You might be wondering what’s the real deal with your site’s low ranking in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). You’ve been following all the rules, producing high-quality content and even maintaining active social media profiles—but what gives results?
One Mistake Could Lead to Problematic Consequences
Think of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) as an intricate freeway like Australia’s Highway 1—it’s long and complicated. When one route closes, it would result in a domino effect. This is the same with SEO; when you’ve done something bad, it would lead to consequences that could spoil your whole campaign.
Yes, you are doing everything right (at least that’s what you think), but you might be doing something wrong without you even knowing it. Don’t worry, because even the most seasoned specialists face the same struggle from time to time.
Whatever Happens, Don’t Make These Mistakes
To ensure the higher ranking of your site, the first step is to familiarise yourself with the SEO mistakes you should avoid at all costs. Knowing what not to do will help you create a strategic and fail-safe SEO strategy.
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Relying on paid links.
Link buying was rampant a decade ago for a simple reason – it works. Fast forward to 2019, buying and selling links are a big no-no in most SEO circles. But why? For starters, it is not only frowned upon by Google but it’s also a violation of the search engine’s guidelines.
According to Google, a paid link means “exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links; exchanging goods or services for links; or sending someone a ‘free’ product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link.”
Google is serious about this; it is warning marketers not to do it because it has its ways of checking whether a site relies on paid links. Keep in mind that it is almost impossible to trick Google now so it would be best to play by the rules. Simply put, when you buy links, say goodbye to your chances in boosting your site’s ranking in the SERP.
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Spamming other sites.
Another trick that will not work in 2019 is blasting other sites with comments that have links to your site. Yes, this technique worked before but it won’t these days. It’s time to move on from the dark ages of SEO.
Spamming is a sin in today’s SEO. Google doesn’t tolerate spamming another site with link-dense comments so you would not want to engage yourself in such activity. What Google wants is for you to earn links to your site through quality content.
Moreover, spamming another site spoils the user experience for that site, which can lead to your site being penalised. Respect other sites for respect in return. To cut the story short—don’t try it; it’s not worth it.
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Misleading people with bad anchor text.
Anchor texts are important because they give the readers a preview of what the link is all about. It is a big mistake to deceive people with bad anchor text—you simply don’t do that without facing any consequences.
For example, you have a clothing brand that you want to rank for the “streetwear brand Sydney” keyword phrase. If you link back to your site multiple times using the same anchor text, don’t expect that it will work because Google knows what you are doing. It simply won’t work. It’s a waste of energy and time.
Abusing anchor text will not help your site to improve its ranking as it is the other way around. Your site can be penalised for practicing such bad SEO practices. So use anchor texts wisely; use them for what they are supposed to be used for; don’t mislead people.
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Plagiarising content.
Just don’t; it’s not worth it. Google is all about ensuring all sites have quality, informative, and unique content so duplicating content doesn’t make any sense. Remember: plagiarism is a crime in the world of modern SEO.
If your SEO specialist is recommending that duplicating content will boost your site’s ranking with the least amount of time consumed, do yourself a favour – get away ASAP.
Duplicating content doesn’t always mean articles that were completely copied and pasted. Even the most talented and creative content creators may fall victim into content duplication without them knowing it. There are thousands of articles online and you can bet that there’s a good chance that your content may be similar to others. In order to avoid this, make sure to use plagiarism checking tools before publishing content.
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Keyword stuffing.
This is another antiquated technique that you should file under the “SEO techniques from the 2010s that no longer work today” folder. Remember the days when almost all blog entries of marketing agencies were filled with keywords where the articles no longer made sense? Yes, those days.
Today, Google’s RankBrain is in full effect. This AI-powered algorithm checks the quality of content and flags the ones that have unnecessary keywords. So placing 10 keywords in your content isn’t the way to go these days. It’s not worth the effort.
Stuffing your content with keywords will not help your ranking but will hurt it. Why? Because it doesn’t add any value to your content; it doesn’t make it authoritative; it doesn’t make it high quality. Keep this in mind: Google only rewards sites with content that are valuable, informative, and authoritative. So make sure that you use keyword phrases sparingly in which they look natural to read.
If you’ve been going 101% on your SEO campaign but your site’s ranking isn’t making any progress, perhaps it is time to invite another pair of eyes on board. Consult with experienced SEO specialists who can professionally audit your site to know what should go and what should be kept.
Got an Australian brand that needs some help in its SEO campaign? Search Insights might be the team you’ve been looking for. Contact us today to find out how we can get your brand to the top.