Outdated or just plain bad SEO practices are not uncommon. Many businesses do not have the time or resources to stay up to date with search engine optimisation best practices. In fact, it is difficult for many professionals to stay on top of this ever-changing landscape.
Nonetheless, poor practices can harm your search engine ranking. Some of these bad SEO practices may have been a good idea at one time but search engine algorithms have become extremely sophisticated, and continually change.
1. Repeating Content to “Stay Fresh”
We all know content is king. Visitors and search engines alike want to see new, fresh content. Without it, your website appears inactive. However, writing the same topic, over and over, creates weak and thin content. In order for blog content to have the desired effect, it must be valuable to your visitors. Additionally, write for your audience, not the search engines. Popularity is a major signal used for search engine result placement.
2. Poor Curating Practices
Posting duplicate content, even if you give credit, is a major mistake. If you think the information is valuable to your audience, the better option is to original write commentary referencing the content, limiting quotes to 20 percent or less. Duplicate content is content already indexed by search engines. Therefore, they either will not index your page or worse, they will penalize your site. It is OK to post duplicate information, but ensure the presentation is original and unique.
3. Stuffing Keywords
There was a time when you wanted to get your keyword into your text as much as possible. However, this sometimes affected the quality of the writing. Today, search engine algorithms have become extremely sophisticated and the greater emphasis is on context. Search engine algorithms are literally the closest thing we have to artificial intelligence, at least outside the tech labs. Include your keyword in the title, the description, and the first paragraph. Beyond that, only include the keyword naturally within your writing.
4. Using Link Networks
You may remember when any backlink was a good backlink. This is no longer true, and link networks can actually harm your SEO. While links to your site are beneficial, the quality of the site is what will improve your ranking. A high-quality site linking to yours is a signal that your site is authoritative. A low-quality site does little to nothing. However, the greater problem is the quality of the links these networks place on your site. If you start linking to low-quality or sketchy websites, they can have a negative impact.
5. Not Writing for Your Audience
Your ideal customer is a major factor in search engine optimisation. It is the blog comments, social media engagement, click-through rate, and overall user engagement that boosts authority and popularity. Search engines don’t just examine your website for the formulaic use of SEO best practices. They look at data to see if your content is valuable to visitors. Quality content is not producing a certain number of articles with a keyword or a steady stream of self-promotion. It is content that is either useful, informative, or entertaining to the reader.
If you would like talk about the bad SEO practices you should stop doing, or need more information, please contact us.
