1. Don’t Annoy Google with these Dirty Tactics
by Gary Messinger
In February 23, 2011, Google launched the Panda update, a major revamp in the search
engine’s ranking algorithm that penalize websites for inferior quality. Two months later, it
released Penguin, which penalize over-optimization and low quality links. SEO was
never the same again.
Prior to these updates, the SEO industry was plagued with automated content and links,
which today are no longer effective. Reports from Google Trends indicate a significant
increase in the quality of content posted online, as well as in the number of searches for
content. Internet users can’t be happier about it. Finding excellent information is no
longer like finding a needle in a haystack.
If you’re doing content marketing for your business (which you should, given that it’s
crucial for business marketing success), be aware of everything that annoys Google. It
hates dirty tactics so never resort to the following:
• Low quality content – Google wants to give internet users the best kind of internet
experience. To do that, it has to eradicate mediocre content that doesn’t provide
anything helpful. Google hates articles that are irrelevant and poorly researched. It
also doesn’t like very short articles. If you’re tempted to write 50 150-word
articles that are just filled with fluff, thinking these would generate more traffic to
your site, don’t.
• Duplicate content – This is a major no-no. Google abhors plagiarism. Don’t copy
others’ works, post it as your own, and think you can get away with it. It’s not
only copying others’ content that’s prohibited. You shouldn’t duplicate your own
content either. Posting the same article in all your five blogs will definitely annoy
Google. Fresh and unique articles are the only way to go. Or convert articles into
other forms like videos or infographics.
• Inferior directories – Before the Google updates, quantity was everything. That’s
no longer true. If you submit a hundred articles to inferior article directories,
you’ll infuriate Google. What you should do instead is to go for reputable article
directories and produce high quality content so your articles will be published.
• Untrusted sites - Apart from low quality directories, you should also stay away
from untrusted websites. Never link back to them. This would surely hurt your
Google rank. You’ll be penalized for getting inbound links or giving links to these
bad websites.
• Keyword stuffing - Gone are the days when you can put one dozen different
keywords or repeat the same keyword 10 times on the same article. That no longer
applies today. SEO experts teach us that it’s now more effective to choose only
two to three keywords and use each once within an article.
2. If you want your internet marketing efforts to work, don’t earn the ire of Google with
these dirty tactics that no longer work. Follow the rules, and be on the same line of
objective: produce excellent content for better internet browsing experience for users.