Common Mistakes Archives - MiHiDigital https://mihidigital.co.uk/blog/tag/common-mistakes/ Just another WordPress site Sun, 12 Apr 2015 19:41:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Six Common SEO Mistakes https://mihidigital.co.uk/blog/six-common-seo-mistakes/ Sun, 12 Apr 2015 19:41:13 +0000 https://mihidigital.1c7bfa7d0ad0ed81c314972280bc4e61-10268.sites.k-hosting.co.uk/?p=4439 We talk to plenty of local businesses that have given SEO a try, aren’t really sure what it’s about, or have tried reading blog posts around the Internet only to be bamboozled by technical terms and geeky gambits. We take a look at the six of most common SEO errors made by local businesses. Are you committing any of these search engine mistakes? Stuffing your pages full of key phrases So how do you rank for a certain key phrase ( a series of words someone would use to find your website)? You may think the answer is to artificially stuff your page with that word, as many times as possible, to make sure Google knows exactly what your page or site is all about. You may have even had the misfortune to see this on sites that have a footer (at the bottom of the page) stuffed full of sets of key phrases! Wrong. Write naturally about a topic and you will by default include the key phrases relevant to the topic you’re talking about. Think about this page – I’m talking about SEO errors, Google and search engines. By default, I’m therefore going to be including these words as I write. Don’t try to game the system by stuffing in the same word over and over. Your visitor won’t like it and neither will Google. Moving or deleting content and creating broken links Over time you may move content from one place to another. Some content may even be deleted as it becomes out of date. What this creates is broken links; links that point to a page that no longer exists or has moved. Google doesn’t like this; consider how frustrating it is for your visitor when they click on a link and it comes up with an error. Google feels their pain! Make sure you go through your site from time to time and check all of your links are working (there’s a plugin that’ll help to do this for you if you’re using WordPress). Not having a sitemap Imagine how hard finding an address without a sat nav or a map would be! A sitemap is a file that tells Google where pages are, and when they’re added. This will enable Google to find your pages quicker and more easily than before. If you don’t have one you should. Tell the robots about it Search engines such as Google find new content and keep their rankings up to date by sending robots called spiders around the web, crawling for new and great content. On your site should be a little file that tells that robot where to go (this is called a robots.txt file and won’t be seen on your actually website, but should be in the files held on your server). We’re getting geeky here, but what this should include is a link to the sitemap we’ve mentioned above. You can think of this as giving the search engine spider some tourist information before it explores your site. You’re essentially giving it the map to your site so it knows where to go when it arrives. Duplicate content We wouldn’t be impressed if we paid for a magazine only to find that many of the pages had the same information on them. Google won’t be impressed if your site has duplicate content. If you have the same information on many different pages then you’re going to be committing an SEO sin. Every page should be unique. If they’re not then is there any real need for the content to be duplicated across more than one page? Page Titles and Descriptions The page title is the first line of your ranking with Google. Your page description is the next two lines that appear underneath it. These should also be unique on every page. Why? Because these two bits of information tell you what the page is about. If every page is unique, then the description and title of the page explaining what it’s about should be too. Not sure where to find your page title? Hover over the tab at the top of your browser when you’re on a page. Your page title is the words that appear in that tab. We often see lots of sites with these duplicated across multiple pages. If yours are too, you will be missing out. Summary: Write naturally and don’t worry about stuffing key words into your copy. Check your site for broken links and fix any you find. Add a sitemap to your website. Refer to the sitemap in your robot file. Don’t duplicate your content or your page titles. Want to know more about SEO or to get your site reviewed and fixed so it can soar up the rankings? Find out more about our services here or our SEO audit by clicking here. You can also give us a call on 01566 784860.

The post Six Common SEO Mistakes appeared first on MiHiDigital.

]]> We talk to plenty of local businesses that have given SEO a try, aren’t really sure what it’s about, or have tried reading blog posts around the Internet only to be bamboozled by technical terms and geeky gambits. We take a look at the six of most common SEO errors made by local businesses. Are you committing any of these search engine mistakes?

Stuffing your pages full of key phrases

So how do you rank for a certain key phrase ( a series of words someone would use to find your website)? You may think the answer is to artificially stuff your page with that word, as many times as possible, to make sure Google knows exactly what your page or site is all about.

You may have even had the misfortune to see this on sites that have a footer (at the bottom of the page) stuffed full of sets of key phrases!

Wrong.

Write naturally about a topic and you will by default include the key phrases relevant to the topic you’re talking about. Think about this page – I’m talking about SEO errors, Google and search engines. By default, I’m therefore going to be including these words as I write.

Don’t try to game the system by stuffing in the same word over and over.

Your visitor won’t like it and neither will Google.

Moving or deleting content and creating broken links

Over time you may move content from one place to another. Some content may even be deleted as it becomes out of date. What this creates is broken links; links that point to a page that no longer exists or has moved. Google doesn’t like this; consider how frustrating it is for your visitor when they click on a link and it comes up with an error. Google feels their pain!

Make sure you go through your site from time to time and check all of your links are working (there’s a plugin that’ll help to do this for you if you’re using WordPress).

Not having a sitemap

Imagine how hard finding an address without a sat nav or a map would be!

A sitemap is a file that tells Google where pages are, and when they’re added. This will enable Google to find your pages quicker and more easily than before.

If you don’t have one you should.

Tell the robots about it

Search engines such as Google find new content and keep their rankings up to date by sending robots called spiders around the web, crawling for new and great content.

On your site should be a little file that tells that robot where to go (this is called a robots.txt file and won’t be seen on your actually website, but should be in the files held on your server).

We’re getting geeky here, but what this should include is a link to the sitemap we’ve mentioned above. You can think of this as giving the search engine spider some tourist information before it explores your site. You’re essentially giving it the map to your site so it knows where to go when it arrives.

Duplicate content

We wouldn’t be impressed if we paid for a magazine only to find that many of the pages had the same information on them. Google won’t be impressed if your site has duplicate content. If you have the same information on many different pages then you’re going to be committing an SEO sin.

Every page should be unique. If they’re not then is there any real need for the content to be duplicated across more than one page?

Page Titles and Descriptions

The page title is the first line of your ranking with Google.

Your page description is the next two lines that appear underneath it.

These should also be unique on every page. Why? Because these two bits of information tell you what the page is about. If every page is unique, then the description and title of the page explaining what it’s about should be too.

Not sure where to find your page title? Hover over the tab at the top of your browser when you’re on a page. Your page title is the words that appear in that tab.

We often see lots of sites with these duplicated across multiple pages. If yours are too, you will be missing out.

Summary:

  1. Write naturally and don’t worry about stuffing key words into your copy.
  2. Check your site for broken links and fix any you find.
  3. Add a sitemap to your website.
  4. Refer to the sitemap in your robot file.
  5. Don’t duplicate your content or your page titles.

Want to know more about SEO or to get your site reviewed and fixed so it can soar up the rankings? Find out more about our services here or our SEO audit by clicking here. You can also give us a call on 01566 784860.

The post Six Common SEO Mistakes appeared first on MiHiDigital.

]]> Five Common Facebook Errors https://mihidigital.co.uk/blog/five-common-facebook-errors/ Mon, 04 Aug 2014 13:36:52 +0000 https://mihidigital.1c7bfa7d0ad0ed81c314972280bc4e61-10268.sites.k-hosting.co.uk/?p=4288 With more than 1 billion users worldwide most people’s customers and clients are on Facebook. For many this has made it the go-to social network when businesses look to crack the social media nut. Many businesses means much competition; as with most things in life, those doing it well will grow and strive forward, those doing it poorly or as an after thought will spend much time and never fully reap the potential dividends. Here’s the five most common Facebook errors we see: Setting up your business up as a profile and not a page. Profiles are for people and pages are for businesses, groups, people of interest and basically anything that isn’t you as a person! How do you know if you’ve got this wrong? If you see the number of likes you have, it’s a page! You’ve got it right! If you can’t then it isn’t (assuming you’re looking in the right place of course!) Your business should always be set up as a page and not a profile; we’ve known of Facebook writing to those that have got it inadvertently wrong and on occasion removing the profile. A page is fundamentally different from a profile and will give you a platform from which to promote and share your business, which brings us on to advertising….. Advertising to everybody Facebook has an incredible amount of information on its users. If you’re going to be spending your hard earned money on Facebook advertising then you want to make sure you’re reaching the right people. We’ve heard tales of gaining 1,000’s of likes in a short period of time, sometimes in a matter of just a few days. Sounds fantastic doesn’t it? This is almost definitely unfocussed advertising; reaching everybody, everywhere no matter if they’re going to be interested or not. We all love big numbers but we draw the line way before paying for a larger number to be written on our Facebook page! Remember that 100 active and engaged Likes are certain to have a greater value than 5,000 that will never engage or be interested in you. If you advertise to people that won’t give you value all you’re doing is paying to have a larger number on your page. Letting your advertising run and run So you’ve avoided error number two and you’ve targeted the right people with the right message. That’s it? Job done? Just leave it and reap the perennial gains surely? After a certain period your advertising campaign will become stale and the rewards you gain from it will diminish. Think of it this way, if you’ve seen the same advert repeatedly how often do you click on it and show interest after the 10th time you’ve seen it? There is a case for repeated brand exposure here but lets for this example focus on the definitive return, which will be decreasing. Don’t believe us? Check your stats! Make sure you continually address your advertising and what it is delivering. This isn’t just for Facebook; Google make a whole lot of money from people using PPC and letting it run untouched for month after month and in some cases even year after year! Not integrating with your website Ok, so a bit of a cheat here as it’s not technically on Facebook, but so often the integration of social media with other marketing activity amounts to a Twitter and Facebook icon lodged in the top right hand corner of a website. You can do better; we know you can! Look at ways in which you can better integrate your Facebook page with the rest of your web presence. Can’t think of any ways? I bet we can help! Marketing creates greater rewards when it’s integrated and all working together; make sure you’re doing that and you’ll see the difference. Drive traffic to your website, pass it back to your Facebook page. Build brand engagement and enjoy the fruitful relationships it brings. Making it salesy Ah the ultimate temptation; you’ve got a sales platform so get on the soap box, dust off the Derek Trotter fur coat and begin selling. This time next year Rodney! Unfortunately this time next year you’ll likely be driving the same three-wheeled car as if you go to salesy it’ll back fire worse than a Robin Reliant! Use your page to engage, to add value, not only to you but also to your location, to those around you and your clients!

The post Five Common Facebook Errors appeared first on MiHiDigital.

]]> With more than 1 billion users worldwide most people’s customers and clients are on Facebook. For many this has made it the go-to social network when businesses look to crack the social media nut.

Many businesses means much competition; as with most things in life, those doing it well will grow and strive forward, those doing it poorly or as an after thought will spend much time and never fully reap the potential dividends.

Here’s the five most common Facebook errors we see:

Setting up your business up as a profile and not a page.

Profiles are for people and pages are for businesses, groups, people of interest and basically anything that isn’t you as a person!

How do you know if you’ve got this wrong?

If you see the number of likes you have, it’s a page! You’ve got it right!

If you can’t then it isn’t (assuming you’re looking in the right place of course!)

Your business should always be set up as a page and not a profile; we’ve known of Facebook writing to those that have got it inadvertently wrong and on occasion removing the profile.

A page is fundamentally different from a profile and will give you a platform from which to promote and share your business, which brings us on to advertising…..

Advertising to everybody

Facebook has an incredible amount of information on its users.

If you’re going to be spending your hard earned money on Facebook advertising then you want to make sure you’re reaching the right people.

We’ve heard tales of gaining 1,000’s of likes in a short period of time, sometimes in a matter of just a few days.

Sounds fantastic doesn’t it?

This is almost definitely unfocussed advertising; reaching everybody, everywhere no matter if they’re going to be interested or not.

We all love big numbers but we draw the line way before paying for a larger number to be written on our Facebook page!

Remember that 100 active and engaged Likes are certain to have a greater value than 5,000 that will never engage or be interested in you.

If you advertise to people that won’t give you value all you’re doing is paying to have a larger number on your page.

Letting your advertising run and run

So you’ve avoided error number two and you’ve targeted the right people with the right message.

That’s it? Job done? Just leave it and reap the perennial gains surely?

After a certain period your advertising campaign will become stale and the rewards you gain from it will diminish. Think of it this way, if you’ve seen the same advert repeatedly how often do you click on it and show interest after the 10th time you’ve seen it?

There is a case for repeated brand exposure here but lets for this example focus on the definitive return, which will be decreasing.

Don’t believe us? Check your stats!

Make sure you continually address your advertising and what it is delivering. This isn’t just for Facebook; Google make a whole lot of money from people using PPC and letting it run untouched for month after month and in some cases even year after year!

Not integrating with your website

Ok, so a bit of a cheat here as it’s not technically on Facebook, but so often the integration of social media with other marketing activity amounts to a Twitter and Facebook icon lodged in the top right hand corner of a website.

You can do better; we know you can!

Look at ways in which you can better integrate your Facebook page with the rest of your web presence.

Can’t think of any ways? I bet we can help!

Marketing creates greater rewards when it’s integrated and all working together; make sure you’re doing that and you’ll see the difference. Drive traffic to your website, pass it back to your Facebook page. Build brand engagement and enjoy the fruitful relationships it brings.

Making it salesy

Ah the ultimate temptation; you’ve got a sales platform so get on the soap box, dust off the Derek Trotter fur coat and begin selling.

This time next year Rodney!

Unfortunately this time next year you’ll likely be driving the same three-wheeled car as if you go to salesy it’ll back fire worse than a Robin Reliant!

Use your page to engage, to add value, not only to you but also to your location, to those around you and your clients!

The post Five Common Facebook Errors appeared first on MiHiDigital.

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