7 Common SEO Blunders to Avoid: Tips and Tricks for B2B Manufacturing Companies.

SEO works, and manufacturing companies, like all other companies, know it.  

According to estimates, SEO generates an ROI of 200%-275% on average. It's no wonder companies are not hesitating to invest thousands of dollars in search engine optimization. 

While you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand SEO, this time-intensive strategy is not as easy as it once was. Many people still think that placing some keywords and links here and there will get their pages ranking on the first page of Google. That's the kind of mindset that led some people into making avoidable missteps. 

Even though learning from your own mistakes can be helpful, leveraging other people's mistakes can be more helpful as it can help you avoid pitfalls and setbacks. So, here are the seven common SEO blunders B2B manufacturing companies should avoid:

1. Using Unimportant Keywords for Your Target Audience 

As far as keywords are concerned, many people are wise enough to avoid common mistakes like keyword stuffing, using irrelevant keywords, and not using enough keywords. So, it's common for companies to make other mistakes like using keywords that are important to them, without considering whether they are equally important to their target audience.

In an attempt to stand out, some B2B websites, particularly those in the manufacturing space, make the mistake of using the names of uniquely-named products as their keywords. While the unique names may be accurate to the manufacturer, they may not often be well-known by the buyers. So, what the target audience might type into the search box may not be what the manufacturer uses in its digital marketing content. 

Using the wrong keywords can consequently result in lower search engine rankings, less traffic to the manufacturer's site, fewer conversions, and fewer sales. It's therefore important to focus on keywords that are more relevant to your customers in order to avoid these problems. By taking the time to research the best keywords for your manufacturing business, you can ensure that your website is optimized for search engines and that your customers can find you easily.

2. Using bad and low-quality links

A bad link is a link that does not work or goes to the wrong place, while a low-quality link is a link to a website that contains poor or irrelevant content. When it comes to SEO, bad and low-quality links can really hurt your rankings. 

Google looks at the quality of links when determining where to rank your site, and if you have a lot of bad and low-quality links, it can drag your site down. 

Several things can happen if you have bad links pointing to your site, including:

• Google may penalize your site for having bad links,

• Your site may get de-indexed from Google altogether,

• Your rankings could suffer,

• You could even get banned from Google,

• Your reputation could be damaged.

All of these things can have a negative impact on your business, so it's important to be aware of the quality of links pointing to your site. If you suspect that you have bad links, you can use Google's disavow tool to remove them.

3. Keeping outdated content

Another common SEO mistake is keeping outdated content on the company website. This can be a problem for two reasons. First, it can make a site look like it's not being maintained, which can hurt the company's credibility. Second, it can prevent the site from ranking as high as it could in search results because search engines consider it less relevant.

If you have outdated content on your company's site, the best thing to do is to update it. Fresh content helps your site stay relevant and indexed by search engines. It can also help attract new visitors and keep existing visitors engaged.

If you can't have fresh content written regularly, you should consider sprucing up existing content. Having fresh content doesn't necessarily mean you have to completely rewrite existing content; in many cases, simply adding new information or changing a few details can be enough. But whatever you do, make sure the content on your site is always up-to-date.

4. Using the same content for multiple pages within a website

When it comes to SEO, using the same content for multiple pages on your website can hurt your chances of ranking well in search engines. That's because search engines like Google are constantly on the lookout for duplicate content, and will often penalize websites that have it.

So if you're using the same content for multiple pages on your site, you could be shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to SEO. Instead, try to create unique content for each page of your website. That way, you'll have a better chance of ranking well in search engines, and you'll be providing your users with a better experience overall.

5. Not optimizing content for mobile devices

Mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular, and more and more people are using them to access the internet. That means that if your content isn't optimized for mobile, you're missing out on a lot of potential traffic.

There are a few different ways that not optimizing your content for mobile can hurt your SEO. First, Google takes mobile-friendliness into account when ranking websites. So if your website isn't optimized for mobile, it's likely that it will be lower in the search results.

Second, people are more likely to abandon a website that isn't optimized for mobile. If your website takes too long to load or is difficult to navigate on a mobile device, people are likely to give up and go to a different website. This will increase your bounce rate, which is a factor that Google takes into account when ranking websites.

Finally, not optimizing your content for mobile devices can hurt your conversion rate. If people can't easily read and interact with your website on their mobile devices, they're less likely to make a purchase or take the action you want them to.

6. Overlooking the analytics 

When you're working on your SEO, it's important to pay attention to the data and analytics to see how your efforts are paying off. However, if you're not careful, you can easily overlook some important data that could hurt your SEO efforts.

For example, if you're not tracking your organic traffic, you could be missing out on valuable insights about your website's performance. Likewise, if you're not monitoring your backlink profile, you could be missing out on opportunities to improve your link-building efforts. So, make sure you're monitoring your data closely, and don't overlook any important metrics. 

In addition to organic traffic and backlink profiles, there are several other metrics you should track to improve your SEO ranking. They include:

• Keyword rankings: Monitoring your keyword rankings is crucial for understanding how your SEO is performing. You can use a tool like Google Search Console to track your progress over time.

• Conversion rates: SEO is ultimately about driving traffic that converts. Track your conversion rates to ensure that your SEO efforts are resulting in sales and leads.

• Social shares: These are a valuable metric for SEO. They show that your content is being shared and seen by a large audience.

By tracking these metrics, you can get a better understanding of your SEO progress and what areas need improvement.

7. Delegating SEO to people with no marketing expertise

If you're running a business, there's a good chance that you're always looking for ways to improve your bottom line. One way to do this is to delegate certain tasks to employees or contractors who may be less expensive than hiring full-time staff.

One area that businesses often delegate is search engine optimization (SEO). After all, it can be a complex and time-consuming task, and it's constantly changing as Google updates its algorithms.

However, delegating SEO to people with no marketing expertise is a mistake. Here are the two reasons why:

• They won't understand your business

SEO is not a one-size-fits-all approach. What may work for one manufacturing company may not necessarily work for another, and what works today might not work tomorrow. 

If you delegate SEO to someone who doesn't understand your business, they won't be able to customize their approach to meet your needs. As a result, your SEO efforts are likely to be less effective than they could be. In order to be effective, SEO must be customized to fit the unique needs of your business.

• They won't understand your target audience

When delegating SEO to someone with no marketing expertise, you're essentially asking them to optimize your website for a group of people they don't understand. This is a recipe for disaster.

Your SEO team needs to understand your customers to effectively target them with the right keywords and content. Without this understanding, they'll likely make decisions that hurt your website's visibility and traffic.

Consider Professional SEO Services to Avoid Mistakes 

There are many reasons why B2B manufacturing companies should hire professional SEO services, like the ones offered by Activate Writing. First, SEO is a complex and ever-changing field. It takes a lot of time and effort to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and changes. 

Second, a manufacturing company's core competency is usually manufacturing, not marketing or SEO. It makes sense to outsource these services to experts who can provide a higher level of service and results.

Third, outsourcing SEO can save a manufacturing company money. In-house SEO teams can be expensive to maintain, and they often require a lot of training and support. By outsourcing to a professional SEO agency, a manufacturing company can save money and get better results.

Fourth, professional SEO agencies have the tools and resources to get the job done right. They have access to the latest software and tools, and they know how to use them. They also have networks of other experts that they can tap into for advice and support.

Finally, professional SEO agencies are accountable for results. If a manufacturing company is not happy with the results it's getting, it can simply stop working with the agency. There is no long-term commitment required.

You have more than enough reasons to outsource SEO services to Activate Writing. In addition to building solid SEO strategies for companies across different industries, we also provide advertising, content strategy, analytics, digital strategy, and photography services. 

Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.