Did you know that, according to eMarketer, spending on digital advertising campaigns, like those for local SEO, is set to increase by 25% in 2014? By the end of the year, analysts expect businesses worldwide will spend over $545 billion on search engine optimization services and in-house digital marketing campaigns.

With a full 93% of online experiences beginning with a search query punched into a search engine, it should be no surprise that digital marketing is seen as more important than ever before. Unfortunately, too many companies that eschew the help of SEO services in favor of doing everything in-house are making some serious mistakes. Just as effectively implementing general and local SEO strategies can help your business, failure to do so may end up crippling it. Here are three of the most common general and local search optimization mistakes you need to avoid to truly succeed online.

Three Common SEO Mistakes That Could Be Ruining Your Business

         1. You Aren’t Taking Local Search Optimization Seriously

According to Search Engine Land, 78% of mobile users make a purchase from a business after they’ve visited a localized business website. Even so, many businesses continue on with their digital marketing campaigns without ever focusing on local search optimization. Have you built local business pages? Is your website footer optimized with your name, address, and phone number? Are you encouraging reviews on respectable websites, like Yelp? If not, you’re ignoring local search optimization and doing your business a grave injustice.

         2. Your Company Blog is Full of Duplicate Content

It can be extremely difficult to regularly write fresh, interesting content for your blog, but if you resort to posting duplicate content, you’re going to kill your viability in Google. Remember, the search engine giant controls 65 to 70% of the market. As Search Engine journal details, since Penguin 2.0 was released, Google has been going after websites that host too much duplicate content. Think outside the box, don’t focus too tightly on your products, and make original content a priority.

        3. You Haven’t Optimized Everything

Too many companies, according to Business 2 Community, think that using the right keywords in a couple of blog posts is enough to build their presence in the online world. Here’s the thing: if you aren’t optimizing everything you publish online, you aren’t doing SEO correctly. Are your webpage URLs optimized with keywords? Have you set a canonical URL for your homepage? If you fail to optimize even one important area of your online presence, you’re hurting your company.

Are there other mistakes businesses make with their search engine optimization strategies we failed to mention? Tell us about them in the comments below.