5 Search Engine Optimization Blunders to Avoid

By Stewart Gandolf, Chief Executive Officer

Younger guy hitting his head with his palm in an "aha" momentSEO is a critical marketing-related factor. And the guidance of a healthcare advertising agency is highly recommended. It’s far too easy for well-intended individuals to create search engine optimization blunders.

One reason you need professional SEO help is that the big search engines have us all outnumbered. They use dozens of uber-smart people to create and maintain a complex search algorithm. The formula delivers meaningful search results that are relevant to keywords or phrases.

These bright folks--specialists--are good at their work. But there’s a catch. The search engines keep the specifics of their search algorithm a secret. They offer hints. Training is available. They have regular discussions. But everyone who wants to rank high on the search results page needs to study SEO techniques. And know what works and what doesn’t work.

Search Engine Optimization is a mix of art and science. So this is the work of devoted specialists here on the agency side. At our healthcare advertising agency, the SEO team of specialists keep current with search engine expertise.

Search Engine Optimization blunders. Don’t try these at home…

On one hand, SEO is a difficult challenge for specialists to do it "right.” But it is easy for everyone else to create blunder struck mistakes. Your healthcare marketing website, practice blog or online presence can disappear from search results.

Here are some important SEO mistakes to avoid like the plague. There must be close to a zillion ways to do it wrong. So this list isn’t complete and it’s in random order. Just don’t try any of these at home.

  • Overuse your keywords. You need the correct keywords used in the proper balance and context. The caution is to use them often enough. But not over the top. There’s a penalty for “stuffing.” The right number is plus or minus five percent keyword density in your content.
  • Let the website design outdistance SEO. Embrace optimization techniques from the ground-up. SEO is less apparent than graphic design. But if visitors can’t find your site, the design will go unseen and never matter.
  • Use “duplicate content” that isn't original. Duplicate content is an SEO no-no. Search engines think someone stole content from someone else. Instead, be fresh and imaginative.
  • Pages load slowly. Online visitors expect immediacy. Nobody wait for a slow website. Visitors will go on to the competition quickly.
  • Just set-and-forget it. Search engines want to find authoritative, original and fresh information to be among search results. Online content should never be out of date, of poor quality, and/or hardly ever updated.

More than ever, if they can’t find you online, you just don’t exist.

Effective SEO--and avoiding search engine optimization blunders--is critical to digital marketing success. But it requires a specialized skill set. Our team wants to help, so give us a call today at 800-656-0907. Let’s talk about a website evaluation.

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Marketing a healthcare organization can be challenging - even painful if you don't approach it with the right knowledge, tools, and guidance. By reading about mistakes and lessons others have learned the hard way, you can boost your marketing effectiveness and take a shortcut to success. Discover how to avoid these "Seven Deadly Sins". Plus, join over 30,000 of your fellow healthcare providers with a free subscription to our Insight Newsletter.

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