SEO is essential to any online business practice. With proper implementation, search engine optimization can make a difference in getting your content in front of the right users.
Unfortunately, unethical SEO companies know this, too. To make sure you aren’t falling prey to any outdated, black hat tacticians, it’s imperative to note the early warning signs. These nine red flags should be enough to send you looking elsewhere.
1. Promising Overnight Results
Here’s a tactic that most unethical SEOs use before they even click into your analytics. It’s the biggest red flag. SEO results cannot happen overnight. While some situations can have positive results quickly, the real benefits take a few months.
The results take time to bring in traffic and only after implementing best practices consistently can you see the outcome of your hard work. Anyone who promises differently is more than likely fixated on out-of-date practices that can put your website into more trouble than it’s worth.
2. Keyword Stuffing
Implementing keywords in your content is vital for results. However, when done in excess it can have negative consequences in search. Jamming in excessive keywords for rankings or going overboard to trick algorithms can not only push readers away, but it could also potentially lower your rank. Sacrificing quality content to shove in highly searched words is never a good idea.
3. Paid Links
Link building is an important aspect of SEO, but they need to be earned. Any backlinks should receive the same care as the websites they are linked to. When done correctly, it can yield very positive results. When done incorrectly, it can damage your site’s reputation. A huge SEO red flag is when an SEO tactician buys up links or uses low-quality links to build up site credit. Cheap guest posts, poor-quality domains, and junk links are easily identified by Google, which in turn will hurt site traffic.
4. Cloaking
The goal of search is to get your website in front of the right users. Cloaking is not the way to do it. This tactic presents readers with misleading information to trick them into visiting a website. It’s the classic bait in the switch; someone searching for wedding dresses does not want to end up on a website for truck tires. Using terms to lure clicks can have the opposite effect you want. The goal is to get people to come back – not to click and leave.
5. Duplicate Content
No two sites are built alike. Even when it comes to competition, every company has a little something different to offer. So, if your SEO tactician is duplicating content, it’ll be awkward when you are banned for plagiarizing other sites. Using the same content for different web domains is never a good idea. Whether the SEO you’ve hired is stealing it or just reusing cookie-cutter content, it’s never a good sign.
6. Clickbait
Like cloaking, clickbait is a shock and awe tactic used to draw users in using cleverly worded titles. These “hot-button” titles are filled with misleading lead-ins that attempt to get clicks and boost rankings. Again, this may influence the overall ROI and reputation of your website. It’s also much more difficult to rank for targeted keywords. Plus, it’s an easy way to push readers away.
7. Writing for the Search Engines
An SEO’s job is to analyze site data and employ good practices to get your content to the top of search for the right consumers. The focus should be on grabbing a steady audience for better ROI; it should not be focused on gaming the search engines. If your SEO is focused on writing to algorithms or ‘robots,’ walk away. This tactic puts little to no effort in content, instead of pushing out thin or stuffed content to get the ‘best’ results. These tactics may have worked in the past, but poor content is something Google will weed out.
8. Spinning Content
How many quality articles can a bot put out? The answer – not many. A sure sign of bad SEO practices is article spinning. Using software, a company tries to write quality content using different keywords and phrases. The result is just as good as you would expect. The produced content is an incoherent and useless page – definitely not something you want on your website.
9. Bad Content
Quality is one thing that will bring back your readers. An easy way to alienate your readers is with terrible content: thin, keyword-stuffed, link-packed clickbait will not bring in nor keep users. It’s just plain bad practices. Every red flag on this list leads to bad content, and in turn, you won’t get the results you want. SEO practices is a long-term game. Content should be quality, evergreen, and constantly updated.
To build up your site’s quality and get your website to the right readers, don’t settle for a bad SEO technician or bad SEO agency. Keep these red flags in mind and boost the quality of your website with a long-term view.
