SEO – or search engine optimisation, is the process of improving your website’s searchability in an attempt to get it to the top of search engine results pages. There are plenty of ways to improve your SEO results, but there are also plenty of ways to diminish your results and get a poor ranking from Google.
Read on for 4 SEO tactics that you definitely need to avoid if you want to improve your search engine results and drive more traffic to your website:
1. Keyword Stuffing
A decade ago, keyword stuffing was a technique used by countless individuals and companies to trick search engines. Today, Google had improved its algorithms and can easily detect such activity, and will actually penalise you if it detects keyword stuffing. Also, by stuffing keywords into your articles you will end up boring your readers, making them far less likely to ever return to your site.
Use keywords carefully and only place them into your content if they provide value and meaning to your text. For an article of around 300 – 500 words, aim to use the same keyword 3-4 times.
2. Content Theft
It can be tempting to copy an entire article and use it word-for-word on your website. But this type of activity is unfair on the original writer and also bad news for SEO, as search engines will view this as duplicate content on both your website and the original site. If the search engines can’t detect the original writer, then both sites get punished.
Instead, write original content. This gives you a great chance to get your own voice unique across which is a fantastic way to boost brand awareness and build an authentic, dedicated following.
3. Click-Bait Headlines
A click bait headline is a headline designed to entice the reader in, but has little relevancy to the actual content. Avoid using click bait headlines – instead of bringing you more readers, they lead to high bounce rates, which is bad news for your website.
Instead, create headlines that accurately reflect the content of your article. Make them interesting, insightful, thoughtful and value-added. This will develop long-term relations with your readers who will return to your site time and time again to read your high-quality content.
4. Laziness
Successful SEO isn’t a one-off event that can take place on a Monday morning. It’s a daily effort that requires time and dedication. Yes, there is a great deal involved in successful search engine optimisation, but a little hard work can go a long way in improving your search engine results, driving better-quality traffic to your website and improving your profits.
About 8 Ways Media
About 8 Ways Media 8 Ways Media is a Swiss-based website development agency offering 8 main services such as branding, web design, digital marketing, SEO and much more. Visit our services page to learn more or get in touch today!