As a digital marketing agency working with businesses across multiple industries, we often come across the same costly SEO mistakes that hold websites back from reaching their full potential. While search engine optimisation (SEO) can be a powerful tool for increasing visibility and driving conversions for businesses, these common pitfalls can mean wasted effort, missed SEO opportunities, and potentially lost revenue.
Below are some of the biggest SEO mistakes businesses in the UK make, and how to avoid them.
1) Targeting the Wrong Keywords (Ignoring Search Intent)
One of the most common mistakes is focusing on keywords that don’t align with what potential customers are searching for. Just because a keyword has high search volume doesn’t mean it’s the right fit. Just because a competitor is using a specific keyword and you want to rank for the same one, doesn’t mean it’s the correct one for your business, or theirs.
For instance, looking at the above keyword; whilst the search volume is very high, this may seem like a great pick for a potential service page it’s ranking on. However, when we investigate this term further, we soon realise the intent behind it is more suited to a blog post or guide about ’what is digital marketing’, rather than a service page.
The issue with this: Many businesses unknowingly target broad, highly competitive terms, or focus on industry jargon, rather than terms and phrases their customers would use or search for. Others fail to consider search intent, meaning they target keywords suited for informational blog content instead of transactional pages that drive sales.
How to fix it:
- Use tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to analyse which keywords drive relevant traffic to our sites.
- Put yourself in the mind of your customers and break down the intent of the keywords. Decide which keywords customers are using to find a product, service, or even more information (informational / blog). e.g., a service-based business should prioritise “Digital Marketing Services” rather than just “Digital Marketing” or “What is Digital Marketing?”.
- Research competitors ranking for relevant intent-based key terms and evaluate whether your pages are providing the right content type and match the correct intent.
2) Not Leveraging Long-Tail Keywords That Convert
While short-tail keywords may bring in high traffic, long-tail keywords are often where conversions happen. These longer, more specific and detailed search terms often indicate that a user is closer to making a purchasing decision.
Take the following keywords:
While the first keyword has a very high search volume, it only tells us someone is looking for information on the topic of digital marketing, rather than the type of digital marketing (social media, PPC, SEO, etc), whether they want to do a course in digital marketing, or even if they’re looking for a digital marketing service.
It’s very broad and indicates the beginning of the customer journey, where they are still researching broadly.
The fourth keyword ‘social media marketing’ is a bit more specific. It tells us that someone is looking for information on ‘what is social media marketing’ and ‘social media marketing strategies. They’ve gathered additional information and now know they’re interested in social media marketing and looking for strategies to potentially help their own business. They’re effectively moving further in the customer buyer journey. However, we can still do better and match our service pages intent to a user looking for ‘services’ and capture that conversion in the process.
Taking It a Step Further with Long-Tail Keywords
By breaking the above keywords down, we gain an even stronger understanding of what the customer is really looking for.
- Initially, they searched for “digital marketing” (broad search).
- Then, they refined it to “social media marketing” (more specific).
- Now, they are searching for “social media marketing services”, which signals high purchase intent.
This kind of detailed search suggests they are seriously considering this service and ready to convert. Therefore, this keyword is one I really want to target. Despite its smaller search volume, it is much more valuable than a keyword with 35,000 search volume where someone is just simply looking for information. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t create a blog post or in-depth guide about ‘social media marketing’ though. Doing this means we capture the user at the beginning of their user journey.
The issue with this: Businesses often overlook long-tail keywords in favour of broad, high-competition terms, missing out on valuable traffic with higher conversion potential.
How to fix it:
- Use keyword research tools to find long-tail variations with lower competition but strong purchasing intent.
- Optimise your product/service pages for specific, solution-focused, and even location-focused queries (e.g., “digital marketing services in London” instead of just “Digital marketing services”).
- Answer common customer queries on your site to capture that long-tail traffic.
3) Poor Pagination and Canonicalisation Setup
Pagination and canonicalisation help search engines understand your site structure, but many ecommerce businesses configure them incorrectly, causing crawling/indexing issues.
The issue with this: Missing or incorrectly used canonical tags on paginated pages, and improper use of noindex directives can lead to pages being excluded from search results or indexed incorrectly.
How to fix it:
- Ensure paginated pages are properly linked, use canonicalisation where necessary, or self-canonicalisation so search engines treat them as unique pages, not duplicate ones.
- Avoid noindexing key category pages, which can prevent them from ranking.
- Use Google Search Console to monitor crawl errors and indexing issues.
Final Thoughts: Get Your SEO Right from the Start
Avoiding these common SEO mistakes will save you time, money, and frustration, ensuring your business stands out in search results. If you’re unsure where to start, investing in a professional SEO audit can help uncover hidden issues and create a roadmap for growth.
At Return, we provide SEO services to help businesses across the UK fix SEO issues, improve rankings, and increase conversions. If you want expert guidance, get in touch today, or give us a call on 0161 533 2790 to book an initial consultation.