SEO is a fast moving world, which often means that many techniques can become obsolete. In fact, many of the techniques used 10, or even 5, years ago are no longer relevant now.
Sometimes techniques need to be adjusted, while at other times, they need to be completely changed. Of course, this is something any SEO agency will keep on top off, but it never hurts to be aware of these changes.
High Keyword Density
In the earliest days of SEO, keywords were the most important aspect and many people assumed that, the more you had, the better your content would rank (improving a site’s visibility overall).
However, Google has gone to many efforts to control how crucial keywords are. Not only are there other factors to consider, thanks to the complex Google search algorithm, the search engine now actively disfavours sites with a high keyword density.
Now, high quality content, with a few keywords, is the best way to go. As a result, many SEO experts use careful keyword analysis to find the important terms for each piece of content, rather than the older whitewashing technique.
Purely Focusing On Content
Many people still make the mistake of assuming SEO is purely about pushing external content. Yet, truth be told, the end goal of any SEO campaign is to drive traffic and increase visibility. Today, there are more ways to do this than just content.
While content is still important, it’s also widely accepted that social media can greatly enhance visibility, even if many still disagree on how directly it does this. In other words, don’t ignore social media. Facebook and Twitter are very powerful tools.
Indiscriminate Guest Blogging
Similar to keyword stuffing, the earlier days of SEO saw less of a focus on which external platforms you chose and more of a push for publishing on as many as possible. Today, Google prefers quality over quantity. Targeting relevant platforms (and using relevant content) is essential.
Even then, you have to ensure that the websites are of a good enough quality. Fortunately, there are many tools to help you do this, from the Domain Authority ranking, Alexa ranking or even the Power/Trust score.
How You Track Success
Finally, what counts as ‘success’ in SEO? Traditionally, this was seen as improving organic traffic in the most desired keywords available – typically the biggest and most competitive. Yet, the wider SEO industry has learned that this is not always the best case, as a great deal of traffic actually comes from longtail keywords.
Furthermore, there are now different ways to track results for any given platform. Is your client simply looking to improve visibility, or are they looking for a better conversion rate as well? To put this another way, you could ensure a website ranks highly for a specific query but why would this matter if it was the wrong terms? When people click through, they expect to be given an answer for their search. If you’re not doing this, it doesn’t matter how visible or highly ranked your client’s website is.