It’s January which can mean only one thing – successful eCommerce Directors are making resolutions to never do these 5 SEO things again…
1. Writing to a word count or keyword density
Google has been saying for years to stop creating content for search engines and instead focus on actual humans. In 2022, it specified in the Helpful Content update that Google doesn’t have a preferred word count.
Elements of Google’s algorithm like Google MUM (Multitask Unified Model) means it understands natural language processing and latent semantic indexing to an incredibly sophisticated point. It understands lots of different languages and it understands how natural speech should sound read.
It can understand sarcasm, it can understand synonyms, it can understand colloquialisms and it can understand an article without having to have the primary keywords stuffed into every heading and used several times in every sentence.
So, what should you do instead?
Stop making your staff write to keyword targets and let them just produce good quality content that shows they know what they’re talking about. Check out our recent blog that offers top tips on making the most of the Helpful Content update.
2. Links
Links (theoretically) help Google understand how popular a website is. The more links it has, the more other websites are voting for its content and Google uses this information to conclude this site must know what it’s talking about and rewards it with lots of juicy rankings.
Link builders have been around for almost as long as SEOs and most SEOs have probably spent at least part of their career link building. Sending emails, asking recipients will you please link to my wonderful content. It sucks and there’s a reason it’s usually a job handed down to the more junior staff.
Google has been saying links will be ‘weighted down in future algorithm advances‘ for years but one day, it might just come through. Could 2023 be the year?
Personally, we’ll miss the emails from ‘Jeff’ promising thousands of links from his high quality network of websites for just $5 but it’s a sacrifice we’re willing to make for the evolution of the algorithm.
So, what should you do instead?
Forget about chasing links and focus on creating more and better content, not to mention making sure your keywords are on point (check out our recent blog post for tips!).
3. Some blogger outreach/paid reviews
Speaking of outdated link building tactics – if you’re still sending products /services to bloggers and asking for a link in exchange; get in the bin! Or at least toddle on back to 2009 where you belong.
Even taking ASA guidelines out of the equation (which specify any paid promotion must be declared) it’s an outdated, rubbish tactic. All the kids are consuming their content on IG and TikTok so why are some people still participating in this old fashioned link building tactic?
That’s not to say blogs can’t send loads of great quality traffic, but it shouldn’t be done with the sole purpose of ‘link building’.
So, what should you do instead?
Make sure your site is configured to encourage visitors to share your excellent content – check out our blog on how data can help you with this.
4. Google Analytics Universal
Whether you’ve embraced GA4 yet or it’s on your New Years To Do list, 2023 will Universal sale off into the sunset and it will be GA4 or nothing.
Of course, just because Google’s saying it will stop processing data in Universal in July, it doesn’t mean the deadline won’t be pushed back a bit. But we’ve been advising customers to get on board with GA4 for a year now.
So, what should you do instead?
Get with the GA4 program! Our recent blog has proved a popular guide with our clients – check it out here.
5. Overreacting every time there’s an update (or even a possible update)
It’s an old line but Google routinely says it makes hundreds of algo tweaks a year. More often than not, it confirms the larger ones (and occasionally gives it a fun name in an attempt to take the sting off).
Whether it’s a small tweak, or an earthquake of an update, hyperventilating every time Google hits the ‘refresh’ button on its algorithm is a waste of time and effort. Updates happen, even the most ethical hard working SEO can be caught off guard by the occasional update (so I’m told ;)).
So, what should you do instead?
Don’t panic, assess the data, take a deep breath and adapt. We are always offering tips on how to make the most of any changes, for example our recent look at the E.E.A.T. update.