Which SEO techniques should be avoided?
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Which seo techniques should be avoided?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a crucial aspect of online marketing, but not all techniques are created equal and should be avoided.
Some practices, known as “black hat” techniques, can actually harm your website’s search engine rankings and overall online reputation.
It was someway easy to rank on google years ago by using some black hat techniques, but now google has updated a lot to catch those techniques immediately and penalise you for that.
Many techniques are outdated but some are still being used by new users who want to give it a try.
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the most common black hat SEO techniques that should be avoided. From keyword stuffing to link buying, it is important to understand what not to do in order to improve your website’s visibility and drive more organic traffic.
So, let’s dive in and see which SEO techniques you should avoid.
Exact Match Domain (EMDs) Dependency
Exact Match Domains (EMD) are the domains that contain the exact keyword in it for which you try to rank on SERP.
Let’s understand it with this example – There is a website www.bestdentistindelhi.com where the keyword is “Best Dentist in Delhi”.
Now it’s a plus factor (not the only factor) that google will rank your website on top positions for this keyword “best dentist in delhi” on Google SERP as you have the primary keyword on your domain.
On 29th November, 2012 when Google launched the “Exact Match Domain” system which is a ranking signal but it started to decrease the effect of keywords in domain for websites who intentionally buy domain with keyword to rank on google and have poor content.
So, now google don’t give it a priority
It is best to use your business name as your domain.
Using Irrelevant Keywords
Searching for keywords with high volume and low competition is always the primary goal of any Seo professional but the problem occurs when you are not getting satisfactory results.
So what people do is take irrelevant keywords just to rank on google and their content is different.
For example, A Digital Marketing Company ranks on the keyword “Digital Marketing Course” when it is not providing any such course.
By doing this you can improve visibility on SERP but in no time user will get to know that he is misled and he will exit.
This will have a negative effect and google will decrease your ranking for that keyword.
Creating Unique Pages for LSI Keywords
This was the technique used long ago to rank more pages for the keyword variations having good search volume.
LSI keywords are different words but have similar meanings.
You must have noticed in SERP that if you search for “Digital Marketing Company” it also shows its variations such as Digital Marketing Agency or Digital Marketing Firm etc.
So if you create different pages for each of them then it will lead to cannibalization.
The content of the pages will be more similar because ultimately the content will be based on similar keywords.
As a result, each of your pages will conflict with other pages to rank and google will never rank such pages that have similar content.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is the practice of overfilling a website with keywords in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results.
However, this technique is not only unethical, but it can also harm the user experience.
Google’s algorithms can easily detect keyword stuffing, and sites that engage in this practice may be penalized, resulting in lower search rankings or even being removed from search results altogether.
Additionally, keyword stuffing can make your content difficult to read, as the content will be stuffed with keywords, making the text look awkward.
Instead of keyword stuffing, it is recommended to focus on creating high-quality, relevant content that naturally incorporates keywords. This will not only improve the user experience, but it will also help the site rank well in search results in a legitimate way.
Writing for Search Engine
People often try to please search engines rather than actual users.
There was a time when search engines were easy to be pleased but now they have updated so much that they can understand the difference.
Writing for search engines can be repeating the keyword, highlighting or bolding the keywords in all variations over and over again means leaving no chance to tell search engines what their website is about.
But the problem is they are ruining the user experience which is now the most significant ranking factor.
Article Spinning
Article spinning is a technique to write content from already published content by making a few changes to it. There are several online software tools that use synonyms for the existing content and then give you a copy of that as new content.
It creates the worst user experience as the content generated is impossible to understand by any human.
Google has its own AI system and it can easily detect AI content. Google knows that human-written content is far better and user-friendly than AI one.
Content Swapping
Content Swapping is an advanced black hat SEO technique in which there are two different pieces of content on the same url address, one on the server and the second on the actual web page.
This is done by writing fresh new content and submitting it to google for indexing. When the page is indexed then it is blocked for indexing and the content is changed.
This is done for the type of content which will not be indexed by Google.
It is a very old-school black hat SEO technique and should be avoided because Google was slow at that time but now it will penalise the site immediately.
Targeting Only Desktop Optimisation
Nowadays a website looking great on a desktop is not enough because google has considered mobile usability as a ranking factor.
This means if your website is not usable on mobile or is not user-friendly then it will definitely rank on SERP.
According to Google mobile-first Index,
“ If you have anything on Desktop not on mobile (content, comments, reviews, etc…) it will not be indexable starting March 2021. If it is not on your mobile page it will not count for indexing ”
Buying Backlinks
Buying backlinks is not a good SEO practice and should be avoided because it goes against Google’s guidelines for building backlinks.
Google’s algorithm is designed to reward websites that have earned high-quality backlinks through content marketing and other legitimate means.
Backlinks that are purchased, traded, or otherwise artificially created can be seen as an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings, which is a violation of Google’s guidelines.
Buying backlinks can also be risky because the quality of the links cannot be guaranteed.
Some companies that sell backlinks use unethical methods to generate links, such as link farms and other spammy tactics. These links can actually harm a website’s search engine rankings and reputation.
Instead of buying backlinks, it is recommended to focus on creating high-quality content that will naturally attract backlinks.
This will not only improve your search engine rankings but also increase your website’s reputation and brand awareness.
Conclusion
All the SEO techniques discussed above are mainly black hat or outdated and should be avoided. These are used to manipulate search engine rankings in ways that violate the search engine’s terms of service.
Using these SEO techniques can lead to penalties or even a complete ban from search engines.
Websites that are caught using black hat techniques may see their search engine rankings drop dramatically, which can lead to a significant loss of traffic and revenue.
Additionally, using black hat SEO techniques can also harm the user experience by providing irrelevant or low-quality content.
It can also lead to negative reputation and brand image.
It’s important to avoid these SEO techniques and instead focus on creating high-quality content and building legitimate backlinks.
This will not only improve search engine rankings but also increase website’s reputation, trust and brand awareness.
Best Wishes
Ishan Saxena
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