Ignorance is bliss, but not when it comes to your conversion rate. Conversion rates are key to any business strategy.

This is because, in 2023, there are numerous ways to drive traffic to your e-commerce website, but if you’re not converting this incoming traffic, it can greatly impact your business’s performance.

The real test of an e-commerce site is the number of people who end up taking a specific action that you want them to. This could be getting consumers or users to purchase a product, sign up for a newsletter, or grant permission to receive regular updates from your website.

Understanding Conversion Rate

Before we begin the explore the SEO pitfalls every business owner should avoid when creating a marketing strategy, let’s learn what a conversion rate really is.

Your conversion rate depends on the number of visitors that came to your website compared to those who performed that specific task that you wanted them to.

Your conversion goals can depend on the nature of your business.

Some of your conversion goals could include:

• Filling out and submitting a form
• Making a purchase
• Signing up to receive a newsletter

According to a report, the global average conversion rate for e-commerce sites in the US is 2.63%. If your conversion rate is lower than this benchmark, you need to find ways to increase it and generate more traffic to your website.

Here are some of the most common SEO pitfalls that could lower your conversion rate and reduce website traffic.

Top SEO Mistakes Sabotaging Your Conversion Rate

Sticking to Competitive Keywords for a Higher Ranking

The thing about competitive and popular keywords is that they have a very low conversion rate.

If you want to attract more relevant traffic to your e-commerce site, you need to focus on long-tail keywords or high-converting keywords. These keywords are very specific and drive a significantly high conversion rate within a pay-per-click marketing campaign.

For example, if you’re selling home furniture and want to bid on a keyword like “dining room chair,” the second someone searches “dining room chair,” your bid automatically enters into an auction.

What makes long-tail keywords so effective when it comes to a higher conversion rate is their specificity. These keywords aren’t typically looked up and are excellent for targeting any specific services you could offer. Your visitors are on your website because you’re offering exactly what they’re looking for, resulting in a higher conversion rate.

Long-tail keywords also have less competition since fewer sites will be using the same keywords as you.

Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing, also known as content spamming, is an  SEO practice that can be penalized by search engines. This black hat SEO tactic was once used to manipulate search engine rankings and appear at the top of a search.

This might seem like a successful strategy at first, but it also puts you at the risk of being penalized by the search engine and can affect your conversion rate.

There are many smart ways to craft high-quality content and organically insert keywords that feel natural.

Content That Doesn’t Answer Your Targeted Audience’s Specific Needs

If you want your content to rank high for a specific keyword, it must focus on your target audience’s specific needs and requirements.

Creating specific content also helps brands create long-term brand awareness and boost their credibility. Make sure your content is well-researched and includes all the specific keywords that you want to rank for.

Search engines like fresh and original content. This is why you should update your content and avoid using outdated information.

High-quality content also gives you a competitive advantage since brands that invest in SEO outrank their competitors in search engine results.

Incorrect Use of Headings

Using header tags and title tags will help the search engine understand the content and structure of your website. Header tags will make your site appear first when the article topic is searched for online and make it easier for the reader to look for a specific topic that they’re looking to read.

If your content isn’t broken up into sections by heading tags, it can affect readability since it will just be one long paragraph. This will cause readers to turn to other articles that are easier to read and clearly define what each section in the content contains.

Landing Pages that Don’t Match with the User’s Search Intent

Search intent can help you bring more visitors to your site because you’re providing the consumer with just the information they’re looking for. Effectively using search intent on your landing pages will also keep viewers on your site longer and funnel them down into leads or sales.

Search intent mainly depends on developing a deeper understanding of your users.

The key to optimizing your content with search intent is using keywords that have the right intent. The more optimized your content is, the likelier it is for you to convert incoming traffic into paying customers.

Also, craft a call to action to motivate your users to make the purchase. Try using different call to action templates and find out which one is most preferred by your targeted audience.

Now that you know all about the most common SEO pitfalls that you need to avoid, it’s time to invest in reliable digital marketing services to boost your e-commerce business.

It can be challenging for fledgling startups and small businesses to market their services without the appropriate tools and methods to back them up.

If you’re looking for affordable and high-quality digital marketing services for small businesses, Adfully is here to help. We help businesses with SEO optimization, reputation management, website design, social media marketing, and more.

Reach out to us now to learn more about our services.