After Google’s recent Penguin update, much has been written about negative SEO. Does it really exist and can it be used to hurt your website? What can you do to avoid problems? One of the greatest free internet marketing tips that I can provide is to stay away from any negative SEO/ black hat techniques.
Ok great so number one free internet marketing tip = no negative SEO, but what is negative SEO? Negative SEO refers to tactics that companies use to manipulate the organic Google rankings of their competitors. This refers to techniques such as link farms and spamming. Google’s Penguin’s update has now penalised ALL websites using these negative SEO practises.
If you want to make sure that your website doesn’t get penalised by Google Penguin, follow in the footsteps of an SEO company such as Ipcoweb in the following:
- Stay away from spam methods to promote your website.
- Use white-hat SEO methods to promote your website such as:
- Write new unique and interesting content. Fresh content amounts to 700 words minimum.
- Use Titles on each individual page. This is one of the simplest free SEO tips. If your pages are indexed correctly, then Google can correctly direct traffic to your site.
- Use Headers: An important factor when assessing factors on how to SEO. Google does need guidance in terms of what is most important on your page. Headers are a wonderful way in which you can indicate the importance of some parts of your content.
- Utilise social media and blogs.
- Host your website locally.
- Do NOT use flash. Flash warrants all your Google online marketing null and void as flash is not readable by Mac products.
Online Marketing
When looking into online marketing many businesses tend to shy away from Search Engine Optimization in that they compare it to some sort of dark art. The words such as “non-canonical” and “noindex meta tag” can have even the most technologically minded individuals running for the hills. An age old fact is that 95% of your results will come from 5% of your effort. The true task comes in figuring out what 5% to focus on when it comes to online marketing. How to SEO is all about that 5%
The main concept in regard to SEO that people need to realise is that because it is internet based, it is an ever-evolving practise. The main fib that a SEO company will tell you is that you need to GO BIG and get ranking on page one for a keyword such as “weight loss” and thus spend thousands and thousands of Rands in the process. This is where we at Ipcoweb differ from a seo company only out to get as much money out of you as possible. Search Engine Optimization is about the 5% – i.e. the simple stuff. For many businesses all they need are simple changes that will get the pages ranking and in turn send the business traffic that will result in conversions.
SEO is about People
Yes that’s right, SEO is about people. From the start you and Google are on the same page: Google is trying to do something very simple: send searchers to valuable content that gives those searchers what they need. You in turn want the right people to find your site that will result in conversion. SEO is about people – about people finding your sites and building relationships. Search Engine Optimization is about:
- The customer that finds your website because you’ve learnt how to build an SEO friendly site that is indexed correctly
- The second customer who’ll share your content via a Google +1, Facebook, Twitter and Blogs
- Great headlines that will captivate your audience.
Search is still the most common online activity, with email next in line. If people don’t know about you then they can’t promote you. Get to Google Page one through an effective Google Online Marketing strategy. What people say about you is more important then what you say about yourself. Contact Ipcoweb today for a chance to see all these Google online marketing tips put into practise. For more FREE SEO tips click here.
Contributing Author: Amanda Scribante – Ipcoweb Copywriter www.ipcoweb.co.za
