Ranking high on the SERPs is fundamental to the survival and growth of most businesses. However, you cannot do that if you continue to use old and obsolete SEO practices in hopes of improving your rank. Scroll down to take a look at some common bad SEO practices that you need to ditch immediately!
1. Keyword Stuffing
Back in the day, search engines ranked web pages based on keyword density. The idea was simple – the higher the keyword density, the more relevant the web page. However, Google has changed its ways now.
It no longer depends on keyword density to determine if the web page should be displayed for a search query. It has adopted far more advanced methods to do that. Therefore, if your content is still focused on keyword density, you are already behind the curve. Search engines can spot keyword stuffing and may even penalize you for it by reducing your rank.
2. Keyword Variation
You can think of it as a form of keyword stuffing. Many people believe that using multiple variations of the same keyword can help them rank higher for it. This is far from reality. Search engines are now sophisticated enough to identify unnecessary repetition of keywords and their variations.
It is important to understand that using too many keyword variations brings down the overall quality of the content and makes it hard for the reader to understand. Search engines want to provide users with high-value content, which is why your content is unlikely to rank high if it contains unnecessary keyword variations.
3. Buying Links
Buying links to boost the authority of the website was a fairly common practice. Many people benefited from it in the past. However, things have changed now. Search engines have gone through evolutionary changes to identify low-quality domains with too many backlinks to a website. This can actually damage the ranking of your website. The only way to get links that will boost your visibility is to earn them.
4. Internal Links
While we are on the topic of links, let’s talk about internal linking. Adding internal links is a good SEO practice that structures a website. It is okay to use anchor text to create internal links. However, some kinds of anchor texts are more favoured by search engines as compared to others. In the past, the best SEO practice involved keyword-rich or exact-match anchor text. That’s not the case anymore.
So, while adding internal links is not a bad SEO practice, the best approach is to avoid over-optimisation. Add anchor text only when it is required and adds value to the user experience.
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the Bottom Line
Many people believe SEO practices are getting more restrictive by the day, making it harder for web pages to rank. However, the reality is that it is easier to rank on SERPs now. All you need to do is provide your audience with high-value content and optimize your pages to be as user-friendly as possible. User-centric content is the secret to improving your SERP ranking.
If you are looking for a digital agency to help you improve your ranking, you have come to the right place! We can take care of all your SEO needs so that your web pages rank higher on SERPs.
