Overview
In the dynamic world of digital marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the cornerstone of a successful online presence. A well-executed SEO strategy can propel your website to the top of search engine rankings, drive organic traffic, and increase visibility to your target audience. However, not all SEO practices are created equal, and some outdated or questionable tactics can do more harm than good.
Sometimes a nice website has a lot of junk floating in the background you might not even notice. While pretty looking websites are nice, you want (and need) your website to run without this old and bad SEO strategies of the past. Otherwise, it could affect your search engine traffic.
In this blog post, we will explore the importance of removing bad SEO strategies and provide you with a comprehensive guide to optimise your online presence. We will delve into the common pitfalls and ineffective techniques that could negatively impact your search rankings and user experience. By understanding and rectifying these detrimental strategies, you can pave the way for sustainable growth and long-term success in the digital landscape.
From keyword stuffing and link schemes to poor website structure and slow page speed, we will identify the red flags that search engines frown upon. Moreover, we will provide you with actionable insights and best practices to replace these bad SEO strategies with ethical and effective techniques that align with current search engine algorithms.
Join us as we navigate the realm of SEO and empower you to eliminate harmful practices, improve your website’s performance, and establish a solid foundation for long-lasting organic growth. It’s time to optimise your online presence and stand out from the competition with a clean and effective SEO strategy.
6 Bad or Old SEO Strategies You Need to Remove Right Now
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Thin content pages – If you have pages with no or little content, you might need to be concerned. It is okay to have a few pages that are a bit light on content.
However, too many pages with thin or little content could cause a precipitous drop in your search rankings.
To figure out if you have this problem, use Google Analytics. Google Analytics has two important metrics you can use to determine if your site’s thin content is wrecking your SEO efforts.
First, check out your bounce rate. The bounce rate on each page should be lower than 80%. However, with thin content pages you might see some pages above 90%. This is way too high!
Your bounce rate determines the number of visitors who come to your website and then bounce off the website before visiting another page.
The higher your bounce rate, the more evidence Google has that your website does not have relevant content for users.
Second, what is the average time on site? A site with little content generally has lower time on site. Less content to look at, makes it easier to leave the site faster.
Again, Google looks at this as a relevancy issue. If your website users are only on your site for an average of 3 seconds it must be an irrelevant site.
On the other hand, if they spend 5 minutes browsing through your content, it shows promise.
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Duplicate Content – This is a violation of the Google Panda algorithm update. By duplicating content on multiple pages of your website, you reduce the value of the site to your users.
That is because duplicate content makes the site less interesting for users. Engagement is a significant part of the search engine strategy process.
Furthermore, Google looks at this as an attempt to jimmy your way into more search traffic through different keywords.
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Keyword Stuffing– This is an old strategy, but it still is used occasionally. A website abuses the keyword and variations of the keyword through the text of a page.
This is done to manipulate Google’s rankings by demonstrating the website is relevant to users through the sheer number of keywords on the page.
The practice has led to many sites being banished.
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Do not solely rely upon SEO for traffic. One of the biggest challenges is that marketers do not diversify their traffic sources.
Like a one trick pony, being reliant only on search traffic can be damaging in multiple ways. Also consider using social media services, Google AdWords services, and conversion rate optimisation in the marketing mix.
In regards to search engine optimisation, not having a well-rounded marketing strategy could stunt your results. You might not get the same response from new search visitors as you would from those on your list and those who follow you on social media.
For example, Shrushti.Com was able to use Social Signals to help raise their search engine traffic from page 400 to page 1.
This also helps make their traffic more balanced and ensures they can weather any algorithm changes.
That is another reason why you should incorporate email. You need a list to ensure that you have smooth traffic growth and sales, no matter the search environment for your keywords.
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Lack of a mobile-friendly site- Earlier this year, Google announced a monumental shift when they declared that all sites should move over to mobile-friendly websites.
Their mobile-friendly algorithm change happened this spring. The reason for this move is simple. 50% of all searches now happen on mobile devices. If your website is not mobile-friendly, it ruins the user experience for searchers.
If you ruin the user experience, Google will penalise you in the form of lower mobile traffic to your website.
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Keyword meta tags– An outmoded method of getting search traffic. These are invisible keywords that webmasters used for added search traffic.
The problem is they have not been a serious search factor since 1996. That is because most webmasters seriously abused them to use a lot of metatags to get a lot of traffic from different keywords that they tagged on their site.
If you are having problems with your search, and you have an older website it might make sense to see if you can remove them from your site.
Final Thoughts
A great search engine marketing strategy requires you have a website that performs, and remove a lot of the junk that makes websites seem worse in the eyes of Google.
If you have any further questions on how to repair your SEO, please feel free to contact us at Shout. Our team can help you remove the poor SEO strategies that may be harming your search efforts. We can help with SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and conversion rate optimisation.
