In this episode, we cover:

Today, we talk to Marko Sipila, the owner and founder of Intricate Digital Marketing based in Arizona. He has put together his years of experience in helping clients take their businesses to the next level using Search Engine Marketing.

In this episode, Marko is going to talk about the common SEO mistakes to avoid in 2020.

Stay tuned for the next podcast episode, where our guest, Andrew Shotland, tells us how to do local SEO for multi-location businesses.

Show notes

• [01:00-05:09] What do you suggest small business owners do to get their SEO strategies right?
• [06:06-11:06] Does mobile conversions depend on the experience you are providing through it?
• [11:07-13:21] How important is image optimization for websites? Are there tools to do the same?
• [13:24-18:40] Does a shared hosting compromise on the site speed? 
• [18:41-20:19] Do you agree that startups fail to strategize content because they are too busy trying to sell?
• [23:47-27:49] What tools do you recommend to businesses to improve their website rankings?
• [29:14-33:08]  Where can businesses learn more about website analysis? 

Show Notes Explanation

Hello guys, welcome to another episode of SEO ON-Air.  This is Senthil and today we have with us the SEO wizard of Scottsdale, Mr. Marko Sipila. Welcome to our show Marko. He is the owner and founder of Intricate Digital Marketing based in Arizona.

Marko is here with us to discuss the common SEO mistakes that small businesses get into and how to avoid them. So let’s start the discussion with him.

Time Stamp: 01:00-05:09

Senthil:  While working with small businesses, the common mistakes we encounter are plagiarized content and lack of focus on interlinking. What do you think about this? What do you suggest small business owners do to get their SEO strategies right?

Marko: Yes, most small businesses don’t have an in-house team to work that effectively. But, at the end of the day, they, too, need to ensure that they are following the correct protocols. 

The one reason that I really want to do podcasts is to help small business owners. I’ll first recommend websites to follow a mobile-first approach. If your site is not mobile-friendly, then you lose out on 50% of the traffic. 

Time Stamp: 05:11-06:04

Senthil: That’s a great tip, Marko. When businesses choose templates for their websites, they should also check how these templates appear on mobile devices. Moreover, developers should make this a part of their checklist while developing a new site

Marko: Absolutely. I’ve seen websites that don’t focus on the mobile-friendliness, which can be a big problem standing in 2020.

Time Stamp: 06:06-11:06

Senthil: We’ve also noticed, Marko, that websites complain that they don’t see much conversions on mobile, but I think the problem is not with the device but the experience that you are offering through it.

Marko: Yeah, that brings me to reveal my next tip, i.e., having a speed optimized website. Google has made a tool called ”Google Page Insights” that lets you check your website speed. The Google Page Insights tool also shows you opportunities to speed up your site. 

While the page speed itself might not be a direct ranking factor, it affects the click-through rate and bounce rate that determines the ranking of your site. So, it is crucial to test your website performance. 

If you are not very familiar with the technical aspects of a website, there are a few things that you can implement to improve the site speed. These are steps such as getting a CDN (Content Delivery Network), transferring to a faster host, reducing the number of redirects on your site, optimizing the database, implement website caching, minifying HTML, CSS, Javascript using plugins, reducing the number of apps and plugins on your website and reducing the image size as well as implementing lazy loading for them.

Time Stamp: 11:07-13:21

Senthil: Yes, Marko, the image optimization part is where we see most people getting wrong. People want high-quality images on their site, which is why they simply upload large image files. This slows down the speed of mobile websites. 

I think there are many image optimization tools to compress images easily. What do you say?

Marko: Yes, I think WPRocket is an excellent paid plugin to do so. The primary function of this tool is to minify your code and to compress images as well. In my experience, I’d also admit that this is something small business owners don’t think about a lot. 

Time Stamp: 13:24-18:40

Senthil: People these days are bombarded with cheap hosting offers, but shared hosting is always going to affect your site speed. I think this is very important for people to understand. 

Marko: Yeah, I think a website is not much of an asset for you if it takes more than 30 seconds to load. Implementing the tips mentioned above will help you in the long-run and speed up your site. 

The next big strategy I’m going to discuss here is content. Whether you’re service-based or product-based, having a content strategy is very important. You should spend a lot of time writing quality content that has buyer intent. 

We really invest time in blog strategy to recommend specific and strategic articles that can bring more customers on board and generate traffic. It also helps to leverage SEO efforts. When Google notices that you are spending time to educate your audience, you’ll earn more authority.

Time Stamp: 18:41-20:19

Senthil: I think startups fail to strategize content because they are too busy trying to sell.  What they try to do is to get their content done through some freelancers, which might not reflect their brand essence ultimately.

What entrepreneurs can do is to give their inputs on the content to the writer. This way, the brand message is clearly communicated.  I know you’ve written some awesome blogs that are also ranking for local keywords in your area. I think you can talk about this better. 

Marko: Exactly, that’s what pushes the narrative that my team and I want to express. Having a blog strategy is very important; that’s why I prefer writing my own content and not outsource it to someone. 

Time Stamp: 21:22-23:45

Senthil: Great, so what’s the next thing that you have in line for us, Marko?

Marko: The next one is about understanding Google Search Console and Google Analytics. As a webmaster, it is crucial to understand the basics. Search Console is a web service by Google that allows webmasters to check the indexing status and optimize visibility of websites. 

As a website owner, people need to monitor their website rankings with Search Console. Several other tools within the Search Console can help you improve your website rankings. Google Analytics can help you track progress on your website and let you check the number of views, clicks, and impressions.

Time Stamp: 23:47-27:49

Senthil: Absolutely, In fact, if website owners find it difficult to differentiate between both the tools, they can hire someone like Marko, who can help set up a dashboard in Google Data Studio and analyze different types of traffic. Is there any other tool that you’d like to recommend?

Marko: From my perspective, I like to use Agency Analytics because they have great software. It helps me send reports and get in-depth data on malware, security vulnerabilities, etc. 

Time Stamp: 27:53-29:13

Senthil: What’s next, Marko? 

Marko:  The last thing I’d like to mention is understanding your website. This is more targeted towards small business owners since they are clueless where they stand in the industry. Your website needs to managed internally even if you outsource SEO, content, social media, or other similar aspects.

 I think investing a day or two to learn to analyze where your website is could benefit you a lot. Your website is your biggest assent online, so you should learn to manage that.

Time Stamp: 29:14-33:08

Senthil: Is there somewhere where people can go and learn more about this?

Marko: I have a blog post on a 21 point beginner checklist, which can be helpful for people new to SEO or new website owners. I’ll ensure to provide a link to that article in this podcast.

Senthil: Thank you, Marko, for putting it across for the entire industry to learn something from this.  Guys, please feel free to reach out to Marko on his website if you have any doubts related to SEO.