changing Everything. Cute green monster graphic. If you had the chance to read our post on SEO Blooper #1, you may be curious about the next blooper on our list. One of the more common missteps we see in search engine optimization happens when website owners or marketing teams jump into SEO before they’ve settled on the direction or final content of their website. A new client comes to us ready to do what it takes to increase their visibility, already armed with a list of target keywords they’re eager to implement. On the surface, that’s great—they’re thinking ahead and excited about getting found online. These are great intentions combined with an enthusiasm that is keyed up for success.

But this situation may be missing one weird trick: Continued alignment of the keywords with the actual content of the website is necessary for strong and sensible SEO. The first vital question we need to ask is, “Does the site already have content that supports these keywords?” If yes, we may be in good shape and our keyword research can help confirm and refine their choices. If no, we’ll need to find terms that reflect what is currently on the site—or discuss and plan based on where the content is headed.

A broader question often goes unasked in the rush to optimize: “Is the site truly about what you want it to be about?” If the answer is “Not yet,” or “We’re going to redo everything soon,” then it is time to hit pause on SEO.

Taking the time for a little planning at this stage is helpful so no one learns the hard way that SEO is not a set-it-and-forget-it magic trick. It’s a strategy that works best when applied to stable, high-quality content. If you optimize a page today for one topic and target keyword then overhaul or rewrite that same page next week, much of your SEO work will be wasted. You’ve essentially optimized a version of the page that no longer exists.

To avoid this blooper, be clear about your direction. Make sure the foundational content of your site—your service descriptions, about page, blog categories, and major calls to action—are well-written, accurate, and aligned with your business goals. Then it is time to begin your SEO in earnest.

Check out our article on the “Best” SEO Bloopers we’ve come across while optimizing hundreds of websites. Learn more about the SEO services we offer and stay tuned for more blog posts and videos featuring our tips for avoiding big mistakes.

Best SEO Bloopers! Things NOT to Do

Posted on by Robin Renee

Best SEO Bloopers! What Not to Do - Illustration of a silly orang monster unplugging cordsUpdated June 22, 2025

So you think you’re ready for SEO?

In a previous article we took a look at the top SEO questions that clients ask. We are always pleased to help our clients understand the concepts behind our search engine optimization process, as well as the specific steps we take to make improvements. The only stupid question, as the old adage goes, is the one left unasked. There is one big question we would like to put forth for you to consider as you develop your website for greater visibility: Are you ready?

You may be hearing from all corners that you need SEO, and we agree! But first, make sure you don’t wind up making any of the “best” SEO bloopers! Break down the “Are you ready?” question to see whether or not the time is now.

SEO Blooper #1: Keyword Stuffing

How up-to-date are you on best SEO practices? Some techniques that may have worked years ago are no longer valid and in fact, could land your website at the bottom of the search pile. One of those poor techniques is keyword stuffing. This mistake uses a target keyword or slight variations on the keyword too many times. Reading the same words over and over again that are obviously there for Google rather than people makes for an annoying and frustrating user experience. And ironically, Google doesn’t like it either.

Instead of stuffing keywords into your text, use natural keyword integration for stronger content that is good for SEO and pleasant reading for humans. The current advice on keyword use is to go with 1-2% keyword density, i.e., use the target keyword no more than once or twice per every hundred words. Most importantly, use your judgment. Strong, clear writing that is appealing to readers is the first step. Then be sure that the target keyword appears naturally for best results.

SEO Blooper #2: Complete SEO… Immediately Rewrite Web Pages

Sometimes when we speak to a new client, they have very defined ideas about the keywords they would like to target for high ranking on their website. A vital question that at times has not yet been answered is this: Does the site have content that focuses on and uses those keywords? If so, some or all of the client’s suggested keywords will likely turn out to be strong choices. If not, our research will find the best contenders. Another, broader question that needs to be answered is “Is the website about what you want it to be about or will you soon be inspired to change everything?”

It is a helpful attitude to want your website to be the best it can be at all times, even if you intend to change it at some point in the future. But if you’re planning a major overhaul, it is best to wait until afterward to get into the details of SEO. If you choose keywords and optimize pages based on current content in one week only to change emphases and make major edits and rewrites the next, you will lose the time, energy, and money you just put into your SEO. Choose your direction, write the content, add some compelling media, then optimize your site for the best value.

SEO Blooper #3: Optimize for Services You Don’t Offer

Here is a specific question to help you nip the “change everything” impulse in the bud. Do your services pages reflect the services you actually offer? It may sound like a strange question, but it is an important one when determining your readiness for SEO. Businesses do change; you may have stopped offering some services and have begun others. Are those changes reflected on the website?

It is a waste of time and energy to optimize pages that refer to an older or different version of your business if the services shown are not what you do currently. Research to determine the best keywords for your website will largely be based on current content, so it is important to review it and make sure it’s good to go. Avoid confusion and high bounce rates by aligning your web content to what you really offer, then move ahead to SEO.

SEO Blooper #4: Complete SEO… Decide to Change the URL

Is your web address the one you really want? Is it easy to remember? How many other sites link to you at your current address? These are all questions to ask yourself before embarking on SEO. Your web address, or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) should be clear and succinct. You may choose your name or the name of your business. You may choose a URL that describes your business and location as a keyword does, such as plumbingatlanticcity.com. A very long and complicated web address is not ideal. Since this is “where you live” on the internet, give it a lot of thought early, change the address if need be to something simple and memorable, and build from there.

A change of web address can be detrimental to SEO if no steps are taken to reach out to people whose sites link to you. It is essential to have them update their links as much as you are able. It is also important to review all internal linking within your site to update to the new URLs. Use a plugin such as Simple 301 Redirects to ensure that if someone tries to access your site via an old link, they will get to the new page rather than find a broken link to nowhere. Changing your web address is a big deal, but if you must do it, take care of it before embarking on a major search engine optimization effort.

SEO Blooper #5: Complete SEO… Immediately Move the Business to a New City

How long will your business address be at its current location? Because of the continuing importance of local SEO, this factor counts for a lot. If you own a florist shop in Tallahassee, you will want to use the city name in conjunction with your keywords to signal to Google not only the relevant and useful nature of your web content about floristry, but also where you are located. It would be counterproductive to put in the time and effort to optimize your website for Tallahassee only to relocate to Orlando soon after.

The better bet would be to research keywords for the new location before the move. The isearchfrom.com tool is useful to explore Google search results as if you are in another location. Find the keywords that bring up the strongest results for the new city, pair them with the new location, and optimize your pages for those terms. After the move, your website will already be working for you.

SEO Blooper #6: Begin SEO… Decide to Forego All Local Modifiers

You dream big. You don’t want to be tied down to a single place on the map when your products can and should be enjoyed worldwide. Are you ready to do some work that may, at first, seem counterintuitive? The use of local modifiers sometime proves confusing at first. It’s easy to imagine that if someone sees the name of a single city or small town, that they would be deterred from your site. The truth is, it is important to get the people to your web page in the first place. Because of Google’s emphasis on local search, associating your business with its primary physical location will help raise the profile.

Be aware that mentioning in your metatags that your company is based in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Silver Spring, or Kalamazoo will not make your offerings seem limited. Everyone is based somewhere. Using the other available space in your metatags, you can make it clear if your business is done online, if you have multiple locations, or if you travel around the world. Even with this knowledge, some people still opt to limit the use of local modifiers to a few pages such as the Home, About, and Contact pages. When few or no local modifiers are used, an aggressive campaign to create new content and an ongoing SEO strategy is an absolute must. Overall, it’s best to get over the fear of limitation and allow local modifiers to do their job in making your site more visible.

SEO Blooper #7: Keywords Fall Slightly in Rankings… Change Keywords

Finally, remember that search engine optimization is in a constant state of flux. Are you impatient?  Like a skittish investor who sells on the first day a stock dips, it is possible to change course with SEO too soon. SEO, at its best, is a longer-term strategy for success. Don’t ditch your investment!

Search engine algorithms change frequently. One of your main online competitors may add new content allowing them to temporarily surpass you in visibility. You may post an authoritative article that puts you on Google’s page one. Soon after, you may experience a technical snafu that gives you a lower ranking.

But a dip in visibility for a keyword doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel. To the contrary, it’s time to take a look at the page where the keyword used to rank higher. Was there a change in content? Is there a way you can rewrite the metatags for that page to be more effective? Could it just be a search engine anomaly that will resolve itself in a week or a month?

Give your SEO time. There will be changes in your ranking. Find ways to increase and adjust your content to make it better. Resolve any tech issues quickly. As long as you see positive momentum toward visibility over longer periods of time, even with ups and downs, you are on the right track.

Be sure of where you want to reside (on the web and in the world), solidify your content, and stick with your keywords and local modifiers over the long haul to avoid these five common SEO bloopers!

Optimize Your Blog

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Blog Writing Best Practices for SEO

Optimize Your Blog - Best Practices for SEOWhen you’re trying to keep up to date and make sure your website is the best it can be, it is easy to get caught up in the many possible tasks you can take on to effect improvements. Making sure the site is mobile-friendly, eliminating bulky images that slow download time and exercising due diligence to understand your competitors and what makes them successful are all relevant efforts. However, there is one thing you should make sure not to lose sight of in the mix: always keep your content in the forefront of your mind.

Fresh content is a must. It makes a lot of sense to update your main pages with new information to keep your audience informed. But beyond those changes, adding regular quality content is a big step along the road to high search engine ranking. If you are taking the time to make strong, consistent blog posts, give it a little more forethought and make sure your SEO is up to the task as well.

Once you have decided on your topic for a new blog post, consider the primary keywords for which you intend to rank. Don’t force-fit keywords; make sure the one you choose flows easily and fits well with the main focus of your post. If you have a pet care service in Hoboken, NJ, for example, you may decide to write a story about walking dogs during owners’ working hours. If you then choose “dog walking” as your focus keyword, you’ll want to make sure to use it in all the ways that will give you maximum SEO benefit. Here are your next steps:

Write great content. Think first of the reader, rather than Google. Make sure that the person who lands on your page will find your content relevant, entertaining, heartwarming, or whatever your goal is for the piece. Using at least 500 words makes it better for SEO. If you can write a longer article all the better, as the trend is moving toward longer articles for higher search engine ranking. A 1,000 to 1,500-word article that is authoritative, engaging, and well-focused on a topic relating to the target keyword will not only please your readers but will signal to Google that the web page is worthy of ranking.

Add the keyword to the text of your blog post. Make sure you use the keyword in the text two to three times. If you’ve chosen your topic well and matched it to a strongly associated focus keyword, this should be a seamless effort. Be careful not to use the keyword too many more times than the recommendation. Search engines will penalize keyword stuffing.

Use your keyword in the H1. The H1 is the main heading of your blog post. If you’ve chosen “dog walking” as your keyword, your H1 might be “Dog Walking in My Favorite City.” Using the keyword as close to the beginning of the heading is best. “Dog Walking in My Favorite City” is stronger for SEO than “100 Other Things I Love to Do While Enjoying Dog Walking in the City.” If it is not too awkward, you can use the target location in the H1 as well, as in “Dog Walking in Hoboken, My Favorite City.”

Use your keyword in the meta title and the meta description. The meta title appears in the tab of your web browser. You will also see it as the bold, blue title at the top of a Google search result. Next, write a meta description that gives a brief glimpse of what will be found in the blog post. This meta description will not be visible at all on your website but will appear below the meta title in a Google search result. Again, it is important to use the keyword and local modifier close to the beginning of the metatag. Here is an example of a meta title followed by a meta description:

Dog Walking Hoboken | Pet Care in the City

Looking for dog walking in Hoboken? We care for dogs, cats, and even some exotic pets while you’re at work or out of town. Call us at (201) 867-5309.

dog walking Hoboken - Google Screenshot

Link up. Find related content within your website and link to it from your blog post. You may want to provide a link to your About or Contact page, or you may reference a previous blog post and want to make the connection. Whichever links you choose, one to two internal links should be the maximum. Next, link to an outside, high authority website. Good possibilities for links that would make sense in the course of our hypothetical blog post would be Dogster or PetSmart.

Finishing Touches

Use images and ALT tags. Adding images and other media to your blog post makes for a pleasant experience for your readers, but it is also good SEO. Use at least one image in your blog post and find the area where you can add background information for the image. In the space labeled “ALT tag,” write a brief description of what is depicted. In this space, using the exact keyword is not ideal unless it is truly in the interest of the description. “A man with a standard poodle on a leash” or “children petting a dog on Washington St.” are examples of typical ALT tags.

Categorize and tag your post. Some popular blogging platforms such as WordPress and Wix give you the opportunity to create categories that describe your blog topics. You can also tag a few people or terms in the blog article that it makes sense to highlight. Choose a category and tags that are consistent with your keyword choice. A thematic category might be “Dog Care.” Tags might include more specific things like “North Jersey,” “pooper scooper,” and “Cesar Millan.”

Check your speed. Make sure you have the edge over the competition by keeping your mobile website up to speed. Use Test My Site to see how your rates. Test My Site, a Think with Google tool, offers optimization tips to help you if the text shows that your site has room for improvement.

Submit the blog to Google. Once you finish with your changes, submit the URL of the blog article using Google Search Console’s URL Inspection Tool. This helps the pages of your website to be more easily found and indexed by Google. Here’s how to do this easily, but easily overlooked step: https://loebigink.com/how-to-use-the-url-inspection-tool/.

Share it! After you have finished all the steps it takes to complete a great blog post, don’t forget to share it on social media. Raise awareness about your blog and get people talking about your web content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other places online. Those who are interested in what you have to say may mention you on the web and create links back to your website, which is very valuable to SEO. The more buzz, the better! By following these guidelines, you will have a blog set up for success.

Read more about efforts you can make to improve SEO in our previous post, The SEO 80/20 Rule.

Resources:

searchenginejournal.com/4-important-ranking-factors-according-seo-industry-studies/184619

searchenginejournal.com/se-ranking-seo-tasks/229783/

 

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