Seeing as SEO has been around since the late 90s, it stands to reason that quite a few things have changed since webmasters first began optimizing their websites for search. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of outmoded SEO tips and techniques floating around in cyberspace that refuse to die. If you still subscribe to these outdated SEO ideas, it's time to get up to speed.
Ranking by back links alone: Search marketers have debunked this approach many times over. No matter what you were told, garnering a large number of back links alone won't boost your place in the search engine rankings. Other factors go into your ranking like social data, query relevance, and the frequency with which you update your content.
Do this instead: Backlinking is important, but you should also focus on an online marketing strategy that will get people to follow those back links and ultimately become your fans.
Copying your competitors: Websites succeed and fail due to a number of factors. Every company website is unique, as is every company behind the website. So what works for, say, Yahoo or Amazon may or may not work for your website.
Do this instead: Set your own benchmarks and do your own research. Take an individualized approach to finding out what will work for your website's SEO.
Using article submissions: Submitting articles to sites like eZinearticles became a way for websites to get quick back links. However, this technique has only ever had limited success when it comes to SEO, especially when people started publishing low-quality articles for the sake of earning links.
Do this instead: If you're going to publish content for SEO purposes, it's best to use your content to build relationships. Get in touch with bloggers who would be happy to have you as a guest blogger. You'll be adding valuable content to their website, and also building relationships with their audience.
SEO changes all the time, so it's important for website owners to stay current on SEO trends. If you choose to purchase SEO services, make sure your provider has ways of staying up to speed on SEO news and changes. That way, you can guard against you and your website falling behind in the search rankings.
Ranking by back links alone: Search marketers have debunked this approach many times over. No matter what you were told, garnering a large number of back links alone won't boost your place in the search engine rankings. Other factors go into your ranking like social data, query relevance, and the frequency with which you update your content.
Do this instead: Backlinking is important, but you should also focus on an online marketing strategy that will get people to follow those back links and ultimately become your fans.
Copying your competitors: Websites succeed and fail due to a number of factors. Every company website is unique, as is every company behind the website. So what works for, say, Yahoo or Amazon may or may not work for your website.
Do this instead: Set your own benchmarks and do your own research. Take an individualized approach to finding out what will work for your website's SEO.
Using article submissions: Submitting articles to sites like eZinearticles became a way for websites to get quick back links. However, this technique has only ever had limited success when it comes to SEO, especially when people started publishing low-quality articles for the sake of earning links.
Do this instead: If you're going to publish content for SEO purposes, it's best to use your content to build relationships. Get in touch with bloggers who would be happy to have you as a guest blogger. You'll be adding valuable content to their website, and also building relationships with their audience.
SEO changes all the time, so it's important for website owners to stay current on SEO trends. If you choose to purchase SEO services, make sure your provider has ways of staying up to speed on SEO news and changes. That way, you can guard against you and your website falling behind in the search rankings.