Every SEO professional is aware that high search rankings need a properly researched strategy, optimized on-page and off-page SEO factors, engaging content, and lasting search value. In different words, breaking into the top 10 on Google is by no means, easy.
Given that white hat SEO strategy takes plenty of your time, some SEO practitioners still prefer to do when optimizing their pages.
For obvious reasons, I don’t suggest using any of the black hat SEO techniques. However, it can be difficult to tell white hat SEO from its black hat selection, or draw a particular line between white hat and grey hat optimisation.
Search engine optimisation is continually evolving, and a few of the techniques that were once legitimate are strictly prohibited now. Let’s set the record straight.
Let’s dive into the six on-page optimisation techniques that Google dislikes and could get your website penalized.
#1 Keyword Stuffing
Digital marketers these days recognize the importance and value of content marketing. Many years ago, however, marketers could turn out plenty of thin content with zero value to push their approach through to the top of search results.
Keyword stuffing (or keyword stacking) was one in all the most common content generation ways because of its easy process:
- Research search terms you would like to rank for (look for exact-match sort keywords)
- Create content with attention on the subject but not too in-depth
- Stuff content with keywords (repeat the exact-match keywords and phrases frequently)
- Ensure that meta-tags are full of keywords
The Google of 2017 favors significant and authentic content. It's smart enough to easily find and penalize sites with thin, low quality, or plagiarised content thus marketers should avoid stuffing their content with repetitive keywords.
Solution
Embrace a “reader’s first” approach. Develop a habit of making content that actually matters to your targeted audience. Keywords should come second. Use your main keyword slenderly (2-3 times per five hundred words) and include one or two of extremely relevant and long-tail keywords to assist crawlers determine the value of your content. To enhance your promoting strategy, think about using a spread of keywords to get your content noticed.
#2 Spammy Footer Links and Tags
A footer is a must-have component for any web site. It helps visitors navigate between multiple web site sections and provides access to extra data like contact information and a copyright license.
Let’s imagine, though, that a website’s footer is filled with many links and tags. How does one feel about the footer below?
Quite user-unfriendly, right?
It’s no surprise that websites looking forward to link- and tag-filled footers were penalized. They were hit by 2 algorithmic rule updates: Panda, that targeted poor web site structure, and penguin, that flagged sites engaging in link and tag manipulation. Avoid spammy footers to attain a better search engine ranking position.
Solution
When you optimize a website, ensure it has a nice and clean footer that features important information like contact information, address, operating hours, terms of use, copyright license, navigation buttons, subscription field, and more. but spamming the footer is a huge no-no.
#3 Cloaking
This old style SEO technique is rooted in the ability to show 2 separate pieces of content on a single webpage. The first text is “fed” to bots for more crawling, whereas the other is showcased to actual readers.
What did cloaking accomplish?
- Manipulate search engines to receive higher SERPs
- Enable a particular page to rank high while remaining simple for users to browse
- Deliver “unrelated content” for common requests (e.g. you search “cute little puppies” however end up on a pornography site)
Cloaking is an advanced black hat SEO technique. To harness its true power, you must be able to establish search engine spiders by ip and deliver completely different webpage content to them. This also needs abusing specific server-side scripts and “behind the scenes” code.
Cloaking is a plan of action that was marked as “black hat” years past. Google has never found it legitimate, however nevertheless, it's widely utilized in the supposed DeepWeb.
Solution
This one is simple: avoid cloaking. Don’t risk your reputation for a fast SERP ranking.
#4 Internal Linking With Keyword-rich Anchor Text
Internal linking isn't always a nasty issue. Ideally, linking allows you to connect web content to form properly structured “paths” for search crawlers to index your website from A to Z. However marketers should walk a fine line when it involves internal linking.
When you repeatedly link your site’s inner pages with keyword-rich anchor texts, this raises a big red flag to Google. you'll risk being hit with an over-optimization penalty.
Solution
Google puts value 1st. Ensure the word “value” dominates your content creation method likewise. The same is true for links: place them only where they bring about real value to users. And don’t forget to use different anchor texts for your inner links.
#5 Dedicated Pages for each Keyword Variant
For an extended time, keywords played a crucial role in how your pages ranked. Although their importance is on the decline, keywords are by no means dead.
These days, you can’t stuff your website with multiple variations of targeted keywords to spice up rankings. Instead, focus on:
- Good keyword choice
- Topic and context
- User intent
You must watch out and avoid over-optimizing your websites. Remember: Panda, hummingbird, and RankBrain are continuously searching for sites that are abusing keywords.
This on-page SEO technique was 100 percent legitimate many years ago however if you were to try this strategy these days, you run the danger of receiving a manual action penalty.
Solution
To avoid a manual action penalty, don’t create separate pages for every specific keyword variant. Google’s “rules” for calculating SERPs have considerably changed, rendering old-time methods obsolete. Utilizing the advanced power of its search algorithms and RankBrain, Google currently prioritizes sites that bring actual value to users.
Your best strategy to achieve the top is to make visually and structurally appealing landing pages for your product and services, post high-quality, SEO-optimized content in your blog, and build a loyal following on social media platforms.
#6 Content Swapping
Google has been a powerhouse for over a decade. They utilized thousands of people and invested billions of bucks into their research and development departments, however their search engine lagged in intelligence for many years.
SEO methods previously might simply trick Google. As an example, content swapping was a way to govern Google’s algorithms and indexing protocols.
It worked like this:
- Post a chunk of content on a website
- Wait till Google bots crawl and index it
- Ensure that a website is displayed in the search
- Shut a page or entire website from indexation
- Swap content
This would end in a page that originally featured an editorial regarding tobacco pipes however ended up with swapped content on prohibited medications or prohibited substances.
Content swapping has always been prohibited, however advanced black hat SEO professionals used the technique as a result of Google wasn’t fast enough to reindex sites.
Now with changes in the SEO landscape, Google can quickly cut the search ranking of any website that’s closed from indexation. This is specifically why content swapping is not any longer a viable strategy because it may end up in significant penalties.
Solution
Content is king. If you would like to hit Google’s top, prioritize creating dense content that gives the maximum amount info as doable and adds value to your audience. Google hates sites that manipulate content, therefore stand back from content swapping.
Conclusion
For better or worse, on-page SEO never stays still. Launching one algorithmic rule update after another, Google is continually pushing SEO specialists and digital marketers to search out new opportunities to enhance their rankings via organic search.
SEO methods of the past were technical and artful however lacked long property. a real SEO professional might simply trick Google by stuffing content with keywords and paid links. the sole downside was, it didn’t bring any real worth to customers.
Do you need to deliver value? No matter where your website currently ranks, each company will have the benefit of an updated SEO strategy. The key is to avoid using the SEO techniques described above and to pursue legal, white hat SEO ways in the future.