SEO techniques to avoid

From the start of the internet, website owners have wanted to be ‘number 1’ in the listings of a search engine. Guess what search engines want? … to deliver the best search responses to provide value to the users.

SEO techniques to avoid

So, there’s a conflict and this conflict created an entire industry of SEO experts based on trying to be ‘one step ahead’ of the clever and increasingly complicated algorithms that search engines had developed over the years to stop the SEO techniques from working. In the early days, this included such techniques as placing white text on a white background under the website that is full of search key phrases, clearly an attempt to ‘game’ the search engines.

SEO companies have used tiny and hidden text, keyword stuffing, hidden links, link trading, directory listing, duplicated and automated content, clickbait, cloaking, Google bombing, and many, many more!

In truth – at some point in the last 20 years, all these ‘SEO techniques’ worked and helped you ‘game’ Google, but Google didn’t just watch this and accept it, they constantly developed and enriched their systems and indexing techniques to spot and punish the cheats accordingly.

So, if you’re serious about trying to improve your SEO ranking then you need to simply follow the advice Google themselves provide by giving the information your client is looking for, in the way your client wants to see it … and that way, Google will do the rest.

The truth is that good, high-quality SEO techniques come halfway between the Google approach (which is a little optimistic) and the ‘gaming approach’ that will get you blacklisted on Google. You have to select a single keyword or keyphrase per page and then place this keyword in a number of places on the page to ensure that Google properly understands what the page is about, but not so much that you’ve gone over the top.

To avoid being penalised by search engines, avoid the following tactics:

• Publishing Low-Quality Content – Search engines prefer websites with high-quality content. High-quality content isn’t easy or cheap to create, which is why businesses recruit SEO agencies.
• Keyword Stuffing and Duplicating Content – Keyword stuffing when you overuse a keyword excessively in your content. Duplicate content is publishing the same content on multiple pages of a website.
• Cloaking – Cloaking is an SEO technique used to trick search engines into ranking content for a specific search term that isn’t tied to the context of the webpage.
• Using Misleading Redirects – False redirects to mislead audiences and search engines.
• Buying Backlinks – Instead of organically earning high-quality backlinks, don’t pay websites to link to your site.
• Spamming Blog Comments – Another attempt to gain links back to site, a marketer may comment on dozens and dozens of blog posts with a link back to their own website.
• Falsely Reporting Competitor Sites – The goal of this tactic is to get competitors penalized by search engines.

If you are ever in doubt speak to a specialist or attend local digital marketing events. You can even contact Google’s own helpline.

Understanding the SEO techniques to avoid becomes more and more complex as time goes by – SEO is complex and technical work and requires an expert understanding to get it right – find a supplier who can work with you on all aspects of SEO to help your search marketing growth.

Straight talking business advice from Yorkshire Powerhouse

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