SEO is ever changing and constantly evolving, thanks to the efforts of the search engine giant, Google. As we all know, marketing your website isn’t an easy task and optimizing it is an even more complex endeavor. One must have good knowledge about the latest guidelines, policies, and algorithms being introduced by Google in order to benefit from improved rankings in the SERPs, better visibility, and boost in web traffic. However, even though the importance of following the latest SEO tactics has been elaborated time and time again, there are still many websites found to be using obsolete strategies. This article aims to educate webmasters and those looking to launch a new website to avoid old tactics, as they only hamper your business’ ability of doing any good. If your SEO Company is found using any of these four obsolete tactics below, it’s time you get rid of them:
More Links Means Higher Rankings
According to the 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors survey conducted by David Mihm, “links” and “citations” are essential for businesses wanting to rank better locally and organically. Everything from attracting audience, grabbing the attention of search engine crawlers, and verifying brand reputation is dependent on your linking strategy. However, what most people don’t realize is that “links” have to be relevant in order to receive improved ranking benefits. Many websites are often found overloading their pages with backlinks and citations, even though it doesn’t have any affect. In fact, you can even notice new sites with only a handful of links are outranking old authoritative sites. This is because their linking strategy is more relevant and focused on “quality”. With Google’s latest algorithm update, the relevancy of links outweighs “quantity. So, if you want to rank better, don’t go after quantity for link building. Focus on building highly relevant links. [bctt tweet="most people don’t realize is that “links” have to be relevant in order to receive improved ranking benefits." via="no"]
Keyword-Rich Content = SEO
Many business owners still have the misconception that filling content with keywords will land them good rankings in the SERPs. However, what most don’t know is that “keyword stuffing” is now actually labeled as a black hat SEO technique. This means, if a website crawler detects that your business has been using unfair practices, your business will be penalized by Google. No longer do things run the same way they used to. Google’s latest algorithm uses latent semantic indexing (LSI), which identifies common patterns in relationships between different terms. For instance, if Google see’s the phrase “corporate credit card”, it will be considered similar to “business credit card”, which means you’ll be ranking for both terms. When you add dozens of keywords into your content, your site appears to be nothing but filled with fluff. This is why it’s imperative that you focus on creating content that is user-friendly. Always put your users first before thinking about attracting search engines. Whatever is best for your viewers will automatically help you in ranking higher on the SERPs.
SEO Is Just Links, Code, and Content
There are many webmasters who still believe that ranking well on Google only requires you to focus on Links, Code, and Content. However, this is what SEO used to be five years ago. Now, things have advanced and become a little more difficult. Sites need to invest great time and effort into social media marketing and video marketing for generating the audiences’ attention. Almost every person who has access to the internet uses social media platforms for staying in touch with family/friends/favorite brands. Why must you be left behind? Jump on the social bandwagon, communicate with your audience in real-time, and gain positive/negative feedback to improve your business’ processes. The more satisfied your customers and fans/followers are the better chances of you ranking better on the SERPs of Google. In fact, now that the search engine giant has even integrated location-targeting into optimization. It’s become important for businesses to create listings and gain reviews from customers. When customers perform a search, they will be presented a list of options for the businesses they can visit. If you manage to get good reviews and generate social attention, chances are you might receive great web and foot traffic. Therefore, don’t just focus on links, coding, and content. Instead, go the extra mile and focus on working on these new ranking factors of Google. Check this SEO Audit guide it also can help you figure out problems with your site.
More Pages Means More Traffic
This one is tough to get through the heads of some stubborn webmasters. They often cite Wikipedia as to being a great example of a content-rich site that gets lots of traffic, due to having millions of pages. However, what most don’t realize is that the number of pages you have on your website has nothing to do with the amount of traffic you receive. You could create a hundred pages for people to go through, but they wouldn’t make a difference (especially if they aren’t high in quality). In fact, by adding too much content, you actually risk experiencing a drop in your rankings. This goes true, especially if your content proves to be mediocre. Bear in mind that with Google’s latest Panda upgrades, it has become incredibly crucial for websites to create QUALITY content. This means those days are long gone you could produce the same old redundant stuff you find on every other website. To rank well, you need to create an authoritative approach. Websites need to show that they are industry leaders and experts in whatever service they are offering. Low-quality content on hundreds of pages will get you nowhere, but high-quality content on less than 10 pages could position you higher than your competition. Wise Geek is a great example. With their extensive content, they dominated the search engine rankings. However, as soon as Google’s Panda update was launched, they were hit hard and experienced a major drop. So, if you want to benefit from improved rankings and give your business a competitive edge, make sure to avoid using these outdated SEO strategies. [bctt tweet="To rank well, you need to create an authoritative approach." via="no"]
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