It is common for companies who have leadership inexperienced with digital marketing to be overwhelmed at the start of their online journey. If you don’t understand the necessary steps to get your brand a prominent online presence, all the new concepts, terms, and processes of getting online can be quite daunting. Even if you consult digital marketing experts to help guide you through the beginning phases of putting together a strategy, it isn’t uncommon to miss something important or make early mistakes that are difficult to recover from later on. Here are some big mistakes that you should avoid when putting together your plans.
Inaccurate Listings and Citations
One important issue that many companies miss is to make sure all the places your company is listed online have the same, correct information. Google checks to make sure that businesses’ online citations have matching names, addresses and phone numbers to the information on each company’s website. Digital marketing professionals commonly refer to these pieces of information as NAP. While Google’s algorithms are smart enough to match up slight variations in name and address formatting, altogether incorrect addresses and phone numbers can hurt a website’s rankings. If your company has ever moved its headquarters or changed its phone number, it is likely that there are still listings with bad information out there. Have digital marketing professionals perform an audit of your citations and ensure all the information about your company online is correct and consistent.
Stale Website with No Updates
Many companies believe that once their website goes live that their digital marketing job is done. While having an excellent website at launch is definitely important, truly excelling in digital marketing requires consistent attention to your website and content. Expanding your website regularly and adding additional useful content for your users is important if you want to stay relevant to Google. Google prefers websites that have fresh and relevant content on them and often pushes down sites that have stayed stale and stagnant for years. Make sure your digital marketing strategy includes regular content updates to your website.
Interfering With Your Campaign Before It Reaches It’s Potential
Impatience is a major problem for businesses that venture into digital marketing and SEO without doing their homework. Too many companies begin a marketing campaign with the expectation that major success will be quick. If you use paid media, it is possible to get leads on a short turnaround, but standard organic digital marketing requires time. Google takes several months to take stock of new websites and rank them appropriately. The investment of time and effort put in in the early stages of a digital marketing campaign pays off dividends in the long-term. However, many people get impatient and begin changing strategies or altering plans long before their website and campaign has a chance to shine. These big shifts in their campaigns can confuse Google or be seen as spam and actually harm campaigns. Trust digital marketing experts and be patient when waiting to reap the benefits of a long-term strategy.
If you find yourself struggling with the beginnings of building a digital marketing campaign, it always makes sense to reach out to professionals who can guide you on right path. If you want to elevate your brand, contact Mountain Media today and we can make sure you avoid any pitfalls while you build your strategy.
