On the internet, there are numerous articles and people promoting “quick SEO fixes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In less than a second, a Google search for “SEO tactics” yielded 14,100,000 results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if the last few decades have taught us anything, it’s that you can’t believe everything you read on the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the SEO advice you come across will be outdated, incorrect, or even stupid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s possible that the author’s recommendations and tactics were based on a misunderstanding of how search works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They could be due to a lack of experience or knowledge of the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is a list of seven of those stupid SEO tactics to avoid so they don’t seriously harm your long-term SEO performance, regardless of where they came from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Assembly line SEO,” in my opinion, is when a person or company uses the same exact tactics for every client with no variation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because it’s easy to manage, many of the larger SEO agency<\/a> use this strategy for their SMB division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the first round of on-page optimizations, the site’s routine tactics usually include blogging and link buying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, just because something is simple does not always mean it is the best option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This strategy may be successful for a short time, but unless there is no competition, the website will eventually reach a growth plateau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than getting stuck in a routine “task-based” strategy, concentrate on coming up with new ways to provide value to your website’s visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look into what your competitors’ most popular content is and how they approach content strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make a list of all of your competitors’ strategies and look for areas where you can fill in the gaps in their content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take advantage of these opportunities to ensure that your content is designed to assist your audience at each stage of the buying process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuous research and content creation may take more time, but it will inevitably yield more results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another benefit is that it will demonstrate to your stakeholders that you are genuinely concerned about their performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the website, performance drops can happen as quickly and frequently as algorithm updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Algorithm updates happen so frequently these days that it’s easy to blame Google and claim that they’re to blame for a drop in your rankings and organic traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s true on occasion!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Performance drops, on the other hand, can happen for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following are some of the most common causes of organic performance declines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keeping those possibilities in mind, it’s critical that we don’t blame an algorithm update as a quick fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t be alarmed if your website has recently been hacked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some things simply happen, and your traffic will naturally return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What you don’t want to do is make major changes to your website. This could cause even more issues with your organic performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are several SEO recovery guides available that provide more in-depth instructions on how to recover from organic performance drops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some quick tips for determining whether your site was truly affected by an algorithm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most common reasons for a site’s performance to suffer is a technical issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This usually occurs when a site administrator updates various parts of the site without realizing it, resulting in serious technical issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check the following places to see if this is a problem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another common cause of significant ranking changes is this. Content on some sites, such as eCommerce, is frequently updated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your site rarely updates content and you notice a drop in organic traffic or rankings, you should look into whether your client or another site admin made any unintentional changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can look into site changes in a variety of ways, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s rare to come across a location that isn’t affected by seasonality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure to check your year-over-year benchmarks whenever a stakeholder comes to you with concerns about site performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By superimposing quarterly trend lines on top of one another, you can demonstrate to your stakeholders that these dips aren’t unusual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should also forecast ahead of time to inform them of any future expected dips based on the previous year’s trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The important thing to note here is that you’re still improving year after year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some changes in traffic may occur as a result of a competitor’s improved organic strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is usually indicated by a steady decline in organic performance; it is uncommon for it to occur with sudden drops in performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t get too worked up if you think your competitors are stealing your rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve written a Python script that lets you spy on your organic competitors. It will show you who is consistently ranking for the keywords in your topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although manual actions are not as common as they once were, they still occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your site’s traffic has dropped dramatically, check Google Search Console for any manual actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating unique copy for each location when developing location pages for large websites with many locations can be tedious and time-consuming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using the same copy for each location page may appear to be the easy way out, but I strongly advise against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By focusing on unique copy for each location page, you can significantly improve your local ranking performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To learn how to create the ultimate location page, check out my location page checklist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using automated tools to drive your organic strategy may not be the best option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many new SEO professionals use automated tools to conduct their initial SEO audits and then use the results to guide their overall SEO strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What exactly is the issue here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n These SEO grading tools don’t “ask questions,” as the term implies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key to any successful SEO strategy<\/a> is to ask questions such as, but not limited to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn how to look at a site holistically using a tool like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Analyze the structure of a site using visualization tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look for content gaps and make sure your technical structure is in good shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Search engines may have an easier time discovering, crawling, and rendering your web pages if your technical foundation is sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, I understand that this article is intended to focus on white hat tactics, but there is a grey hat method of link building in which you can pay companies for guaranteed links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an excellent way to ensure that your clients receive a certain number of backlinks each month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quality and relevance, on the other hand, are almost never up to par.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Link building has a tendency to snowball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s possible that if you get links in well-known publications, another writer will find you and link to you in their own articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With smaller DA backlinks, however, this is a less common occurrence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I recommend hiring a public relations firm to assist you with content creation and placement in notable publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of the snowball effect, these larger publications have a higher rate of organically growing your backlink profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s far too easy to simply Google your questions’ answers, and there’s nothing wrong with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to strategy or solving specific problems, however, Google may not always provide the best solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s perfectly acceptable to seek assistance from your peers. Even the best of us use Twitter to conduct polls and solicit assistance. That’s not something to be ashamed of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is, in fact, strongly encouraged!<\/p>\n\n\n\n No decent SEO will make fun of you because you don’t know something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We must all learn in some way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re still nervous, submit your anonymous questions to Search Engine Journal’s Ask an SEO column to have them answered publicly. Others may benefit from the shared knowledge in this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three pillars of SEO, according to most SEOs, are content, link building, and technical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, I think “local” should be added as a fourth pillar because it combines elements from all three in a unique way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ignoring any of these pillars for an extended period of time can either slow or stop your rankings from improving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your initial audits reveal a large number of technical issues, for example, you may be eager to get them out of the way and spend all of your time cleaning them up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If at all possible, try to devote your resources to each SEO pillar at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you spend all of your time fixing technical issues or conducting link outreach but neglect to improve your content, your rankings may not improve as quickly as you hoped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, I understand that some of these SEO strategies may work for some websites for a limited time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The point is that the bigger picture of SEO is far more complicated than these simple techniques can capture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t get sidetracked by them; instead, stay focused on achieving long-term success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more from SEO<\/a> and read 10 of the Worst SEO Mistakes Even Professionals Make<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some suggestions are so off-base that they may actually harm your SEO performance in the long run. Here are seven SEO strategies to avoid at all costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nInstead, what should you do?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Algorithm Updates to Blame for Performance Drops (Without Evidence)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Disclaimer:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Instead, what should you do?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Is It True That Google Has Found New Technical Issues?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Significant Content Modifications<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Seasonality<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Changes in Competitors<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Manual Procedures<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
3. Copying the Location Page<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. Using Strategy-Driven Automated Auditing Tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Instead, what should you do?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Link Exchange Fees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Instead, what should you do?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Not Being Afraid To Ask Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Ignoring Other SEO Pillars<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Last Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n