Since search engine optimization began there have been many changes in the approaches people use to rank well. Over time it has become more and more difficult to rank well quickly. Since the search engines are constantly making new rules, each of the following strategies (or lack thereof) listed below are now outdated.
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1. Putting text that is the same color as the background
In the past this was commonly used as a way to add keywords to a website without writing them into the content. In the beginning this may have worked well for some, but the search engines quickly caught on. Google has posted information warning users against doing this at
goo.gl/MTlIs. Any content that the average viewer cannot see but can be seen by the search engines is bad for your site. Overall, it is best to try to optimize for the viewers and avoid making it obvious that you are trying to rank well.
It is important to try to use the proper coding when adding image captions and JavaScript descriptions. Putting image information in as "alt text" is extremely important. Previously some people might have put this text behind the image itself and this may have appeared as deceptive to search engines. Adding alt text makes the page more search engine friendly while still allowing the image to be read by screen readers and Google Images. If JavaScript is being used on a page it is important to put the words that are in your Java into <noscript> coding. This will help the search engines read what your JavaScript says and is much more effective than putting text behind the image that cannot be seen. This will also be helpful for users that do not have plug-ins or who have slow connections.
2. Blog commenting to get back links
Blog commenting is not as effective as it used to be for getting backlinks. Since it was an easy way to quickly get a link to your site, many people were using this tactic. Bloggers, as well as search engines, have made blog commenting more difficult to do and less effective. Many more bloggers moderate their comments now than they used to making it difficult to get your link to show up on their blog. Most blogs also do not have "do-follow" links enabled. This means that your website will get very little boost from a link on the blog. In addition, even blogs that still give "do-follow" links have been spammed with hundreds of comments. After the Google Penguin update, links from pages with more than 99 outbound links are generally devalued. As a result, even "do-follow" blogs are of little value from a link perspective.
If you are going to utilize blog commenting for your SEO strategy it is important to make sure that the blogs you are commenting on have a high page rank and are somewhat relevant to your site. If you are using spammy tactics, like commenting on hundreds of blogs that are not related it your site, it is obvious to search engines and you may be penalized.
3. Repeating words over and over on a page (Keyword Stuffing)
Obviously, having the keywords that you are trying to rank for on your site is important. However, many people do this excessively. It is important to not overuse your targeted keywords on your website because it can look like you are spamming. Make sure the you are writing content that makes sense and incorporates your keywords a reasonable amount of the time. Generally it is best to use a targeted keyword about 2% - 4% of the time within your content. However this percent varies based on the market and how often your competitors are using this term on their sites. In order to gain additional relevance for a term, you can use synonyms for the term. Google uses a technique called Latent Symantec Indexing to determine which words are related to other words. Here's a trick. Type in your key phrase into Google. Now look at the bottom of the page and see what "other similar searches" or "suggestions" it has for you. If any are different various of your term, you could use those in your site as well and it will increase your website's relevance for both your targeted key phrase and the similar phrase.
4. Not tracking bounce rate
Tracking your website's bounce rate is extremely important. Search engines track bounce rates, as well as traffic to your site, to determine how relevant and useful your site is. They even give you a rank boost if they like what they see. It is important to have a low bounce rate because this means users are viewing more of your content. Writing better content and targeting more relevant words for SEO can help improve your bounce rate and thus increase your rankings.
5. Duplicate Content
Duplicate is the practice of using the same content over and over on the web and was often used to get relevance or backlinks for a website quickly. However, search engines do not look very highly upon repeated content. Google and other search engines want to provide a wide variety of results to viewers with the goal of delivering what is being searched for. Because of the search engine's desire for variety, multiple pages with the same content will are not likely to show up high in search engine rankings. The reason for this is that search engines will perform one of three functions when they see a piece of duplicate content. First, they may de-index all content except for the content it perceives as having the highest authority. Secondly, it may penalize or devalue all of the duplicate content. Lastly, it may do nothing. There are many factors that go into determining how the search engines will react to duplicate content. In short, just stay away from duplicate content. Original content is far better for your website's search engine health.
As times change so do SEO strategy's. When considering how to rank well in the search engines, think about how to make the viewer of your content happy. Next, think about the different ways you can spread the word about the content. For example, you could put out a press release or post to social media sites. Promote yourself in natural ways. Do not use spammy tools or short cuts or eventually you will get caught by the search engines. When that happens, you may never recover.
Do you need help with your
SEO? Contact Foremost Media Today. Foremost Media Inc is a privately held company concentrating on all aspects of application and internet development and marketing from website design and visibility optimization to social media marketing.
Posted By Jon Ballard
2:31 PM
Jon Ballard
