Top 4 Ways to Destroy Your Search Engine Ranking – Everyone talks about how to improve your search engine ranking, but where is the fun in that? Today, I thought I would take a break from the obvious and talk about a few ways that you can sink—that is, completely destroy—your search engine optimization and make your website Public Enemy #1 on Google’s list.
#1 Artificial link-building.
You just opened a new website and—surprise—there are already 6000 links to it, all of them brand new? Sound fishy? It totally is. You are not the smartest person trying to sneak this one past Google. Accept that, and move on. Everyone knows that those links are fakes, Google included.
#2 Hiding text.
CSS makes this really easy, but many people also try the classic trick of placing text in the background, in the same color so that it is not easy to see. The consumers may not see it, but the Google bots will. Another similar trick is placing lines and lines of junk in your code. There is even a WordPress plug-in that makes this easier—that is how common the practice is. The problem is that Google bots are programmed to spot these types of trick because they are so obvious. Either one may even get your website de-indexed, which is basically S.E.O death.
#3 Link farming.
This is different from artificial link-building, because it is reciprocal and does not feel like you are doing anything really wrong, although I can assure you Google won’t see it that way. Unlike the other SEO fails, you have probably encountered this one because it is that common. Website owners create a dedicated links page and link to several or even hundreds of their online friends. In exchange, the friends link back to them. The problem with this is that none of these links are really relevant; after all, the really relevant links in Google’s opinion would be those of your competitors. In addition, it gives customers an easy exit route from your page—ouch.
#4 A lack of fresh information.
It doesn’t matter if you add new text by hosting a blog, changing up your text, or even adding new products—just make sure there are regular additions and that they are relevant to your business. It is really that simple. Having no new text tells the bots to bump you even further down the page, while new text signals relevance. Just make sure that the text is unique, and that it uses the search engine terms you are trying to optimize for.
A lot of these tricks used to work, but so many people used them that Google began programming their bots to see right through them. That means, not only do these not help, they may be held against you or even destroy your website altogether! This can be a devastating issue for a new small business owner who simply did not know the rules, so make sure you avoid these four deadly mistakes mistakes.
