SEO is a massive topic, and there are loads of different theories and thoughts surrounding it. There are some aspects of SEO that undoubtedly bring brilliant results, however some of the techniques used by so-called “experts” quite simply don’t work. They might have worked at one point, but the world of SEO has moved on in recent years, so it’s time to drop these practices and start focusing on proven, modern-day SEO techniques instead.
SEO, as you’ll probably already know, is vital to the success of your website. After all, if you aren’t using it properly, how will potential customers ever find you? Hower, there are some old-hat techniques that can get you into trouble with Google. Bulldog have put together a list of SEO tricks that you should avoid…
Article Submission Sites
It used to be the case that sites such as Ezine were gold-dust for SEO, as they’d accept just about anything and, perhaps more importantly, allow a nice link to be included. But then Google got wise to this, as they realised that these sites provided little or no use for regular people, and instead were simply used to garner huge numbers of links.
The Panda update was the thing that really did for article submission sites, as it made links coming from them virtually worthless. Just one good guest post on a relevant site is now worth fifty Ezine submissions, because Google understands that guest posts actually provide some use to the reader.
Plain, Boring Content
Ever heard the phrase “content is king?” Well, it’s certainly true when it comes to SEO. Quickly rushing out twenty articles, all of which have nothing to say and are practically copied from another online source won’t help your rankings at all, because people quite simple won’t want to read them, and nor will they want to share them.
Instead, you should be focussing on writing content with value – in-depth, useful content that your reader really wants to understand. So, no more 100 word posts on your blog. Instead, try to make your blogs closer to the 1000 word mark and, as you’ll see in the next point, don’t stuff them full of keywords.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing used to be a sure-fire way to improve your rankings. For example, if you were trying to hit Google’s top spot for “barber in Manchester” you would simply cram your content with this phrase, throughout your site. Once again though, the Big G has got wise to this, and will actually penalise any site that it believes is cramming too many keywords into one page.
This isn’t to say that keywords shouldn’t still be used – in fact, they are vital to any successful SEO campaign. But they should be used sparingly (perhaps taking up 1-2% of your content), leaving you with more scope to provide more useful content to your readers.
Concentrating on Google
Google is the godfather of the SEO world, the one company you really want to please. But it is foolish to keep concentrating all of your resources on this one company. After all, what happens if Google suddenly releases another update, which this time decimates your site? You need to have back-up options, and there are plenty of other opportunities to create traffic outside of Google.
You should be concentrating on social media; collecting emails to use in direct marketing campaigns; optimising videos on YouTube; writing guest posts for popular sites in your niche; and doing a whole number of other things as well. Don’t forget about Google, but it doesn’t need to dominate every SEO decision you make anymore.
Link Exchanges
If you’re still living in 2005, link exchanges might be a great way to boost your rankings. But this is 2016, and they are now only very unhelpful, but also potentially harmful to your overall SEO strategy. For those that don’t know, link exchanges were basically swaps, where two sites would agree to put up each other’s links and hopefully gain some link juice from it.
The problem is this: seeing reciprocal links on two websites automatically sends a panic alarm to Google HQ, as it is a massive hint that you’re simply trying to get cheap links and really aren’t trying to add value for readers. The result? They could come down on you like a ton of bricks, completely destroying your online business in the process. By all means build good quality links, but don’t be tempted by quick and easy ones.
Of course, there are many other bad SEO practices also still circulating around. What’s more, the practices currently considered to be good might not remain that way forever, as Google is constantly changing the way in which its algorithm works. This means that you need to keep a constant eye on the SEO world, and adapt your tactics as and when necessary.