The world of SEO never sits still. There are always new updates and algorithms to contend with, and businesses need to stay ahead of the game if they are to continue to rank highly. Are you up to date with the latest SEO techniques or have you fallen behind? Read on to discover some of the key signs that your SEO campaign is outdated…

You haven’t realized that user experience and SEO go hand-in-hand

SEO is about much more than keywords and link building. Yes, those strategies are critical, but the user experience is just as important. Google is constantly making improvements that are focused on providing more user-focused and user-friendly results, which is why your website needs to excel in this area. Some of the common web design mistakes that hurt SEO are as follows:

  • Thin content – Thin content is never good for SEO. Some common errors include not having product or service pages on your website, having one page that lists numerous products or services, and having little text on your service or product pages.
  • Poor load speed – No one wants to wait two seconds for a website to load!
  • Improper 404-error page – When something goes wrong, a custom and humorous 404 page can work well. Don’t let your quest for creativity result in the essentials being neglected though. You need to include a link that will return the user back to your website. If you don’t, Google will pick up on broken internal links, and this will have a negative impact on your search engine result placing.
  • Text in images – Amateur or inexperienced website designers will include text in an image, rather than overlaying it. Why is this a problem? Well, although you can see the text, Google can’t. To Google, it is like there is no text at all. This isn’t the only issue. Responsiveness is something else to consider. It is unlikely mobile users will be able to read the text in an image easily.
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You are still using black hat techniques

Black hat SEO techniques are those that essentially cheat the system. They go against Google’s terms and conditions in an attempt to manipulate your business ‘website’s path to the top. These techniques will only result in your business getting punished in the long run, leaving your marketing campaign in tatters.

Examples of black hat techniques include:

  • Keyword stuffing
  • White text
  • Content spam
  • Duplicate content
  • Cloaking
  • Unrelated keywords

If you currently use any of the approaches mentioned above, you need to hire the best SEO agency to put it right. No business can afford to focus their SEO campaign on black hat techniques; it needs to be organic.

So there you have it: some of the common signs that your SEO campaign is out of date. If you have noticed any of the signs that have been mentioned above, there is no need to panic, but you do need to make changes to ensure your strategy is current. Remember, SEO never remains stagnant; it needs continual commitment and improvement.