There is so much junk out there in the cyber world it is easy to get bogged down by unhelpful approaches to digital marketing and SEO. With overnight solutions and all in one software that promises to do the leg work for you, it’s easy to get distracted by empty promises of overnight success.
The reality is, SEO success doesn’t happen that way! It comes from consistency, experimenting and analyzing your data.
So before you dive in any further, consider avoiding these analytics errors.
1. Paying for Business Optimization Software
Paying for optimization software and allowing it to run wild and free, will not produce long term results that are helpful to your business. At the end of the day, self-driving cars still need to be patrolled by humans.
Optimization software promises results but the fault is not (only) in their coding, it is their competition.
Regardless of what they try to tell you, Google Analytics will always be the strongest tool on the market, and when implemented properly, is more powerful than any “all-encompassing software”.
Google Analytics is a wonderful tool that helps you build powerful strategies with custom reports, data analytics, and metrics that are important to you and your client.
2. Reading Too Much and Implementing Too Little
Knowledge is a powerful tool but sometimes it can work against you. Have you heard of analysis paralysis?
This is the theory that having too much information can literally paralyze you and stop you from taking action. Taking action is a powerful differentiator between someone who has solutions and someone who stays stuck on a problem.
Sure there are many solutions out there, but it is only from testing them and putting them into practice that you’ll be able to decipher which solutions actually work.
This is why A/B testing works so well. Testing two theories against each other is very highly recommended.
Sidenote: There is no harm in testing a theory that doesn’t work. Failing is a beautiful part of the process of any business and can open you up to questions you may not have considered because you weren’t in the head space to consider them.
3. Not Asking For Help When You Need It
It’s true that there are only enough hours in the day to do so much. When your job becomes more focused on sourcing clients, analyzing reports, or making bigger decisions, consider hiring someone to take some of the load off. Sometimes it pays you to hire someone at $50 or $100 an hour vs taking a week to learn it all yourself!
4. Neglecting Client Relationships and Their Bottom Line
Don’t get too caught up in the data. Yes, your job is about analyzing reports and understanding trends but it’s not your entire job. Your role is to keep your clients happy and keep their bottom line healthy. It’s one-half of your job to analyze data, while it’s another to interpret that data, tell stories and solve problems. You’ll only know the problems to solve if you know your client’s vision well enough – get to know it.
5. Not Setting Concrete Goals
Of course, you will want to aim for something to achieve. No plan is good without a very specific direction. Knowing your goals is helpful in tracking them and will encourage you to revisit your strategies often. This also helps identify holes in your method and provides scope to realign your game plan and change direction if you need to. Check in with your goals often enough so that it becomes embedded in your strategy and part of your decision making process.
SEO is made up of a lot of constantly moving parts. If we’re not keeping up, we’re falling behind, but part of that is understanding where you can better focus your efforts in order to maximize your time and elevate your expertise to a whole new level!
Want to get in touch? Follow us on Twitter!
