Search engine optimization is perhaps the best way to differentiate your brand from the hundreds or thousands of companies within the same industry. When websites perform well in search results, they receive an increase in website traffic that leads to exposure, leads, and a rise in sales.
The world of SEO has changed drastically over the past few years and many of the tactics that worked to get traffic and rank in search results pages no longer work. As a matter of fact, some of the tactics that used to be guaranteed ways to rank in search results could now get your website in a lot of trouble. If you want to avoid problems with Google and the other search engines, then you need to learn to avoid these old and dangerous SEO tactics.
The 2 types of SEO:
- Black Hat SEO
Black hat SEO is a set of illegal or unethical practices that an individual or group of individuals are employed in an attempt to improve search engine result rankings for a website or group of websites.
- White Hat SEO
White hat SEO is a set of by-the-book, ethical, technical, and aesthetic practices that an individual or group of individuals are employed in an attempt to improve search engine result rankings for a website or group of websites.
The following post covers some of the main things you should stay clear of when optimizing your website for SEO.
1. Paid Links
Paid links are considered as the easiest way to get your website quickly ranked in SERPs. However, it is against the natural SEO which affects organic search results.
Backlinks play a crucial role in your website SEO, along with determining the authority of your website.
Many companies sell backlinks, claiming that they could quickly increase your search engine rankings.
Google’s algorithm includes consistent checking of do-follow and no-follow links to a website, but if it finds something odd and if you try putting paid links on your website, your site will be shut down, your rankings will fall and you will be hit with a penalty in no time.
2. Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is a common mistake that many businesses make. Keyword stuffing is basically filling your content with keywords in a manner that is unnatural. Using the right keywords is probably the best thing you can do to increase your ranking.
The focus in today’s time is on creating relevant high-quality content and not content that is purely stuffed with keywords. If you try to keyword stuff your content today, your website will no longer rank in search result pages.
3. Duplicate Content
Duplicate content is a big no-no when it comes to SEO. It refers to content that appears on the Internet in more than one place usually defined as a location with a unique website address (URL) so, if the same content appears on more than one web address, it’s called duplicate content.
Plagiarizing content will not only reflect badly on your brand, but it will also harm your ranking in SERPs. In this context, plagiarizing is the act of taking some other website’s content and passing it off as your own. Search engine algorithms can easily detect plagiarism and drop your rankings in no time. Research on some ways to create SEO friendly content to create better page authority.
4. Broken Links
Broken links are links that lead nowhere. They’re links that send visitors on your site to a page that’s no longer there and usually displays a 404 error message. Not only are broken links bad for user experience but they will also serve to get you actively punished by Google’s algorithms. There are various SEO tools that can help you detect broken links in no time.
5. Misdirection
Misdirection occurs when you publish content on your website that will surely get plenty of search engine attention, but when clicked on the website takes users to something completely different. This is an easy SEO hack for Google to catch and it will get your website blacklisted.
6. Not Focusing On Mobile Users
Mobile SEO was not a big deal a few years back, right until Google clearly stated that mobile-friendly sites would be a critical factor for websites to rank. Therefore, make sure your website is mobile-friendly and even loads fast on small screen devices. A few points to keep in mind while making your website mobile-friendly are:
- Improve your sites load time
- Integrate responsive design
- Focus on user experience
- Optimize title tags and meta descriptions
Conclusion
Search Engine Optimizations can be quite the task mainly because of the complexities that come with it like that of choosing the right keywords, backlinks, and metadata which can be very intimidating but is equally essential. It is also time-consuming and is a process that needs to be followed throughout the life of your website
But luckily for you, SEO is what we live and breathe here at Social Pill. We are committed to helping you rise up in rank and get you to the first page of Google. Whether you are just a small business that is slowly expanding or if you’re already an established brand, we can help you set up an effective SEO foundation. Our comprehensive approach helps clients gain rank, visibility, leads, customers, and followers through search discoverability.
Also Check Out Our Other Blog’s:
Why Digital Marketing Is the New Traditional Marketing In Times Of Covid-19
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