Google Is On The Hunt For These Forbidden SEO Techniques

Getting your business website to rank with Google can be like a game of cat and mouse, Los Angeles. You know what techniques are considered unacceptable, and you know what ones are considered best practices. Then there are some that seem to fall in the middle, gray hat SEO rather than black or white. You can use it at your peril, but you or your SEO company are certainly better off avoiding it. It is your responsibility, though, to know what’s on the naughty list at any given time, and that’s what we’ll be concentrating on today.

Duplicate Content

Few things get Google’s attention in a negative way like the posting of duplicate content on your site, Los Angeles. The search engine wants all of your content to be original, stimulating, and valuable to your visitors. They also want to know that you aren’t ripping off other people who took the time to write the content that you “borrowed” from somewhere else. Duplicating any content from another author, site, or source is going to get you penalized, so stay away from this harmful SEO practice.

Overly-Dense Keyword Content

Keyword stuffing hasn’t been approved for quite a while, but even trying to stretch keyword usage in a way that seems unnatural can get you penalized. If you can get your long-tail keywords to fit naturally in your content, then all is well. If you’re twisting sentence structure around to try and get the same phrase on the page twenty times, that’s bad SEO. Google is going to recognize it, and again you’re looking at a possible penalty, Los Angeles businesses.

Obvious Clickbait

You probably know what clickbait is by now. It’s all over the internet: headlines that are purposely intended to be provocative so that you’ll click on the article or ad. If you have clickbait-style ads, blogs, or anything else on your site, you’re not doing yourself any favors in Google’s eyes. If your company sells swimming pools and you have an article with a title like “See Kim Kardashian’s Most Revealing Swimwear Choices,” it’s evident that you’re not providing valuable content to your site visitors.

Ads Above the Fold

Some select ads on your site are okay, but if you have too many of them above the fold, the part of the page that can be seen before you scroll down, then that’s poor UX. A reputable SEO agency or site designer should know not to do that. More than likely Google will penalize you for it.

When trying to figure out if an SEO technique you’re using seems acceptable or not, Los Angeles, think of the adage “treat others how you want to be treated.” What sorts of things annoy you on a website when you’re trying to use it? Chances are if you’re guilty of using some of those strategies yourself, you need to make some changes. It’s not just Google you’re trying to please, but the potential customers who have arrived at your landing page.