Internet SEO meant getting a high spot SERP, or search engine position, which used to be easy with sneaky SEO strategies. All that has changed, now with search engines like Google using updated algorithms that can see through such underhanded tactics. In fact, using bad SEO tactics can even get your website penalized. It’s best for you to learn about four commonly used but sneaky SEO tactics – and try your best never to use them.
Keyword Saturation
This used to be a search engine optimization tactic that worked wonders, but not anymore. Keywords jam-packed into a paragraph can no longer trick search engines to rank your website higher; in fact, it can get your website crossed out from the search engines’ directories. Instead of randomly saturating your blog or website with key words and key phrases, choose strategic positions for key phrases, such as the headings and also the titles. You should also order the header tags (h1 until h6) so that they line up with the different keywords and phrases you plan to use.
Swapping Links
Different website and blog networks promise to improve your page rank by swapping links with you: you post a link to other websites on your own website, and they post a link back to you. However, new algorithms being used by search engines are no longer fooled by this technique. Instead of joining networks that offer link swapping, try writing articles for websites under your own website’s category. In return, ask them to link back to your site. Being a guest blogger or author can earn you relevant links that search engine algorithms actually honor.
Commenting on Blogs
Not all links are counted by Google; some blogs have do-follow tags, while others have no-follow tags. Those with no-follow tags will contain links that search engines will not credit, rendering them useless as back links. Therefore, commenting in blogs to list your site’s URL in the comment is no longer a valuable SEO strategy. Instead of using this underhanded strategy, you can invest in good content for your website.
Submitting Your Website to Different Search Engines
This used to be an underhanded tactic that all new website owners had to do. This was thought of as a useful way of getting a website indexed. Unfortunately, this may not be necessary at all. For a website to be indexed, mention it on Ping.fm, Twitter, or even LinkedIn. These websites are being crawled by different search engines, cluing them in on your new website.
Lastly
Don’t get permanently blacklisted by search engines by avoiding all four underhanded strategies mentioned previously. With new ones now performing the website sweeps, it is always best to stick to white hat SEO techniques.
Dan Kerizic is an experienced SEO writer and editor at You Love Coupons where you can get the latest Hostgator VPS promotional code as well as a valid Netfirms promotional code that will save you money on your next web hosting purchase.
Related posts: