Search Engine Optimization (SEO), can be defined as the act of improving a site in a way that increases the chances of it being on top of relevant searches. That is the reason it is the main focus of every online strategy. Every company now prefers hiring the best SEO services in New York to gain prominence in the online world.
If effective SEO tactics are used, then your business is most likely to show on top searches in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The search engine robot gives preference to the website with skillful SEO tactics.
Bad SEO practices not only ruin the image but also the credibility of the site. Like websites that use keyword stuffing to fool search engines were very common in past years. It showed that not much thought was put into the making of the website and it is just trying to exploit bugs in the rating system. But the keyword stuffing bug has now been fixed.
Let’s talk about some SEO tactics that are frowned upon when used and are gradually becoming outdated.
Bad SEO Tactics You Should Avoid
- Keyword Stuffing
Using the same word again and again or generating sentences that repeatedly use the same word is called keyword stuffing. People used to do this a lot in the past years. But now Google has become much more advanced and smarter. Google has developed algorithms that look through this trick and rank websites accordingly.
There are always consequences when one does something unethical. Ignoring your customers is not penalized by google but it does have adverse effects on the site. If one focuses more on keywords, the terms used will most likely be irrelevant and unrelated to the content and the business the site is about.
When customers visit the site and all they see is repetitive content and no solution to the problem, then they will choose to ignore using the site next time its name pops up. So, in all, if you are attempting to gain attention and rating without providing any sort of value, then sadly the website will perform very poorly.
- Invisible Keywords
A much more sneaker and effective way of keyword stuffing are invisible texts. It is a very old technique and has proven quite effective against Google tests. Keywords are hidden in plain sight on the pages, the color of the words is exactly the color of the background. This makes them invisible to users but detectible by Google.
- Bad UX
The ranking is not only based on the keywords and the links on the site. The Usage Data is also taken into account. Usage data means how customers or users interact with the site. Having a high Bounce Rate means users do not find what the website says it does and consequently they leave. The search engine believes then that it has shown something irrelevant to the words searched by the user.
A site will not look very much credible or trusting if the design and structure are outdated. Using basic and default designs is the thing of the past now. Developers are now adapting to change and trends.
- Duplicating Content
Copying content from other sites and listing it on yours is not ethical. What’s considered worse is that you copy the content and just paste it as is on your site. Copying and pasting from sites was the thing of the past, search engines have algorithms that display the original content at the top.
E-commerce sites are known to use duplicate content. They copy the product description from the original site, it has been noted that it causes problems for the website. The content may pop up repetitively at random points on your site, and it may confuse the search engine in allocating authority to a certain page.
- Irritating Advertisements
What’s more irritating and annoying than seeing and reading the same word across a site multiple times, its advertisements. Not just anyone but the ones that block your screen while you’re sifting through the site. The one that does not let you scroll up or down. It blocks any motion for a certain period, vanishing or being canceled by the user after it is made sure he has viewed it.
An example of this is automated advertisements on YouTube. The video just pauses midway to make you watch a 5-10 second ad. It becomes irritating after some time and a site will most definitely lose views if all it shows is ads.
These tactics mentioned above will surely lose popularity in the coming year, and it has been explained why. Adopt modern tactics to keep up with the competition. So, before you hire a local SEO company, enquire about their services and practices.
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