Search Engine Optimization has changed dramatically over the past decade or so. Earlier, it was possible to use spam tactics to get your website to rank at the top. But now with algorithm updates, SEO executives have had to change tactics and follow the guidelines of Google. This blog provides you 8 of the worst SEO practices to avoid.
Ideally, if your website provides a great user experience and is can be easily crawled by search engine bots, you won’t have to use such tactics. Search engines try to fight search tactics because they want to provide searches with useful and relevant content. The black hat SEO tactics mentioned below range from ineffective things to tactics which can be harmful to the website. Check out our blog to know HOW BLACK HAT SEO HURTS YOUR GOOGLE RANKING. Many of these tactics can get a website penalized or banned.
Creating duplicate content is one of the worst SEO practices to avoid
Creating unique and engaging content is one of the pillars of search engine optimisation. Posting duplicate content is a copyright issue and years ago, it was followed by many websites. But this changed after the pPanda algorithm update of Google. After this update, website owners had to create original and interesting content to prevent website losing ranking on search engines.
Instead of using Black Hat SEO techniques, learn HOW WHITE HAT SEO PROTECTS YOU FROM GOOGLE ALGORITHM CHANGES.
Spun content is one of the worst SEO practices to avoid at all costs
Content spinning is the process of rewriting an article to avoid duplicate content issues. Article spinning can actually hurt credibility, trust of customers and may eventually lead to a drop in rankings.
Worst SEO practices to avoid: Keyword stuffing
This black hat SEO technique has been practiced since SEO started and is quite common. When a keyword is used too many times it will irritate and confuse the readers. Moreover most of them will navigate away from the webpage. Not only will it hurt your ranking but will also negatively impact credibility. It is also important to avoid stuffing meta tags and meta descriptions with keywords.
Read out blog and know about CHOOSING THE RIGHT KEYWORD IN CONTENT WRITING- AN INTEGRAL PART OF SEO STRATEGY.
One of the worst SEO practices to avoid: Spam comments
Comments on a blog or a website are important. Getting a lot of comments can boost your traffic. But sometimes many websites include spam comments. Spam comments are those comments which have a link back to a website. These comments can bring down your reputation in the search listings. This is one of the worst SEO practices to avoid.
You can boost your traffic by improving your local SEO. Check out our blog on: HOW TO BOOST LOCAL SEO: A FEW SIMPLE STEPS.
Unnatural or exact anchor text
The use of anchor texts is one of the most important search engine optimization tips. Anchor texts take the visitors to another page and usually there is a connection between the content of the webpage and the anchor text. But anchor texts can be bad for rankings if you use irrelevant exact anchor texts as it is over-optimization of a website.
Irrelevant links are the worst SEO practices to avoid
Links are important for site architecture and rankings. But sometimes many websites add irrelevant or hidden links between the content. These links are usually stuffed with keywords and it pops up in the top of the search engine. With the panda algorithm update using irrelevant links or hiding them is not a good option and is one of the worst SEO practices to avoid at all costs.
Read our blog on INTERNAL LINKS: WHY THEY ARE VITAL TO BOOST SEO.
Unnatural back-linking
Unnatural back-linking refers to loaned, borrowed, bought or exchanged back-links. These are usually not authentic and in case these come from pirated sources, can lead to harm. The chances of de-indexation are high if one uses this tactic. Another method of unnatural back-linking is creating fake websites and linking back to your own. Such links don’t count and will definitely lead to website losing ranking on search engines.
For related topics, check out: MAJOR DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLS: DO YOU KNOW THEM ALL?
Poor website layout
Search engines don’t just use links or Keywords as factors for ranking websites. The website layout and the kind of user experience your website provides is a crucial factor that is taken into consideration. It is important to check your website layout and make sure that it is user friendly. This is because a poor website layout will hurt rankings and conversions.
Search Engine Optimization is all about providing the best user experience for the visitors. Your content needs to be entertaining informative and interactive as Google wants to rank content which is unique and valuable. The above mentioned worst SEO practices to avoid can harm your website in more ways than one. Don’t risk using these tactics as they can penalize or ban your website from the search engines. Stick by the guidelines, become a valuable resource for a customers, and reap the long-term benefits.
To conclude, here are the MOST IMPORTANT AND EFFECTIVE ON PAGE SEO TECHNIQUES FOR SEO SPECIALISTS.
