With SEO, a small business can gain such power and momentum in the business that it can outrun all rivals and reach the top of any search engine. It just needs the timely push of SEO to succeed while employing the best long-tail keywords for local searches. But there are some mistakes that many small businesses do and repeat. These can definitely be avoided, as can the delay in ranking that accompanies them.

1. Thinking About SEO Only After the Website Has Been Launched

This is a terrible mistake to be avoided if you really want your website to grab some business online or create awareness about your brand. Many small businesses make the mistake of starting SEO for their website after the website is launched or is ready for launch. When the website is launched, which means the site has been uploaded to the hosting server and can be viewed anywhere by typing the URL, then your site is public. And this means it’s already late to fix the flaws in the site — especially those flaws related to on-page SEO.

On-page SEO is that part of SEO that is content based. The content of the site is designed and written in such a way that the right keywords appear in the right places so that search engine crawlers understand how to index the site. And such keyword rich optimized content is the key to success in SEO. Therefore, an already launched site, when handed over to an SEO agency, will have to be modified at numerous places.

This demands hard work, a lot of time, and a lot of research. Once the site is launched, the research is just an extra bit of work that could have been done earlier while framing the content for best results. Without on-page SEO, a complete rework on the content has to be done, which delays the site’s promotion. Hence, SEO must be planned at the time of making the site in order to implement all on-page SEO rules at the time of site and content design.

2. Doing SEO as a Short-Term Tactic

If you believe SEO to be a short-term mode for uplifting your small business site for the time being, then you would be making a big mistake. SEO is a long-term and continuous process that you cannot just abruptly stop. When a site shows on the search engine results page, it is because of a long term-planning. You can only see such results based on on-page SEO, off-page SEO, social media marketing and link building.

What you see as a result of today in SEO is the fruit of the seed that was long ago sown. Hence, if you stop SEO today, then eventually your site will also disappear from the search engine result pages, because none of your rivals would be sitting idle through that period.

3. Relying on Your Web Developer for SEO

If you rely on your web developer for SEO, then you may be shocked. That’s because no web developer is a full-fledged SEO expert. They are experts in web development, and that is their domain. To sustain in the domain, most web developers gain and practice the basic knowledge of SEO. But this does not make them an expert like a reputed SEO specialist in an agency. That is why you must not rely on the web developer to make your website totally SEO compliant with great on page SEO.

Even if you are lucky to find an experienced, knowledgeable web developer and SEO expert, it’s most unlikely that they would have all the necessary tools and software too, for full-fledged SEO.

4. Going for a Too-Tempting SEO Package

If all your requirements for SEO are met under a single package, and the package cost looks too good to be true, then beware. No SEO package can be the complete and ultimate solution in your budget.

Also, many SEO agencies show you flowery vision by telling you that they will make your site rank on the first page in a very short time. But you must understand the fact that true organic SEO yields real results, but not overnight. It takes time to see results. Hence if you see an SEO company making promises that are too sweet, do not fall in the trap. There is no shortcut in SEO, and it takes time. When you give that time and effort, you get the fruit too. In fact, you must ask the SEO company you are talking to about their strategies for on-page SEO, off-page SEO, marketing, social media marketing, and so on. A professionally designed SEO strategy would help you understand how clear the concept of working is to them.

5. Forgetting Analytical Data

If you never check analytical data, you will not understand how your small business website is performing. Only analytical data can tell you if your website is working well and if your SEO company is doing good work. When you start to get organic traffic to your site, you see the site ranking against the keywords in good places, and when you find conversions increasing on the site, then you can understand that it’s actually working.

If you can avoid the mistakes stated above, then you can plan for the SEO of your small business site and get great results too. You must understand what to expect so that you can set realistic expectations about SEO from your SEO service provider. This is the best way to start SEO for your small business, from the inception of the site and onward.