SEO has changed drastically in a small space of time, and it is still constantly evolving. Google, for example, makes over 500 changes a year. To ensure your business site is optimised for search engines like Google and Bing, you need to keep abreast of changes and updates to algorithms.
Most of the changes have allowed higher quality content to rise to the top of the rankings. However, those still using old SEO tactics might find their websites being penalised for doing so, which is why it is so important to keep up.
No more keyword stuffing
Probably one of the worst offenders of the past was overthinking keyword density. We take pride in our well-written and engaging content, so the idea of having to stuff keywords into a concise piece of copy is disheartening. Luckily, nobody has to do this, in fact it could harm you.
Years ago, repeating key search terms and words into copy would help you rank higher. Although it was still frowned upon, because it reduces the quality of content and readability, many websites did it.
Now, Google’s ever-changing algorithm picks up on more meaningful indicators, such as how long people want to stay on a webpage, how original the content is and naturally occurring keywords and phrases. Quality always overrides anything when you’re creating content for web.
Dynamic optimisation
User experience is important, whether it helps you rank or not. However, increasingly more focus is placed on mobile friendliness. It used to be that SEO – and, as a result, website admins – used to concentrate on the user experience through a desktop.
Most people use tablets and mobiles to browse the web now, so you have to be sure your website works well across many different devices in order to be taken seriously by search engine algorithms.
Backlink quality
Similar to keyword stuffing, search engines now recognise the importance of quality links. You can buy spammy backlinks, and many sites do and have done in the past. However, search engines like Google can now penalise for this.
Buying backlinks breaches their terms and could result in a loss of rankings for keywords for over six months. This is great news for companies that want to organically increase SEO.
So how else could you build backlinks? Writing high-quality guest posts for other sites and including links in press releases are just two simple ways to do this.
These are just three ways that SEO has dramatically changed. It is vital, as part of your marketing efforts, to keep abreast of updates. Moz.com has a great algorithm changes log you can view here.
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