SEO Mistakes

Big Bad Things to Avoid and Fix Pronto

Guide to SEO Basics: Geeky Behind-the-Scenes Bits

As we wrap up our SEO Basics Guide, it is essential to note some big no-nos.
These methods and tactics can do some big damage to your business long term.

Keyword Stuffing

Google penalises website pages that seem to be “stuffing” keywords.

The “old way” of getting the search engines to notice you was to fill your website page with as many mentions of your keyword as possible.
This is a huge problem now, and Google will seriously ding your website.

Writing quality content for your webpage should be the first priority.

Then, possibly, tweaking a headline here or there to highlight a keyword. But not more than that!

Keyword Hiding

Google penalises website pages that visually hide keywords.

Never ever ever put white text on a white background to hide mentions of keywords.

Google is smart and it can read the colour of your text in the code – the bots will know you’re trying to hide something. (White on white is just an example, the same goes for all other colours.)

Trying to Trick Google

As we’ve mentioned, ethical SEO means being friends with Google.

Trying to trick Google will not turn out well for you in the long run. If you’re showing a website visitor something different to what you’re showing Google, you can get banned. Don’t do it.

Buying Your Friends

Google penalises businesses who buy backlinks, likes, subscribers, and emails.

Bribing people to be your friend doesn’t bring true friendship, both in life and in the world of SEO.

If you’re tempted to pay for backlinks, Facebook likes, Twitter followers, email lists, etc. you’re going to get your heart broken.

It is a very bad idea — Google will know, and you will be penalised.
We’ve seen this ruin a business.

As we mentioned in the section on Quality Backlinks, the wrong kind of attention can bring a lot of grief.

Poor Quality Links

Poor quality = Poor Google results.

In case we haven’t brought this point home, Google cares more about quality than anything else. If you spam blogs or forums with links to your website, it will hurt you more than help you.

Congratulations!

You’ve reached the end of the Guide to SEO Basics.

We at WebHolism are always here to advise and guide you through the labyrinth that is SEO, and we hope that you’re now more confident with the SEO basics.

Now you can start to implement the suggestions in this guide (often for free) in order to improve your websites’ placement in search results.

Guide to SEO Basics: Geeky Behind-the-Scenes Bits

Visit Other Sections of the Guide to SEO Basics