SEO is not a static landscape. Over the years many people have tried to beat the system by using tactics that were considered “black hat” against Google’s official policy on what constitutes good and responsible SEO activity.

This post is part of a larger SEO blog post series, The SEO Primer.

What is SEO?

SEO is a collective term that describes a number of marketing activities that promote pages and content on a website to get it ranked higher on search engine results.

Occasionally, Google updates their search algorithm, each time they tighten the rules around some areas of SEO that have become spammy and resulting in poor results.

What is Bad SEO?

Bad SEO is anything that is artificial or manipulative, activity that seeks to promote web pages or content that does not provide the user with valuable information or an answer to their query.

For a search marketer getting landed with a bunch of Google penalties is a scary prospect. Normally it is true to say that if you have avoided shady SEO practice, there will not be and penalties against you. However sometimes companies have received penalties for things that were considered common practice – though any technique that attempts to artificially game the system, even if common practice, may result in penalties.

How can Bad SEO affect me?

The implications of BAD SEO are Google penalties, even being removed from the index altogether. Google penalties will be levied against your website if you are found using manipulative SEO techniques and will have a dramatic effect on your website traffic. When a Google penalty is applied, your authority rank for the entire website reverts to 0. This will cause a drop in your search rankings and traffic, which will affect your business’ search visibility and sales performance.

Google penalties can be quite a bit of hard work to recover from, and it may takes months to resolve. Here are two most common examples of out-dated SEO that will get you penalized and how you can recover from them.

How can I avoid Google Penalties?

The best way to avoid being penalized by Google is to go back to the basics of good SEO. Focus on what Google wants for its users. Google want to help search users find great content that answers their search query quickly and efficiently. If you keep that in mind, and go on creating great content that is written to provide search visitors with helpful information, you will be fine. If you do this, Google will see your domain as authoritative and will rank your content accordingly.

If you are writing good content and you still don’t have a great ranking, it would be wise to look at Google Webmaster Tools to see if there are any penalties against your website. If your Webmaster Tools are clear then the best thing to do is focus on the technical aspects of how your website is built and if your content metadata is accurate and a reflection of your search aims. You can do this yourself on a platform like Wordpress, using SEO plugins, or use an SEO-friendly blogging platform like Hubspot, but its probably most effective to work with an SEO specialist on this aspect. Meanwhile, keep creating fresh user-friendly content and your search rankings will grow.

How do I get good content?

Content marketing is the big buzzword in SEO these days, and for good reason. There are a lot of agencies that can help you to create compelling website copy that ranks well in search, and Mariposa is one of them. The important thing to think of is what do your customers need to know about your product or service, and what terms will they be searching for.

Think about what differentiates you, and write about it! Create informative articles about the main problems your customers experience and how you effectively overcome them with your product or service. Articles and case studies that are truly relevant to your audience will not only improve your search ranking but have a positive effect on your sales conversions too.

Hiring a content marketing agency is less expensive that you might think. Our prices begin at only $500 per month. Request a free assessment so we can show you how you are doing, how your competitors are doing and how content marketing might increase revenue and walk your customers through the sales process.

Talk to our team now