SEO: 2 Common Website Content Mistakes You Could Be Making

When creating content for your website, it’s important the text on the page is optimized so search engines will know to show your page when users are browsing for your topic online.  This is known as search engine optimization, or SEO.  But did you know that there might be things you’re doing that are hurting your rankings with search engines such as Google or Bing?  After reading this blog, you’ll know about 2 spooky facts about SEO.  Hey, it’s October and we at BizzyWeb like to have fun too!

 Keyword Stuffing

Back when search engines first entered the Internet scene, the best practices behind SEO were rather lacks, or better put, nonexistent.  It didn’t take long for people to understand what made a web page rank higher than others.  To this day, what makes a page rank higher is content that contains the search terms users are typing in.  However, back before best practices, web content writers would write the same words over and over again on the same site.  That way, if someone was searching via Google for bicycles, the site that contained ‘bicycles’ the most would show up as number one, thus more likely to get clicks.  Search engines have since become more sophisticated, so quickly recognize sites that have irrelevant and useless content like the example above and kick that site all the way back to page 40 of Google.  This makes way for the real sites with relevant content, thus creating a better user experience for searchers.  You can check out the full article on keyword stuffing here. 

Copying Content

Yes, plagiarism is still illegal, even in the world of the Internet, which can sometimes seem like a place where anything goes.  However, there’s one other caveat to copying someone’s content and using it as your own, it hurts your search ranking!  Search engines don’t care about the legalities of copying content; it simply gets confused as to which site is most relevant.  So, even if you properly reference the writer of the content you’re using, you should only be using that content to support your argument, theory, or whatever point you’re trying to get across to your readers.  Search engines are all about the customer’s experience, so if your content is the same as one, two, or three other sites’ content, Google or Bing is going to choose the one that seems the most original and send you packing right back to page 40 again.  I support my argument by referencing you to this article I found at Search Engine Land, written by Eric Enge.

Are you wondering about best practices on writing content for your site?  Whether it’s the information on your website pages or in your blog, BizzyWeb is here to help.  Join us every Wednesday at noon for our BuzzBuilder’s calls where we cover Internet hot topics, such as SEO.  You can also browse through our BuzzBuilder’s archives to see if we’ve covered the topic, which we probably have!  If you have more questions, contact BizzyWeb today.  We’ll make sure your website content is optimized in the right way.  Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+ to make sure you’re kept up to date on the ever-changing world of the Internet!