SEO is a subject that is often misunderstood and it is easy to make mistakes when going through this process if you don’t know what you are doing!
I’ve compiled a list of common SEO mistakes that music teachers make below.
Your location info is missing from your website
Local organic search optimization is something ALL music teachers should focus on heavily.
One of the the things I have noticed from many websites I have looked at is that a lot of people don’t think to put their geographic location anywhere on their site!
This means that you should be thinking about what people close to you would be searching for, and then optimizing the text on your website for those local keywords.
If you don’t have that information on your website, Google won’t know where you are located and therefore will not place you in the natural listings!
Not enough text content
I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again: CONTENT IS KING.
If you only have photos on your website and a few paragraphs of unrelated text that do not include keywords that people would search for, your website is NOT going to come up on Google.
A website with good SEO will hand the information over to Google AND the visitors on a silver platter by having text content that describes exactly what that business offers.
A Poorly Coded Website
One of the worst SEO mistakes you can make is to have a poorly coded website.
In the last few years, Google has had quite a few things change in its algorithm.
Three of the big things from a tech standpoint are: mobile responsiveness, security, and site speed.
If your website is slow and you are competing with a website that is faster than others, you are at a disadvantage.
It also is bad for your visitors, who might get tired of waiting for things to load and leave your site to go to another.
Additionally, Chrome gives a warning to users about a website not being secure now if there is no SSL certificate attached – and it can be scary for someone who doesn’t know what that means!
How to fix these common SEO mistakes:
- Make Sure Your Website is Mobile Friendly (click here to check if your website is mobile friendly)
- Get an SSL certificate (click here to learn how to install a FREE ssl certificate)
- Reduce your website’s load time and resources (smaller photos, less junk code, a good website host)
Not having a Google MyBusiness page
This step is an absolute no-brainer! The Google MyBusiness page is what allows you to show up in the local maps section (also known as the “three pack”).
Make sure to fill out your information thoroughly and honestly.
The information entered in your Google MyBusiness page should exactly match the information contained on your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) on your website.
Not Letting the Search Engines Know You Exist
If you don’t submit your music lesson website to the search engines, you might be lucky and end up in there by chance. But in our industry, we can’t afford to leave things to chance.
Avoid this common SEO mistake by taking few minutes to connect Google Search Console (Previously known as webmaster tools), and also submit your website to Bing. With the combination of everything above, you’ll be that much closer to new clients finding you!
