1. 20 Detrimental SEO Mistakes
You're Making in 2015
By Gotch SEO

2. 1. You Don't Think SEO is

3. But the Numbers Don’t Lie:
• 93% of online experiences begin with a search
engine.
• 82.6% of internet users use search.
• 70-80% of users ignore the paid ads, focusing
on the organic results.
• 75% of users never scroll past the first page of
search results.
• Inbound leads cost 61% lower than outbound
leads.

4. 2. You Think SEO is a One Dimensional Activity

5. It’s a Multifaceted Profession
• SEO in 2015 is much more than just being
technically savvy. Effective agencies must be able
to:
– Analyze market intent of keywords
– Develop an on-site SEO strategy to improve user
experience and flow
– Analyze, optimize, and increase conversions
– Create evergreen content assets and understand how
to market them
– Acquire links that drive measurable organic growth

6. 3. You Think SEO is

7. You’re Being Sold a Dream
• An effective SEO campaign has many moving
parts and requires a wide array of skill sets to
be successful.
• It is a full time job just keeping up with the
changes.

8. 4. You Don’t View SEO as an
Investment

9. It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint!
• Think about SEO like you would your
retirement account.
– Time + compound interest = increased net worth
– Time + a little patience = ROI for SEO

10. 5. You Think SEO is Cheap

11. The Rhinoplasty Analogy
If you were looking for a rhinoplasty surgeon, would
you use the cheapest one you could find to work on
your face…?

12. “NO!”

13. Why, “NO”?
Low Price = Low Perceived Value/Quality

14. Cheap SEO Will Cost You More…

15. High Quality SEO & Dirt Cheap Prices Do Not Coexist
– Cheap SEO services must resort to low-quality, ineffective, and dangerous tactics.
• These tactics can land you a Google penalty, which will cost you more money down
the line

16. 6. You're Focused on Keywords That
Don't Covert

17. Long Tail = More ROI
• It’s easier and more profitable to rank for a long tail
keyword like “red shoes for women” as opposed to
just “shoes”.
– Market intent + low competition = Major ROI

18. 7. Your Site Isn’t Mobile Friendly

19. Google recently announced:
"Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-
friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect
mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have
a significant impact in our search results." (Source)

20. 8. Your Site is Slower Than Molasses

21. A Slow Site Hurts Your Bottom Line

22. “A 1-second delay in page response can
results in a 7% reduction in conversions.” -
Kissmetrics

23. 9. You Haven't Moved to SSL

24. “we're starting to use HTTPS as a ranking
signal.” - Google

25. 10. You Still Haven't Embraced
Content Marketing

26. Did you know that companies that
blog have 97% more inbound links?
(Source: Hubspot)

27. Or…
that small businesses that blog get 126% more lead
growth than small businesses that do not blog?
(Source: ThinkCreative)

28. Content is King
• High-value content will:
– Act as an asset for your business
– Establish your brand as the authority in the
industry
– Generate massive goodwill for your business

29. 11. You're Stilling Using Old School
Link Tactics

30. What Doesn’t Work (And Will Get You a Penalty)
1. Spam
2. Non-Editorial Links
3. Irrelevant Links
4. Over-Optimized Anchor Text

31. What DOES Work
• Topically relevant editorial links
– Guest posts
– Naturally acquired links from your good content
– Resource links

32. Use Majestic to Find Topical Relevancy

33. 12. You Think Guest Blogging is
“Dead”

34. Matt Cutts, the head of Google web
spam declared: “guest blogging is
dead”…

35. But is it really?

36. The Old School Way is Dead
• Artificially built guest posts designed purely
for links are dead.
• REAL guest posts without the intention of
using commercial anchor text is alive and well.
– Guest posts coming from sites with a strict
editorial process can send an influx of new traffic
and leads in addition to more links.

37. 13. You Spam Anchor Text Like It Is 2010

38. * Keep commercial anchor text below 5% or less to avoid a penalty
Over-optimized anchor text is the #1 way to land
a penalty in 2015

39. 14. You're Not Trying to Build an
Email List

40. Most Visitors Never Come Back to Your Site…

41. That’s why you have to capture email
addresses!

42. 15. You Think Social Has No Impact on SEO

43. No SEO campaign will have substantial
long-term results without social
media.

44. Google uses "social signals" to validate
your links.

45. Links are hard to acquire and social
signals are not…

46. So you should have more social
activity than links!

47. 16. You're Not Tracking Your Results

48. Track Your Results!
• RankTrackr.net
• Google Analytics
• Google Webmaster Tools

49. 17. You're Focused on the Wrong
Metrics

50. Keyword rankings are a poor measure of success!

51. Instead, You Should…
* Measure overall organic growth
* Optimize CTR in the SERPs
* Decrease Bounce Rate
* Increase Average Time People Spend on Your
Website

52. 18. You Don't Care About CRO

53. Same Traffic = More Revenue?

54. Increasing your conversions through conversion rate
optimization (CRO) is the single best to increase
revenue without more traffic.

55. Important Points to Improve Conversions:
• How your visitors interact with your website
• What pages they spend a lot of time on
• What pages they don't spend a lot of time on
• How visitors "flow" through your website
• How well your forms are converting
• How well your CTAs are converting

56. 19. You Think SEO is a “One-and-
Done” Activity

57. SEO requires consistent work to
achieve continued organic growth and
to stay ahead of your competitors.

58. "Work like there is someone working twenty-four
hours a day to take it all away from you."
- Mark Cuban

59. 20. You Think SEO is a Static Form of
Marketing

60. The only thing guaranteed in SEO is
change!

61. Never get complacent and always be
ready to adapt your strategy.

62. The End.
If you're making any of the SEO mistakes I
highlighted, it's time for you to go out and get
them fixed.
OR, hire an SEO agency that has proven results
and can get the job done. Either way, just take
action so you can be visible to the customers
who are dying to useyour product or service to
solve their problem.

63. Resources
• Original LinkedIn Article (PDF Version)
• SEO Training: GotchSEO.com/Blog
• Full Service SEO: GotchSEO.com/Services