Are There SEO Tactics You Should Avoid?
Like everything, SEO evolves over time. It changes. Some of this is inherent to the practice itself; i.e., people learn more effective ways to do things and update their tactics. Some of it is due to the shifting algorithms. Things that Google used to allow may no longer be allowed, for instance, meaning that using these old tactics can actually harm your ranking. Either way, though, you need to be well aware of this evolution and you need to ensure that you’re doing the right things. It’s as much about knowing what not to do as it is knowing what you should do. Below, we will look at just a few of the many outdated tactics to stay away from.
Stuffing in Excessive Keywords
At the beginning of SEO, the basic idea was simple: More keywords meant a more useful site. The idea makes sense, seeing as how the number of keywords could have corresponded to the amount of useful information, but it quickly led to keyword stuffing. Some site designers would even do things like writing keywords in white on a white background, meaning they wouldn’t appear to the user but would spam the search engines. Google and others have picked up on this, though, and it no longer works.
Writing for the Algorithm
When you know that a computer is going to read what you’ve written and use that information to rank the site, it’s easy to think that you should write with the computer in mind. This could lead to clunky, unnatural text that is clearly designed just to use specific keywords or proper nouns. But the computers understand when text isn’t written in a natural way for a human audience. The best thing you can do is to create engaging content that users want to read and that provides them with value. Don’t get too caught up in writing for the algorithm itself.
Failing to Create Unique Content
Plagiarism is a serious issue, as is article spinning. Google catches onto repeated content and even content that is not unique enough. For instance, changing just one word in every sentence may technically give you a “unique” article, but Google is still going to flag that as copied content. You can never, ever do this. Everything you put on your site must either be a unique article or something that is intentionally being reposted with express permission. Those minor changes are not enough to trick a reader or the search engines.
Do You Need Content?
These are just three things you need to avoid, and they help to show you the importance of proper content on your site. If that’s something you’re in need of, feel free to contact us at Content Customs and we’d be glad to help.
