Just about everyday we hear about an SEO firm promising one of our clients they can help them get better search engine ranking on Google. This is usually accompanied by a bewildering technical request - our client has been told to ask us from his "SEO guy".  Of course not every website will get top search ranking, and if getting great search ranking were simple everyone would be doing it. Here are 5 of the biggest mistakes SEO firms are making in 2014.

1. Making the focus on page HTML.

In order to make it look like there's something wrong with your website SEO sales people have become adept at pointing out how you don't have the proper HTML tags on your web pages. Chances are you're not technical, and by making you feel like your web pages are technically inferior they hope to create a problem only they can fix, and for the right amount of money.

In reality Google pays very little attention to the HTML tags on your website. They work as a general guideline but I assure you having all your HTML code perfectly organized and tagged doesn't help Google find your website anymore relevant. Google's algorithm is smart. It doesn't need you to tell it how to read html to know the relevance of your page. It's a waste of time and money to focus on these small on page technical issues. Don't let a slick sales guy tell you otherwise.

2. Failing to create valuable quality content.

What Google is really looking for on your page is great content. By creating articles, images, videos,  and other media your audience truly wants to consume you're going to be found more relevant by Google. Google is working hard to fight against spam. Any type of self-promotion in your content is going to be looked at in a negative light. To create truly great content you should strictly be focused on giving your website visitors a great experience and valuable information. This type of content will get the type of traction Google looks for when deciding whether a page is more or less relevant.

3. Getting low quality links.

The days of all links being good links to your website are over. Google's now scrutinizing the type of links coming to your website more than ever. SEO firms may promise you they're able to get your ranking by putting together a link building program, but watch out. Google has cracked the code on things like link buying, link exchanges, and other forms of gathering links that are common place amongst SEO firms. By creating high-quality original content and then sharing that through your social networks, business contacts, etc you should be able to get the traction you need to get a few organic back links.

4.   Not focusing on brand.

Google is all about brand these days. That means they're looking for signals you're actually doing something to build a relationship with your customers and operate a real business. They figure if there are a lot of links to your brand name across the web you must be a place people are doing business with, or at least want to do business with. Google knows what your website is about based on the content, so if people are searching for your business name you're naturally going to get higher ranking on some of your other targeted keywords and phrases.

5. Failure to build offline relationships.

Because Google has stepped up it's game on spam you're going to have to work harder than ever to build real life relationships, and what better place to build those but in real life. By attending workshops, conferences, and trade shows you can meet people in your industry, form a real relationship, and ask them to link to your site. Links that spring from organic, real life relationships are not going to be perceived as spam because they're the type of links you can't plant and our relevant to your site.

So there you have it. 5 of the most common SEO mistakes people are making in 2014. By avoiding these mistakes you're sure to keep steadily improving your search engine ranking. A key take away is that there are no more shortcuts. If you want to move up the search ranking you're going to have to produce a lot of high quality content, build relationships, and find ways to get people to link to you organically. All while avoiding the spammy techniques that may have worked in the past.