SEO Tactics That Will Not Make it to 2022 and Beyond

Are you not getting the SEO results that you had hoped for? It might be you are using outdated SEO tactics. At NHANCE Digital, we come across websites that are guilty of using at least one of the bad SEO strategies mentioned below. If you continue using these tactics, it will do your website more harm than good.

1. Keyword stuffing 

As one of the experienced SEO companies in Edinburgh, we are against keyword stuffing. The tactic may have worked in the past, but not anymore. A decade ago, webmasters believed in something called keyword density. It was the ratio based on the number of times a keyword was used in content compared to the number of words. So, people used many keywords, thinking it would help them rank, resulting in keyword stuffing. 

Since Google’s algorithm was simpler back then, it was easier to manipulate. Today, thanks to natural language processing and RankBrain, you cannot stuff a bunch of keywords and expect the search giant not to notice. Google is getting smarter, and therefore, you need to think about related keywords, keyword topics and long-tail keywords. 

2. Spam comments 

Spam comments is another SEO tactic that you must stop using right away. It is an annoying strategy and one that can kill conversations. Yes, leaving commends is a wonderful way to build relationships, but not when spamming the blog post. 

To combat this, a lot of commenting platforms automatically nofollow those links. Nofollowed links intimate the search engines that those commends should not get any credit or any authority. 

3. Poor user experience 

Google and other search engines look beyond keywords and links to rank a website. They take into consideration all kinds of data, such as usage data. It refers to how people interact with your website. For instance, if your website has a high bounce rate, it is a red flag. It means people are leaving your website as soon as they visit. A high bounce rate tells search engines that a website is not helpful, and visitors are not finding what they seek. 

Moreover, your SEO presence will take a serious hit if your website’s design is outdated and unappealing. It might make your website appear untrustworthy. 

Google has even released a mobile-first update as people nowadays browse the Internet on their mobile devices more than their desktops. If your website is not responsive, visitors will experience a poor mobile browsing experience, which will also hurt your SEO efforts. You can come to us to check if your website is responsive or needs a responsive design. Also, it is important to check the website load speed to ensure that your target audience does not have to wait for more than 3 seconds for a webpage to load. 

4. Duplicate content 

Duplicate content refers to content that has been copied from somewhere else on the Internet or your website. If you copy and paste content on different websites, it will be harmful to your SEO efforts. You must ensure to only craft original content and post them across authoritative websites to gain backlinks. 

Since Google is getting updated and smarter, it is easier to detect duplicate content, and you would not want to be penalised for it. If you need any help crafting content, you can connect with us and leverage our content writing expertise. 

Duplicate content is particularly prevalent in eCommerce websites that simply copy and paste the product descriptions. There are also times when people end up including duplicate content throughout their website. This tactic is also detrimental as it confuses Google, and the search engine does not know which page to pass the authority to. The credit gets split into several pages. In such cases, you can use canonical tags that tell the search engine which post is original. 

So, if you are still using any one of the tactics mentioned above, you need to stop immediately. You are hurting your chances of gaining online visibility and driving traffic by implementing bad SEO strategies. For any help, connect with one of the best SEO companies in Edinburgh, NHANCE Digital. Let us help you achieve your business objectives.