Is SEO Ruining Your Brand Content? 5 Ways to Avoid That
Businesses these days have moved from the physical sphere to the online one. But maintaining an online presence has become more challenging as more content has become available. SEO strategies are a great way to push your content a bit further, but at what point does it become too much?
They say too much of anything eventually becomes a disease. With that in mind, there may be certain SEO practises that are dragging you down. Curious yet? Well, you should be because here are ways you can avoid ruining your business with SEO.
1. Try not to link-bait
We know, if there was a tale as old as time in content creation, it would be link-baiting. After all, links have always been an integral part of SEO strategy. Back in the day, the more backlinks there were in an article, the more traffic. But Google has caught up by using policies that guard against packing your content with backlinks. The verdict? Backlinks can be toxic if you use them wrongly.
Google currently penalizes sites that practice this and tag their content as low quality. So, what’s the alternative? Should backlinks be outlawed as far as content creation is concerned? The answer is no. Backlinks can be great if you know how to use them correctly. The first step to classing it up is to link your content to top-quality websites.
Think of it as a ‘birds of a feather, flock together’ situation. The better the quality of the backlinks, the better your site will be regarded. It does not stop there, it is better to reach out to them and inquire about genuine ways to partner. That will, in turn, lead to an actual reason to share links. If you put in the work to create genuine and quality content, your readers will naturally share your content. Guess what? That will automatically generate some backlinks.
2. Don’t use too many keywords
A while ago, it was alright to oversaturate your content with keywords. In fact, it was required. If all you care about is ranking high on Google, then keyword stuffing sounds legitimate. The thing is, these keywords will end up killing your ratings in the long run. The best way to drive your content is to make it more person driven.
This will result in actual readers clicking on your call to action button. Then that will actually become a legitimate marketing lead. Coupling this with topnotch and relevant content will grow your audience steadily and organically. It may not be the fastest way to get your content circulated but it has more long lasting effects.
Why take the time out to do this organically? Your proposed audience will not appreciate keyword stuffing, it is unnatural. It equally goes a long way to wreck your credibility and eventually your brand. Even more, Google is onto sites that are saturated in keywords, so it is also instantly damaging.
3. Put out quality content.
Content marketing is one of the most extensively used marketing tools in contemporary times. But, it has been overused and not tastefully either. Many brands out there are not even putting their best foot forward. They are more concerned with putting out hoards of content out there instead of good quality content.
Yes, having lots of content out there is good for your brand, but it will kill your SEO stance. In turn, it will drive customers away from your platform. You want your content to be informative, helpful and engaging. But, if you spend more time focusing on crowding your audience with content, quality takes the backstage.
These days, consumers are a lot more intuitive. Additionally, with different brands posed as competitors, good content is an advantage. Authentic and quality content offers your audience new ways to engage with you. So, take out time to connect with your proposed audience and it will pay off a lot more than having a pageload of content. Remember, it’s quality over quantity.
4. Avoid fake profiles and reviews
Product reviews have become a go-to for consumers trying to make a choice. Based on that, it makes sense that brands sometimes create fake reviewers. They do this in a bid to drum up some more business from the online community. The thing is, with the advent of actual review sites like YELP, it is getting easier to spot the fake reviews.
Even more, merchant sites like Amazon can equally weed out the truth when it comes to the efficacy of products/services. Altogether, it is not worth it to create fake profiles and reviews. Besides, if you get caught, it could ultimately lead to the end of your brand. Needless to say, it is damaging to any business’ credibility.
The good news is that it does not take too much to develop actual relationships with social media influencers. You could even make provisions for a trusted brand ambassador that will make their fanbase yours. Even more, you could reach out to influencers and vloggers offering them free samples.
They could, in turn, offer good reviews based on their experience with your products. Sure, this kind of credibility is not built overnight. But, it is worth it in the long run.
5.  Keep up with latest best practices
As far as digital marketing and SEO strategies are concerned, times are evolving. Not staying up to date can be the death of your brand especially with fresh strategies popping up everyday. So, instead of hinging on what you know works, do some research. There are new SEO and digital marketing strategies emerging and you have to keep up to survive.
Do not wait for enough money, or enough time to implement new SEO strategies. You cannot do the same thing and expect different results. That is exactly where things will start to crumble. There are always basic SEO strategies to implement. So, you do not have to splurge right off the boat.
Also, stay up to date on Google’s policies and ranking prerequisites. This will ensure you know what is acceptable and what’s not. Call it a preventative measure, but you know what they say, prevention is better than cure.