SEO No-No List to Use Not Abuse!
Are you a business owner that is still trying to utilize SEO techniques that were popular years ago? Do you realize that many approaches that were used back in the day are now highly frowned upon?
Building up a business online now is more than just mass directory submissions. It is a combination of efforts that builds a brand online and not just search rankings. I still see people looking for services that where once used a long time ago thinking they are still good solid methods.
Let me first say that I consider myself a squeaky clean white hat SEO guy, so not that being a black or grey hat SEO is a bad thing, it’s just not the way I personally prefer to approach it.
So here is my SEO no-no list:
Link Exchange: Google has come out and said how this is a much frowned upon approach. It was a technique used years ago that was used and abused and is no longer a worthy technique to apply to your business model. If it happens naturally that is one thing but if you are forcing the link exchange process it could back fire on you.
Buying Links: This is a big no no! Either way you slice it buying links is not used so I am not sure why people are still excited to do it. Is it difficult for the search engines to realize which links had a monetary exchange and which didn’t? Possibly. Do you really want to risk the safety of your website over a gamble? Buying links goes against Google webmaster guidelines and your website can get pulled from the search results or penalized if you are found still using this technique. The ONLY time I might consider buying a link is if it is a paid advertisement that might bring visitors and sales to your business. That ‘s it!
Mass Directory Submissions: Some directory submissions are still good to include in your link building campaign efforts but dropping your information into thousands of directories is not a good idea. Picking the cream of the crop will have just as much of an impact on your SEO efforts than if you placed your company information into a massive amount of directories.
It is important to keep yourself up to date with the SEO industry if you aggressively market your business online. People tend to forget this is a quickly evolving industry and techniques evolve and change quite often. Some get outdated and banned techniques tend to slip through the cracks for many website owners leading them to much larger problems.
21 Responses to “SEO No-No List to Use Not Abuse!”
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Great post. Too often I’ll have clients asking me to mass-submit to directories, so it’s good to see that someone else thinks it’s a bad idea.
Hello Nick,
I really enjoyed your content advice. Excellent tips!
Indeed, some things you cannot rush. As a small business owner, I have been experiencing these early temptations as well.
I am currently selling my new and unique golf swing aid product on my website. My product sells are a little off but I am hopping and expecting a surge in sells this season.
The puzzle was that I have had a lot of site hits (30,000)and page visits (6,000) in about last 6 weeks!
However, I know that in time and with patience and perseverance I will prevail.
A devoted subscriber
I really appreciate the useful tips, thanks a lot. I’ve decided to start promoting my site so I’ve been doing a lot of reading online on the best way to promote my website.
It’s interesting to see how seriously some major companies continue on selling such services as directory submission.
Hi MrGolfLux,
Thanks for being such a great and loyal reader! Patience is the name of the SEO game!
Hi Website Promotion Blog,
I know, it is amazing that in 2010 directory submission services are still around. I can count the good directories (outside of niche ones) on 2 hands…
Thanks for the great information, I am constantly learning about SEO and you provide a great resource.
Hi Nick
I knew directory submissions were of less value than they used to be. I didn’t know they coul have a negative affect.
Thanks for the info. I’ve recently started a big push on marketing and SEO for my website and it’s started to pay off slowly.
SEO and SEM is a minefield!
Thanks for the info
I think we can add excessive keywords to the list. SenSEO still calls for a max of 10, but I don’t know any search engines using them. Clients still want them though.
Great advice as always, Nick.
I really like the point about mass submissions. I’m currently submitting some of my sites and I was wondering whether or not it’s better to just stick with the top dogs, rather than blast them all.
Thanks again!
Stamp
Thanks for another great article. I am new to the webmaster world and link building information like this is very helpful.
I am grateful for these tips. How about a tip or two of what you do to build up links
thanks
Hi Nick
I think at one time or another we have all used these now outdated techniques and to some degree the help and hinder, what a lot of people tend to forget is that your content and a well built site can see great returns. I have spent many hours adding my site to directories and blog posts etc but along the merky way I found what works best for our websites, like you said pick the cream of the crop when using directories as a handfull of links can never hurt. SEO which ever way you look at it has no qualified employees so at some stage we are all guesing what works and what does not, in fact I was once given some very poor advice through article not disimilar to this one and by a respected source. Needless to say Nick we still do not know the 200+ ranking factors that come into account. Get 10 right and I think your on your way.
Regards
Rob
Thanks everyone for reading and your comments!
I absolutely agree, reciprocal links have almost no value and buying links 90% of the time is not worth the effort and money.
Good tips, as always Nick, I never regretted subscribing to your newsletter
Hi Krystian,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for being a loyal reader of my blog and newsletter!
Thanks, I am an amateur SEO, so getting the balance of where to spend my time in keeping my sites at the top of google versus keeping the business going is useful.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Glad to have offered some SEO advice that has helped you! Thanks for reading and sharing your comment.
Thanks again for specifics. It gets confusing out there – which directory to use, which to not use. Is hard to tell sometimes which is which!
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for your comment…sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between a good quality and spammy directory. Either way, I would say there are maybe 10 directories total that are good…
Thank you for your wisdom once again nick.
Hi Joe,
Thanks for your kind words and for reading!