Companies are so interested in ranking in search results that they hire SEO consultants without fully understanding the strategy. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, and hiring the wrong SEO consultant can result in Google penalizing you rather than rewarding you. Matt Cutts himself has mentioned that Google initiates over 400,000 manual actions every month (we’re guessing the number is actually much higher).
The good news is that with diligence and the right team, you can recover from bad SEO tactics and earn Google’s favor. One of the first steps is to assess where you currently stand in your SEO efforts to avoid Google penalties so you can return to a sound strategy to improve your search rankings.
1. Keyword stuffing
Keyword stuffing is the practice of webmasters, copywriters, or SEO consultants using keywords too loosely. This is usually due to an outdated understanding of SEO and how it works.
Keywords should occur naturally, and modern techniques use clusters of related keywords on a page to avoid using the same keywords over and over again. Even if you use keyword clusters, too many keywords on a page can result in a penalty from Google.
2. Spam or slow hosting
This is a factor that few people consider when improving SEO. But it is very important. Slow website hosting means slow website loading times.
If you are getting low scores due to slow country email list loading speeds, the problem may be with your hosting server. This is not an area of your marketing budget where you want to skimp. Avoid free hosting and look for quality options that will help make your site fast and responsive.
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3. Little content or content with low value
Websites that don’t have much content or content that doesn’t provide value to website visitors won’t rank either. Each page should have unique content without any blocks of repeated text unless that repeated content is in the footer.
Copywriting is an art that you will likely have to pay for to get the best SEO results. When you write your content, think less about selling and more about solving your customers’ problems.
4. Backlink spam
There is no quick fix to getting backlinks to your site. china business directory Consultants who promise quick results with hundreds or even thousands of backlinks will get those links through spam.
Backlinks require careful research, outreach, and developing quality guest article content. Once you have spammy backlinks, it is difficult to remove them from some of these websites, so be very careful who you hire to work on your site and SEO strategy.
5. Cloaking
Cloaking can be done using images or content on the page. This method makes search engines see one thing, and site visitors see another. And don’t think that search engines won’t detect this move.
Avoid cloaking images, content, or links. And while you’re at it, don’t create sneaky redirects that take users to a page they don’t expect. Some webmasters create mobile-only redirects that lead to spam domains instead of the pages they promise in search results. This is a terrible practice that will do huge damage to your SEO.
Several other issues can cause SEO problems. improve site speed for a faster user experience and better performance. For a full assessment, schedule a free consultation with New Light Digital. We will provide recommendations to help you improve your search results.