The Biggest SEO Mistakes
You’ve probably heard that anyone can learn the basics of search engine optimization (SEO), and that’s certainly true. However, there are still rookie mistakes that are made over and over again. Although Google, which is the driving force behind SEO, is always changing its best practices, it’s up to you to keep up. To stay on top of things, set up alerts for Google algorithm news or follow a reputable blog.
The good news is the core of SEO remains largely unchanged in recent months. On the other hand, people are always looking for shortcuts and, just like in Vegas, they think they’ve found a way to win over the house. There are no shortcuts in SEO and it takes time, effort and skills to make it work. Here are the biggest newbie mistakes and how to avoid them.
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But This Spinning Software is Good
Avoid spinning software at all costs. SEO requires wholly original content that isn’t duplicated, reads naturally and has key words and phrases peppered throughout. Spinning software isn’t human and it can’t create truly valuable content. It doesn’t matter how good the reviews are or how expensive it is; spinning software is a lazy approach that won’t get you far in the long haul.
Instead, focus on creating unique content, preferably written by a professional SEO writer. Just because someone can write doesn’t mean they have the skills to write for SEO purposes. While SEO writers can be expensive, it’s the best investment you can make when updating your content.
Define Keyword Stuffing
Back in the day, keyword stuffing was considered the best way to get SEO results. People would stuff keywords in wherever possible until it was clear that the content was SEO fodder. Sometimes the stuffing was so intense that it no longer made sense. Most people know keyword stuffing is a no-no, but what’s the real definition of it?
There’s no hard and fast definition, but you should generally shoot for no more than one keyword per 100 words. That keeps the density acceptable and it makes it easier to organically place those words throughout. An SEO writer will know the best ways to approach this, but it’s up to you to provide a reasonable list of key words.
Quality Does More than Quantity
Quality links are a much more important part of SEO than quantity. It doesn’t matter if you have 100 links if some are broken, some are spammy and some are just completely unrelated. For example, an organic gardening service shouldn’t have links to music academies and furniture shops. Choose quality links and check them regularly.
While it’s human nature to look for the path of least resistance, SEO is one place where it just won’t happen. If there was a way to successfully make it automated and easy, people who spend their lives working on SEO would have found it by now.
Accept that it’s going to be an investment and choose your professionals wisely. It can make the difference between the first page of Google and being banished to the dregs of search engine results!
Aaron Walker is an internet marketer who more recently made the jump into blogging. You can catch his more social media oriented work on his blog Social We Love, or follow him on Twitter under @aaronwalker77 to see his newest work.
