googleOne of the interesting facts you discover when studying the “inners” of Google is the “whys” and “hows” of their making changes to their search engine algorithms. They say that up to 500 changes can be made in a given year. In 2013, major google changes were made which affects writing websites: Hummingbird, Panda, and Penguin. These are Google names they give to sets of algorithms that are included in their search engine. With all these changes, 2014 brings with it several Search Engine Optimization (SEO)/on-page considerations.

CIO magazine’s blog cio.com has posted several articles and blogs related to these changes and considerations. Here are some of their recommendations and additional links for further information based on common questions asked concerning algorithm changes.

Are We Moving to a Post-SEO Era All About Content Marketing and Results Tracking?

  • SEO is here to stay.
  • SEO is about content marketing.

[ Tips: 16 Ways to Improve Your Content Marketing Strategy ]

[ Feature: The Content Marketing Hall of Fame: 13 Ways to Build Your Business ]

How Will SEO in 2014 Be Different From SEO in 2013?

  •  Search engines are getting smarter smarter.

[ Related: 8 Things You Need to Know About SEO ]

  • Social presence is becoming more important than search.
  • Determining what ranks, and why, will be more complicated.
  • In 2014, SEO will be all about mobile.

[ Tips: Mobile SEO Is More Than Just Choosing Keywords]

  • Natural language queries will be more important.
  • SEO experts will be folded into marketing agencies.

Best SEO Advice For 2014?

  •  Identify your customers’ biggest pain points by asking sales and support team members for feedback.
  • Stay honest.

[ Related: Does Google Authorship Matter for SEO? ]

  • Google wants a site to earn attention and develop your network.
  •  Look at link building as another form of business networking.

[ Related: Google Begins Penalizing Search “Over-optimization” ]

  • Quality should be always a major focus
  • Build a single site for mobile and desktop users.
  • Look for the best long-tail keywords.

worldGlassSo with all these tips for SEO, there are several tips related to practices that one may be using or considering that should be stopped or dis-continued. Neil Patel in his blog: 5 SEO Techniques You Should Stop Using Immediately {http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/03/28/5-seo-techniques-you-should-stop-using-immediately/} provides these tips.

1. Spammy Guest Blogging

Use guest blogging with caution. It is recommended that one stop the following practices:

  • Attempting to rank for long tail keywords in your guest posts
  • Writing irrelevant content in your guest posts
  • Writing low-quality content in your guest posts

2. Optimized Anchors

What is an optimized link? An optimized anchor is an anchor text that uses keywords for which you want to rank. Use safe anchors, not optimized anchors. An example of a safe anchor is using naked URLS (the actual URL such as www.tcdgstudios.com).

3. Quantity of links over quality

Building ranking through link building is still important but it should be achieved through links that have authority and validity. It is not the quantity but the quality of the backlink.

4. Keyword Heavy Content

If you are still keyword stuffing – stop. What is keyword stuffing? Keyword stuffing refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results. Keyword stuffing is more penalized when it happens with long tail keywords than general terms.  What are some alternative? First content is ling. Add more content and not just keywords. Thus it is not keyword density that matters it is good reader content. Use related terms instead of repeating the same keyword.

 

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