Fifteen of the most common SEO mistakes businesses make, and how to avoid making them yourself

A helpful new article on Search Engine Journal reports that local search and maps are a great way to drive traffic and leads — but only when you do everything the right way. Here are fifteen of the most common local SEO mistakes you should watch out for and learn to avoid.

It’s broadly understood that local SEO is the leading driver of organic traffic for local business websites. And with a staggering five billion searches per day, Google search is undoubtedly the best place to get your business found by people searching for products or services like yours. But unfortunately, optimizing for local search isn’t always a simple task, and there are many individual factors to consider.

It takes keyword research, on-page optimization, and much more to turn your website into a local traffic-generating machine. Even the savviest of SEO professionals make mistakes along the way. With that in mind, in this article, you can quickly learn about the fifteen most common local SEO mistakes and find simple tips to help you avoid them when optimizing your website or listings.

So, where do local businesses fail when optimizing their local search listings? What should you look out for, and what do you need to avoid at all costs? Here are the top fifteen local SEO errors that businesses tend to make. You can find a detailed breakdown and practical tips and tricks for avoiding the same mistakes in the original article:

• One: Unlocalized Keyword Targets.
• Two: No Customer Reviews.
• Three: Inconsistent NAPW Data.
• Four: No Directory Profiles.
• Five: No Google My Business Listing.
• Six: Ignoring Negative Reviews.
• Seven: No Backlinks.
• Eight: Website Not Optimized for Mobile.
• Nine: Poor Quality Website Content.
• Ten: Duplicate Listings.
• Eleven: No Contact Information on Website.
• Twelve: Poor Image Optimization.
• Thirteen: Keyword Stuffing.
• Fourteen: Unoptimized Blog Content.
• Fifteen: Poor Technical SEO.