SEO is not a set-it-and-forget-it marketing strategy and it’s always changing and evolving. Google constantly makes changes to its algorithm and SEO methods that were commonplace not too long ago and could not only be a waste of time today but could actually hurt your performance with search engine results. In this article, we’re going to give you a few examples of outdated SEO strategies that could potentially be detrimental to your business.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is one of the worst offenders when it comes to bad SEO practices. Keyword stuffing is based on the belief that if you use a certain keyword at a certain percentage in your content, you will eventually get traffic from people searching for this word. But tons of other factors such as incoming links, user experience, bounce rates, and site quality can influence for which keywords you will be ranking in, and keyword density is hardly a factor nowadays.
The right way to approach keywords is to have a general theme for your site and let the keywords flow in a natural way without worrying about density. If your content is relevant, then you won’t have to struggle to insert keywords naturally. If you want to include long tail keywords, make sure you insert them in the right context and focus on relevance first and foremost.
Not Considering User Experience
Google’s main goal is to provide the best search experience to their users, not please its bots. And you can expect them to continue to move towards this direction.
One of the biggest changes that have happened in recent years is more emphasis on user experience. Google started adding page loading speed and things like bounce rates as part of their algorithm. So even if you do everything the right way SEO wise, you won’t be rewarded if your website doesn’t answer your users’ concerns or just isn’t up to par.
Improve your site’s speed if you can and switch to a dedicated server. Compress files and remove heavy elements like flash to make your site quicker. And perform A/B testing on your pages using different colors, content, layouts and navigation and see where you can make improvements.
You should also consider working with a web design company that is familiar with SEO. They will be able to review your website and tell you which areas need improvement. And with the increasing importance of local SEO, you should work with companies that are familiar with your local market as well. If you’re looking for Web Design Minneapolis - Avila Web Firm know SEO and web design in and out and can help make changes to improve your site’s user experience.
Focusing on Link Quantity Over Quality
There was a time when the quantity of links coming to your site held some weight and you could never have enough of them. Not only does this method not work today, but too many links from poor sites will actually hurt you.
This is why you should always perform link audits on your site to see which sites are linking to yours and disavow any bad links to your site so they don’t hurt your rankings. Good links should ideally be on high quality sites that are in a niche related to yours. Links from high quality non-commercial sources are also great for rankings.
If you’re going to start a new SEO campaign, make sure that you steer clear from these few practices. And if any SEO expert proposes to use any of these tactics on your website, then consider looking elsewhere.