5 Obsolete SEO Tactics You Need to Stop Using

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Every second there are more than 67,000 searches performed through Google. This provides you with a huge potential to be found by curious consumers.

Unfortunately, if you are using outdated SEO practices, you aren’t going to be found. Instead, your website is going to float around in the abyss of the World Wide Web.

One of the best things you can do to increase your site’s visibility is to retire any outdated tactics you may be using. Get to know some of the most common outdated tactics being used so you can eliminate them from your SEO efforts today.

1. Exact Match Domain Names

For a while, exact match domains were pretty popular.

When this strategy was used, websites could move up in the search rankings relatively quickly. In fact, there were some situations where a site’s rankings climbed within weeks or even days.

Just as the name implies, the entire idea behind the exact match domain is that the website matched the specific keywords you are targeting. Examples of this include:

  • Chicagoplumber
  • Miamigaragedoorparts
  • Pizzanewyork

Google caught on to this rather quickly and update the algorithm to make using exact match domains no longer effective. This update was made in 2012 and the effect of exact match domains fell instantly.

When choosing a domain name today, make sure you choose something that will help increase overall brand exposure. Don’t use the exact match domains.

2. Keyword Abuse

There are several ways marketer and webmasters still misunderstand the role of keywords when it comes to basic SEO initiatives and how they need to be used.

Keyword abuse is varied. Some of the most common ways keywords are used improperly include:

Irrelevant Keyword Targeting Causing Confusion

Some people, who are new to SEO tactics, try to fit their messaging and content into the confines of their keyword research. The goal here is to create content and metadata that represent keywords.

The problem is that the content isn’t aligned with the intent of users. This results in your brand losing the attention of your readers before being able to communicate the desired message.

Don’t attempt to mislead your users and take them to content that’s misrepresented with high-volume keywords just to increase site visibility.

Not only is this going to turn visitors away, but Google knows what this looks like. In many cases, they consider it a “black hat” technique, which can result in serious consequences for your website.

Keyword Density

Writing for certain “keyword density” is going to result in you missing the mark.

Google doesn’t depend on keyword density to determine if your webpage is effective at answering a particular search query. In fact, several signals are used for determining search results.

Even though your keywords are still important to the ideas and topics represented, they aren’t your lifeline to rank in high-value search queries.

Keyword Stuffing

This is one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Since SEO is all about keywords you should load up your webpages with them, right?

Absolutely not!

Search engines can quickly identify keyword stuffing and will penalize your page for doing this. Just avoid it at all costs.

3. Creating Your Content for Robots

When you create SEO content, you need to make sure you are writing it for humans, not robots. Search engines know when you use content that’s unnatural.

The goal should be to create valuable content that teaches readers something. If all you do is create content focused on rank factors, it’s going to drop your site’s visibility significantly.

Your goal is to write for humans not search engines (or any other type of robot).

4. Link Directories

Generally speaking, using link directories is useless. While there are some exceptions for extremely niche-specific, high quality directories, in other cases, this isn’t true.

The use of link directories was something that worked prior to search engines becoming smart and powerful. The fact is, link directories don’t provide any real value to visitors.

Today, search algorithms ignore link directories completely. In some cases, having this on your site can actually result in you being penalized.

5. Article Spinning

This is a tactic done using software. Article spinning is considered a black hat tactic used in an effort to recreate quality content by using different words, organization, and phrases.

In most cases, the end result is a garbled mess of an article that made all of the same points as the original, source material. It’s really no surprise that this is no longer an effective tactic.

Even though AI is getting better and better at creating content, anything that is generated by a machine is going to be lower quality than what humans are able to produce. Avoid this tactic if you want your website to rank well.

If you aren’t sure you can create this quality content on your own, consider hiring a copywriter. It will be well worth the investment.

Are You Using These Outdated Tactics?

If you are using any of the outdated SEO tactics here, then you need to stop right away. Not only are they unable to help your site, but they could result in you being penalized by Google and other search engines.

Instead of focusing on these outdated tactics, use methods that work. It will pay off in the long run and help ensure your site is visible to those interested in the product or service you have to offer.

If you found the information here helpful, and want more SEO help, check out our blog on lead generation techniques. Our goal is to help ensure your site achieves the best results in search engines possible.