For B2C businesses to survive in 2016 and beyond, they need to make search engine optimization a priority. Most decision-makers today recognize this state of affairs, but a lot of times they aren’t as clear when it comes to execution. As a result, many B2C firms make serious SEO mistakes.

Here are two of the most serious SEO mistakes for these companies to avoid at all costs.

1. Overdoing keywords
For a while, keywords seemed to be the end-all, be-all of SEO strategies. Companies started to identify their most important keywords and then completely saturate their landing pages and other digital copy with those terms. Google would pick up on this usage and reward companies appropriately.

That’s no longer the case. Keywords are still important for SEO purposes, but their importance has diminished. Even more significantly, Google recognized that many firms were artificially boosting their search rankings by excessively using keywords, and its newer algorithms specifically seek to identify and punish firms that follow that practice. Instead of focusing blindly on maximizing keywords, develop content that features these specific phrases regularly, but naturally. Additionally, firms must make sure they are using the keywords in the right places, including title tags, description tags, H1 tags, navigational link text and every other SEO content element.

With this in mind, choosing the right keywords and affiliated approach is key – and a challenge. Working with a proven partner like Core and More Technologies that can deliver keyword ideation services is the best way to ensure that a B2C company is focusing on the right keywords in its SEO strategy.

2. Overlooking Web design
High-quality Web design is an underappreciated component of SEO efforts, as Business 2 Community contributor Charles Winifred recently noted. He argued that it’s not enough to develop a Web design that’s aesthetically pleasing, as such an approach may result in a website that doesn’t maximize SEO. For example, he noted that some companies may replace text with design elements, which could look great but will undermine search rankings – a poor tradeoff.

That’s why it’s so valuable for B2C businesses to work with partners such as Core and More Technologies, which offers both Web design and SEO expertise. This ensures that the two elements will work in tandem, leading to both a great-looking website and the best possible search rankings.

By combining a carefully crafted keyword strategy with an SEO-inspired Web design, B2C companies will be well-positioned to see excellent search results in 2016 and beyond.