Avoid these SEO Techniques

Search engine optimization is one of the most sought after internet marketing services worldwide. There are several different techniques used by SEO’s around the globe. Some of these techniques have become stale while some of these techniques have expired way back in 2005-2006. A website which is ranking higher in search engine result gets more visitors than those which are not listed on the top pages of search results. Over the years several webmasters and SEO optimizers have been inventing techniques to score higher rankings on various search engines including Google, Yahoo and some other. Some of these techniques like submitting unique articles could really help your website to score higher rankings. On the other hand, several techniques like link exchanges could put your website in trouble (if done unscrupulously ). There are some basic guidelines which everyone should follow while optimizing their website. The first and the most important one are Google webmaster guidelines. Google is regularly updating its ranking algorithm. Each day you will come across some update in the ranking algorithm OR you can say that Google is applying patches to its existing algorithm. One must ensure that you adhere to the guidelines laid by Google if you are planning to score higher rankings on Google.

Read Google Webmaster Guideline : Click Here

Let’s now start with the techniques which should be avoided while optimizing website on search engines.

A) On-Page Optimization

1. Hidden Text – Hidden text could get your website penalized on search engines. Google and other search engines are not yet fully equipped to detect and penalize websites using hidden text. However hidden text could be reported by your competitor, which could hit your website like a boomerang. If your website is detected by search engine crawler or is manually detected by Google team, then you have less chances of retaining your website rankings. SEO Tip: Avoid hidden text at every cost. In case your website has been penalized, then try to remove every single instance of hidden text from your web pages.
2. Keyword Stuffing – Keyword stuffing should be avoided at every single cost. Over the past few years, search engines have shifted their focus from on-page optimization towards off-page optimization. Nowadays, search engines are giving preference to websites which maintain a balance between their off-page and on-page optimization techniques. Keyword stuffing can be easily detected by search engines including Google and Yahoo. Once detected, it will ultimately squeeze your rankings for your targeted keyword (or artificially stuffed keyword). Most of these websites get labeled as “Spammy websites” by search engines.SEO Tip : Make sure that your keyword density is natural. There are several websites which will put figures around ideal keyword density (ie 5-7% of the overall text). However, you should try to keep your website natural in terms of content and keyword density.
3. Cloaking – Cloaking is the technique to display different content to search engine spiders (based on their I.P addresses). This content is different from the normal format and content of your website as viewed by human visitor.Cloaking was widely used during 2005-2006, but in the past few years search engines have upgraded their algorithms. They are smart enough to detect any suspicious activities like Cloaking. If you are using cloaking technique, then you are preparing your website for a hara-kiri which your website will perform automatically. If you dislike your website too much, then it is the perfect way of getting rid of your rankings and search engine traffic ;). If you really want to get rid of your website rankings, then try adding some duplicate content.
4. Duplicate Content – Duplicate content is one of the most serious SEO offences. There are several webmasters who argue that duplicate content simply puts your website in supplement index. However if your website rankings are shifted from page 1 to page 500 then it cannot be termed as a shift towards supplement index. Duplicate penalty is one of the most serious penalties which can suck your website’s ranking power. Further, duplicate penalty will lower the Page Rank as well as Trust Rank of your website.
5. Doorway Pages – Doorway pages are artificial pages with artificial content. The sole purpose of having a doorway page is to gain higher rankings for a specific set of targeted keywords. These pages are specifically designed and kept outside the main navigation menu or links. These pages rely heavily on a particular set of targeted keywords. SEO Tip : If you really want to target a particular set of keyword, then try adding a blog section and add some useful content which is helpful for your visitors as well as search engines. Make sure you do not copy-paste articles from various ezine websites.
6. HTML/Programming errors - Webmasters should ensure that their website is error-free. This will help search engines to easily crawl your website. If your website designer forgets to close the <H1> tag, then it could make your website look spammy. However most of the HTML errors are accidental, and should it avoided. There are several websites which get penalized due to some serious errors in their HTML coding.There are several webmasters who use external redirection without waiting for a gap of 5 seconds. There are several websites, which get penalized due to this redirection issue. SEO Tip : You should create a Google webmaster account which will help you detect any serious HTML errors. Most of the errors get listed under your website profile and should be removed quickly. Further, you can try to make your website W3C validated, which will help to ensure that your html coding is 100% error free.

B) Off-Page Optimization

1. Buying Links – Buying links was widely popular in 2005, where some websites used to purchase links in tune of 10,000-50,000. However this started to jeopardize the real objective of search engines i.e to give preference to natural websites with best content and information. This is the reason why search engines have started to nullify back links which are purchased from high PR websites. The page rank (Google PR) of any website has no connection with the actual rankings of your website on Google, but still there are several hundred “ignorant” webmasters who simply want back links from PR3-4 websites alone. This could easily trigger sandbox on your website. If you are purchasing links in bulk, then it can be detected by search engines as well.Moreover purchasing bulk of back links with same anchor text is more like performing Hara-Kiri (suicide) on your own website. If you have made your mind to purchase back links from particular websites, then you should make it look natural. Try using wide variety of anchor text, but at the same time you must ensure that you are not going overboard in purchasing links. A website which is only concentrating on purchased links will suffer the consequences. You should try not to entangle yourself in the “Page Rank Matrix”. If Google or Yahoo launches a new directory, I am sure it will remain Page Rank 0, for a period of 3-4 months. Till that time, several “ignorant webmasters” will reject this free directory due to its PR0, but the smart ones will know why they must submit their link to this PR 0 website.
2. Link Exchanges – Link exchange technique was widely popular in 2005-2006. However in the past 1-2 years, search engines have started to give less significance to websites relying on link exchange techniques. Link exchange techniques were widely used in 2005-2006 where website owners used to create link directory on their website and exchanged links with several hundred or even thousand of websites. In the past few years, search engines have started to clamp down on websites which rely heavily on link exchange techniques. Link exchange can still be used, but you need to be more careful and vigilant. However, you must completely avoid automated link exchanges in any form. They will ultimately result in SEO penalty.You will find several emails landing in your inbox with text “Hey ! I got PR blah blah , do you want to exchange with my blah blah website”. It is disheartening to see that so many webmasters and SEO’s have entangled themselves within the boundaries of Google Page Rank. People are willing to exchange links with websites having higher PR, but they never give a thought about Trust Rank of the website with whom they are exchanging links.SEO Tip: Try to exchange links with websites which are related to your business theme. A web design related website can easily exchange link with another flash design website. However you should make sure not to exchange links with websites which are outside your business niche.

You should make sure that your optimization process is both natural and healthy. You should make sure not to use any hidden SEO Techniques ( especially on-page) which could result in lower rankings of your website. If your website is not adhering to on-page guidelines, then it could result in serious penalties as compared to off-page guidelines. There will be several instances where some unknown website will start linking to your website. These external links do not necessarily lead to penalty. There are several black hat techniques revolving around both on-page and off-page optimization, but you must always ensure that your website is following a natural pattern in SEO optimization process.