SEO Services: Spotting Bad Content

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is comprised of good blog posts, case studies, white papers, or other content-heavy pages on your site will naturally contain relevant keywords and is more likely to attract inbound links.

However, content must be relevant, useful and readable for humans. Often times, websites are built to try and game the SEO system by creating content heavy on keywords and light on actual value.

Be wary of working with SEO firms recommending any of the content strategies listed below:

An SEO analysis will uncover bad SEO practices

• Content Scraping – Copying content without permission from high-ranking sites in an attempt to boost your site’s ranking. Content scraping is usually a violation of copyright law (and a practice associated with spam sites).

• Keyword-stuffed Content – Creating low-quality articles designed only to attract search bots by repeating a keyword over and over in the text. Content is supposed to engage the visitor and is not just for search-bots.  Additionally, Google recently changed its search algorithm to downgrade sites that were using “shallow / low-quality content” to increase high search rankings. A study by Sistrix (a SEO software maker) found the top-25 sites associated with low-quality content lost 70%-90% of their search engine visibility post  change.

• Publishing Fake Reviews – Impersonating satisfied customers by writing positive reviews of your business on review sites or local search engines to build links back to you site. Sites caught posting fake reviews on the Internet have been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars.

NOTE:  Make sure any content created for your site includes a clear call-to-action or “next step” for the visitor to take. You must have some mechanism to convert visitors who land on any page from a search visit. Try to focus their attention on actually buying your product or becoming a lead.

Remember, content should be created to both generate traffic and capture leads.

To learn more about how Dialog Marketing Services can help your site be more productive, just email or call John @ (608) 212-8455.

The primary source for this material is from the publication How to Spot Bad SEO Services -10 Signs that Your SEO Firm Isn’t Worth the Money – published by Hubspot