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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

And the Tricks & Scams that Make Google Mad

 

Cloaking

It’s annoying to search for something on the Web and be directed to a website that has nothing to do with what you searched for. A website involved in cloaking is generally the culprit. This involves setting your website up in a way that causes search engines to see one thing, while human visitors see something completely different. This is the worst offense on Google’s list and should be avoided at all costs. Use the title, keyword and description meta-tags to describe the services that you provide as well as the content that is actually visible on your site.

 

Shady Links

Google’s page ranking system factors in the number of links that are pointing to a page (inbound links) when it evaluates that page’s importance. The pages with the most inbound links are generally awarded a higher page rank. Due to this fact, many have resorted to what is known as “link farming,” or paying for and acquiring links from brokers, sellers or exchangers. This is a very common issue that Google is quick to crack down on. It works well in the short term, but is not a viable SEO option. Google always notices and the accused website will either be dropped from the rankings or completely removed from Google’s directory.

 

Duplicate Content

Search engines don’t look kindly upon websites that contain content that is deliberately duplicated within the same site or on other domains. This is often an attempt to manipulate search rankings and gain more traffic. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site might be removed entirely from the Google index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results.

 

Keyword Stuffing

The keywords used on a webpage are a major factor in determining that page’s rank. Using too many of the keywords that you’re hoping to optimize for, as well as packing keywords in hidden text, using different-color fonts (white background with white font on top) and tiny text is not a smart move in Google’s eyes. Determine the keywords that are relevant to your site and use them as naturally as possible throughout the context of the website.