5 Practically Dead SEO Practices

SEO has been evolving throughout the years and with it, SEO experts have also been developing their practices to be more efficient and effective. Although this evolution is always taking place, some techniques that are considered dead SEO practices are still widely used by both advanced and beginner SEO experts.

These SEO practices have become obsolete despite the fact that many people are still using them in their projects or recommending it to other SEO novices for them to implement in theirs.

It is crucial to identify these so you can spend more time on other SEO areas that are more effective and give you the most ROI for your time.

SEO is a Constant Effort

There are no magic buttons or secrets that will give you quick results. SEO is a process and it evolves as search engines also change their algorithms and methodologies to adjust with the changes brought by the online world.

Basically, Google and other search engines want people to find what they need through their services and this is why they keep updating their algorithm.

On the other hand, SEO experts are also looking for ways on how they can make sure that their clients get the most out of their websites. This is why many of them are constantly trying to adapt to these changes by researching and implementing new techniques.

However, while doing this, you need to make sure the practice(s) you choose for your projects is not obsolete.

Your online presence can’t afford to have a dead SEO practice in today’s websites where competition has been getting fiercer than ever. Not just websites, you need to all make sure that your mobile app is optimized as well. For that, you can check out this mobile app SEO checklist.

The practices we’re about to discuss below, should no longer be used in your SEO strategy and projects if you don’t want to fall behind your competitors or risk getting penalized by search engines.

Outdated SEO Practices

To stay on top of SEO,  you need to identify these practices that are considered outdated or practically dead.

1. Keyword stuffing in meta tags

We all know that keywords are important when it comes to SEO, but this doesn’t mean that you should cram them into your meta tags. Doing this would only have a negative impact on both your rankings and organic traffic. The search engines are being clever with their algorithms so they can detect whether your page is relevant or not, with your keywords.

You should instead try inserting the keywords in strategic locations such as headings and subheadings of your content, throughout your content, as well as in the URL.

2.  Buying or exchanging links

Buying or exchanging links is not allowed by Google so you should be aware of this black-hat SEO practice if you are planning on conducting new SEO tactics. If search engines find out that your links have been bought or exchanged, your site can get penalized, resulting in a massive loss of traffic. It is also difficult to recover your site once it’s been penalized, meaning that it is surely not worth the risk.

3. Duplicate content

Although there are no clear numbers to determine whether duplicate content is completely dead or not, many experts still think that it should be avoided at all costs.

You should always try to avoid creating unintentional duplicate content, such as having the same content in two different pages. This is harmful both for your site and rankings, not to mention that it can also annoy your visitors by giving them less unique content. Google might even penalize you because of this.

To avoid this mistake, you can use the canonical tag from the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress.

4.  Using Flash

There was a time when using flash was considered one of the best practices in SEO. However, online users have been complaining about how they can’t see anything on websites that use flash. This is why search engines tend to rank sites with more readable content higher than those that use flash or are entirely made up of flash images and videos.

5.  Using Meta Refresh

Meta Refresh is a code that basically instructs a web browser to load a different page instead of the current one after a certain period of time.

It was considered by many as a good SEO practice until Google announced the usage of meta refresh as a ‘bad practice’, as wrong content can get indexed.

Google also said that the main reason why they don’t support meta refresh is because it’s pretty much similar to cloaking. If you are still using meta refresh for any of your projects, make sure that you get rid of it right away.

6. Keyword Stuffing in Content

Keyword stuffing in your content is one of the most common mistakes internet marketers do when it comes to SEO. By doing this, you are being too obvious about your intentions.

Spammy keywords might get you ranked on Google’s first page for a short period but these rankings will not last long. Not only will this negatively affect your website’s credibility but you might also get penalized by Google for violating their Webmaster Guidelines.

The Bottom Line

SEO has evolved into a more sophisticated practice than it was “back in the day”.

You now need to put extra effort into making sure that you are not using these dead SEO practices if you do not want to fall behind your competition or risk getting penalized by search engines.