Murphy ’s Law says it best—anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Yes, even in SEO content.
Poorly written content can drastically affect your site’s SEO ranking. And to make things even worse, bad SEO content is always hard to catch. You may think that you deserve the Pulitzer Prize only to know that it is full of kinks that could cost your site its precious ranking.
There are different factors that can affect the performance of SEO content, which include failure to be aligned with the latest Google’s algorithm updates. One small mistake could lead to catastrophic consequences.
But hey, don’t be discouraged. There’s always a way out—even if you’re in too deep. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel—but you must take the first step.
Whatever Happens, Don’t Commit these SEO Sins!
It’s time to turn your ship into a different course. It’s time to create awesome and SEO-friendly content! For starters, don’t commit these sins:
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Being a one-trick pony.
Focusing on one target keyword on a page without using variations is the best SEO content practice—if you’re stuck in the early 2010s!
Drop the habit of going all out on a single keyword with no variations. Just stop. What you want to do is to spread out the keyword and its variations throughout the content—but make sure they sound natural.
For example, you want to use the keyword “how to lose weight.” Make sure that you use variations of that keyword throughout the content. Using one variation per page is an old school trick and would not work these days. Today, it’s more like hitting all the birds with a single stone. Your content must be efficient while exerting a little effort.
If you want to know which variations would work best, go and type in your keyword on Google search bar. Look for the related searches at the bottom of the page.
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Going under the 1,000-word zone.
If you think short articles and blogs rule the SEOsphere, think again. Google now favours content that has at least 1,000 words.
Google now treats content with a lower word-count as half-baked, underdeveloped and lackluster. But don’t think shorter blogs are useless; of course, there will always be an exemption to the rule. If your blog doesn’t really need to go beyond the 1,000-word zone, by all means, go and write shorter pieces. However, if you want the upper hand in the SEO game, writing lengthy, informative and well-researched content is the key.
According to data, long-form pieces of content have higher chances of making it to the top of SERPs. With this, it is just logical and practical to produce blogs and articles with at least 1,000 words.
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Ghosting.
Ghosting isn’t just done in the dating game; it can also plague SEO content. If in dating ‘ghosting’ means being all out in the first days or weeks then suddenly disappearing, in SEO, it means producing content regularly then suddenly stopping.
If you want your site to be in the big leagues, then you’ve got to produce content regularly. Consistency plays a big role, believe us. When you don’t publish content in a long while, it is impossible for your site to rank because you’re depriving it of getting authority points.
According to the latest market research data, the sweet spot is at least 16 posts per month. This study found out that bloggers who publish 16 blogs or more in a month got almost 4x more traffic and almost 5x more leads.
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Throwing quality under the bus.
If you still believe that prioritising quantity over quality is the best practice, well, 2008 is calling; it wants its old hat techniques back.
Google is smarter now; there’s little room for tricking its algorithm. If dumping a ton of low-quality content can jumpstart your site’s position in the SERP years ago, it will not now; it could even penalise your site.
So what to do now? Simple, follow the three Qs: quality, quality, and quality.
According to Search Quality Rating Program, in order to the ensure quality of content, it should achieve its intended purpose, and establish expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
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Copying and pasting.
Plagiarism is a crime in the SEO world. Don’t even think about it! Just say no.
Your website, if filled with duplicate content, will surely suffer from harsh consequences. Say goodbye to good SERP rankings once you start copying and pasting the content from other sites. Google has zero tolerance when it comes to duplicate content.
However, there are also many websites that have content with almost similar wording, formatting, and style with other sites. There are millions of articles and blogs online, and that often happens, but it’s not the end of the road.
If you want to ensure the quality and uniqueness of your content, this guideline released by Google will surely come handy.
Conclusion
Now that you know the things you must avoid (at all cost) when creating and publishing SEO content, it’s time to put what you’ve learned into practice. The next time you write a blog, put the tips above in mind. Be more conscious.
If you need extra help in producing kick-ass content, contact Search Insights today. Our skilled team of marketing savants will be glad to help you out.