There are plenty of do’s in SEO that significantly improve search rankings. However, the do not’s can be just as important. These mistakes can raise a red flag to search engines and lower your ranking, or worse- completely remove your listing. Follow these search engine optimization tips to avoid lower rankings.
Keyword Stuffing
Keywords are important, no doubt. They help search engines know what your site is all about. With this knowledge, many resorted to something called keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is where the amount of keywords is too high in relation to the surrounding content. Do you ever wonder why you may have clicked on a link in the past regarding home improvement, but the page is loaded with spam articles, click bait, and completely unrelated content? Somebody with malicious intentions added hidden text to their page using a mass amount of keywords to improve their search engine rankings. Search engines combat this by lowering the site’s ranking in search listings. Sometimes people accidentally keyword stuff their content There is a certain proportion of content versus keywords that ensures a good standing with search engines. If the content is over saturated, the site can be dinged for keyword stuffing. A simple way to combat this is to create quality content. The job of a search engine is to bring the user quality search results. If all the search results are spam, nobody will use that search engine. It is no wonder that Google, Bing and various other search engines have developed tactics to combat keyword stuffing. Using your keywords over and over again makes for unnatural sounding content that lacks quality.
Don’t Fall for Any Search Engine Optimization Company
SEO can be intimidating, resulting in many looking for help optimizing their site. Unfortunately, this has led to many spam companies targeting website owners promising them number one search engine rankings. Research your search engine optimization company. If they are shady and get you in a bad spot, you may be the one who ends up in trouble! Very few phone calls claiming to be SEO companies are truly what they say they are. SEO companies claiming to sell you 1000’s of quality links and a direct ticket to the number one spot is ultimately a lie. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Search engine optimization is a lot of work, time, and research and is not an overnight magic trick.
Don’t Be Boring
In reality, SEO boils down to quality content that people want to see. Search engines look at many aspects of your website and they know quality when they see it. Don’t optimize your site for broad keywords. A local small business bakery won’t rank when optimized for the word “baking.” Think about what people will search when trying to locate your site. Also think about what other results your site may end up competing with when choosing keywords.Be mindful of what people want to read. Creating descriptive content not only attracts site visitors and link sharing but also assists search engine spiders to “crawl’ your site.
Those who are well-intentioned can make some of these (and many more) critical errors when optimizing their site. Innovative Solutions puts in the time and research to help you rank on the web. Our team is experienced in keyword research and can ensure your website won’t fall into any of these traps. Call us or send us an email to get started!
