SEO strategies you must avoid

There are numerous proven SEO strategies out there that can take your website to the very top of search engine results pages (SERPS). But, you should, at all costs, not resort to ‘black-hat’ techniques to promote your website. There are also other seemingly ‘natural’ strategies and methods that you must avoid if you want your website to reach the top of natural search rankings:

·         Targeting your competitors’ keywords: If you are a small business owner and unsure as to which keywords you must use, you might be tempted to look into which keywords your competitors are using and copy those. Your competitors’ keywords might suit them because those keywords may fit into their overall marketing strategy. Just like you cannot simply copy somebody else’s marketing strategy, you cannot simply pick up someone else’s SEO keywords.

·         Using link building only for your homepage: You must devise link building techniques for the whole website, not only for your home page. This is because your home page will most probably be generic and will be more of an index. When a user searches for a specific item such as, for example, a black umbrella, you’d like him/her to land on the exact page selling black umbrellas, not on a generic page with links to pages selling umbrellas, rain coats and boots. Hence, you need to build keyword targeted links.

·       Creating pages just for the heck of it: With Google’s panda update, pages with multiple links to useless content will be punished severely. It is very important to remember that quality and not quantity is more essential as far as SEO is concerned, especially after Google’s recent updates.

·        Resorting to unnatural reciprocal linking: By now, you would have received thousands of emails asking you for links in exchange for links back. Participating in such schemes is bad practice and you will be penalised by search engines for following such practices.

·         Creating one domain after the other: If you are a small business owner and do not know the tricks of the trade, you might resort to starting up multiple domains for multiple requirements. SEO experts advise that you will be better off trying to focus your SEO efforts on one domain and getting it right. If you want to talk about a different topic, why don’t you open separate sections on the same website instead of starting up new websites?

As a leading SEO company Pipon Solutions offers comprehensive SEO packages to help you focus on what you need to focus on – your overall marketing goals and business strategies. Our SEO services are completely customised to your needs. We work with you right from the start to identify where your needs are and what we can do to help you get there. The whole idea is to understand your business better and develop apt SEO strategies that fit into your overall marketing plans. Contact us for more information, or look at some of our earlier posts for further advice on the top digital marketing strategies out there.  

Google introduces Instant Previews on paid search

Last year Google took instant search to a new level by introducing ‘Instant Previews’. Instant Previews provide end users a graphic overview of a website (search result) and highlight the most relevant sections. The end user simply clicks on a magnifying glass icon next to the listing they wish to see. A small preview of the website pops up into a frame, highlighting the most relevant sections, allowing the end user to preview the website without leaving the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), thus making finding the right web page easier and the whole process more efficient.

Last week, Google brought in the ‘Instant Preview’ feature on paid search as well. So how will this feature affect the way buyers search on Google?

The end user will definitely save a lot of his/her time by clicking on the magnifying glass icon. He/she will be able to quickly glance through the sponsored search results to gain a better understanding of those featured links. The advertiser, on the other hand, will benefit from more qualified traffic and decreased costs. How is that possible? Well, since the preview allows the end user to research a bit more about the page he/she is about to view, they are more likely to click on those links that are relevant and present exactly what is being searched for. On the downside, the clunky preview frame could take up a lot of screen space. Laptops/desktops with smaller screens may present difficulties to the end user trying to see the Instant Previews. Advertisers also need to be a lot more careful about their landing pages, since landing pages determine what the end user sees when he/she clicks on the magnifying glass icon. Both CPA (cost per acquisition) and CTR (Click through rates) should see a dip. Conversions will probably see a boost. Hence, Advertisers should examine their preview pages, investigating whether their preview pages are being shown correctly. Eye catching images could be used on landing pages to entice end users to click on the link. The performance metrics might not change by much for branded keywords as for competitive generic keywords. This is because end users searching for specific brands are more likely to be sure of what they want and less likely to engage in research.

Join Pipon Solutions in debating how instant previews are going to change paid search management.