5 (More) Biggest SEO Flops

Following on from our previous blog, we’ve gathered a further five SEO flops with tips on best practice and how to avoid these.

Using Irrelevant Keywords

‘Irrelevant keywords’ or ‘keyword stuffing’ is not only a black hat tactic (bad technique), it provides the very opposite of what you’re looking to achieve. Provide potential customers with a good user experience by giving them solutions to their problems within content.

Top Tip: Use keywords relevant to the page and always write for the user as opposed to search engines.

Spinning Content

Content spinning is yet another black hat technique, involving the process of re-writing a blog or post numerous times. Often executed with the aid of ‘spinning software’, this method usually results in poor quality content whilst providing a dismal user experience.

How do I post the same piece of content across numerous platforms?

Quite simply, you don’t. If you’ve written an article or blog of importance, the only way to get this information across different areas of the web is to completely re-write it. Better still, post the original to the place it will work best based on the end user before creating a completely fresh piece for a different demographic. Content writing is all about providing the end user with solutions to their problems and answers to their questions. Get this right and Google will reward your SEO efforts.

Using Clickbait

When presented with a sensational headline, we’ve all been lured to click at one time or another. Such content is created solely for the purpose of increasing website page views. Such emotive headlines are rarely informative or verifiable and lure visitors into a false sense of reality.

So what does Google think about clickbait?

As you’ve probably already guessed, Google doesn’t like it! If you’re using sensational headings on your website and within content that isn’t relevant to the page, you could be penalised. If making ‘wild claims’, it’s likely the bounce rate will increase thus telling Google your website isn’t favoured.

Allowing Blog Spam

Blog spam consists of articles filled with repetitive content and keyword stuffing. The idea behind such posts is to increase keyword rankings via search engine manipulation. Bad tactic! Blog content should always be well-researched and written specifically for your customers to evoke a good user experience.

Top Tip: Avoid, avoid, avoid!

Using Cloaking Practices

The term ‘cloaking’ encompasses a number of bad practices, collectively known as black hat techniques.

What exactly is cloaking?

Cloaking is a method used in SEO to provide users information that differs from what search engine crawlers see.

There’s numerous methods of cloaking individuals use to increase keyword rankings. For the purpose of this blog, we’re going to highlight just one of these. 

Invisible/Hidden Text

Invisible text is content written in the same colour as the background. This means website visitors are not able to read the content, but search engines are. As a clear violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, your site will be penalised if adopting this method.

By keeping content original, visible and user focused, you’ll be on the right track for building trust within the search engines.