Semalt Defines 5 Myths That Damage SEO Reputation

While SEO practices promote defensive self-searching and background searches, you will be surprised some of the top results that come up when you search the term 'SEO'. In fact, Google automatically autosuggests negative comments next to the word SEO. This leads to the realization that this practice has earned itself a negative reputation out there.

Essentially, SEO facilitates automated search engine bots and spiders to access a web-page, decipher its actual purpose and meaning and eventually index its content for future references by searchers. This process of organizing web pages makes it fast and convenient for search engine users and the search engine itself as it can produce relevant search results for a specific search query.

Artem Abgarian, the leading expert of Semalt Digital Services, explains where SEO has got a bad reputation.

1. Unsolicited Emails

SEO as a new and growing field of practice attracts starters and learners. In the quest for business, these starters target corporates and popular individuals with dozens of unsolicited emails which end up spamming their inbox on a weekly basis. The manner in which most claim to be experts presents them as deceptive and fraudulent individuals hence the bad reputation in the market. In most cases, the emails promise to fix too many problems for the target companies to believe. It also happens that some of these self-proclaimed SEO experts are indeed scammers.

2. Stuffing Keywords

The keyword is the foundation of SEO. Use it well and reap desired results. In the same regard, intentionally or innocently repeating and stuffing keywords to manipulate search query results in hefty penalties and hurts the purpose of adopting SEO. Your keyword density for an article must be just right as in sufficient to attain a favorable ranking and avoid a penalty from search engines.

3. Cloaking and Doorway Pages

This counter productive practice involves the use of HTML codes on content for a certain topic with the intent to manipulate indexing and ranking. Once a user clicks on the link or page, they're redirected to another unrelated website for the actual content meaning they are just used for channeling traffic on the initial website. The cloaking and doorway pages technique inconveniences both the user and the search engine hence resulting in the bad reputation.

4. Trading Links

We all know the power SEO has in e-commerce. Website owners and SEO practitioners realize the need to harness this power hence they result in practices such as buying links to manipulate rankings on search queries. These links deceptively bypass search engines by generating fake page authority without detection. However, legitimate such engines such as Google are catching up with this practice and imposing hefty fines on culprits.

5. Hidden Content and Links

A clever and deceptive technique used to hide or display different content from what the user clicks. It's identifiable as a text behind an image or white text on white background. Genuine and reputable SEO practitioners are unlikely to use this technique though still common and denting SEO reputation.

All industries experience and counter inherent challenges touching on ethics. The SEO industry is responding and adopting to unethical practice accordingly.