Back in the day, it was easier for website owners and digital marketers to come up with a clever SEO strategy.

While Google and other search engines were still trying to find their feet, SEO specialists were plying their tricks and trades to beat the SE algorithms and boost the search results.

These tactics worked back then but today search engines like Google change its algorithm 500 to 600 times a year. Even though these are minor changes, their implications cannot be ignored.

Moreover, major algorithm updates like Panda and Penguin have changed the search results in significant ways.

The point is that, the tactics which used to work at some point have become obsolete, as search engines are becoming smarter.

Want to be aware of the techniques that don’t work any longer? What should you do instead? Read on.

Outdated Technique #1: Article Marketing

The idea behind article marketing was simple. It was to create articles related to your products and services and submit them to article submission directories.

The article would have keywords and anchored links pointing back to your site. This increased the ranking of your website also making it more searchable.

Google and other search engines valued these links in the beginning. Later as people started to exploit this opportunity by submitting spun articles just for backlinks, the SEs started to filter out this type of promotion.

Now, if the quality of the articles is not up to the mark, then these links become toxic to your website.

What you should do instead

A better tactic you could use today is guest blogging. It is similar to how you create a blog, or post, except in this case you submit it to websites which allow guest blogging.

The advantage of doing this is that you have quality content which engages real users which in turn drives traffic to your website.

Here’s an ultimate list for guest blogging.

Outdated technique #2: Spammy Directories

Another technique which became popular amongst marketers was to submit links to directories. This technique is no longer useful as google and other search engines consider it as spammy.

You may come across adverts which offer you thousands of backlinks even today but remember these are not legitimate and can damage your rankings.

What you should do instead

Instead of having links at low value spammy directories look for high quality directories within your niche. Good examples are business.com, yelp and e-bizda.

Here are some directories with high DA where you can have backlinks.

Outdated technique #3: Spammy Blog Comments

This technique was widely used by SEO specialists. The technique involves finding blogs which allow comments and then mass posting to it using software and spun text.

Instead of posting genuine comments, people would put anchored text which would be linked to their website.

Today, Google and other search engines consider these websites as spammy, and links pointing to your website from such websites are definitely toxic.

What you should do instead

Try genuine comments on high quality blogs within your niche/ industry. This activity would lead you to build relationships not only with the blog owners but with the community of members.

Help members with your perspective and insights, answer their questions, or give out some information they’re looking for.

This should be a part of your SEO strategy as it focuses on building relationships and not just backlinks.

Outdated technique #4: Creating Keyword Specific Pages

This was a technique which used to work. For eg, create pages for all the variations of a given keyword: cheap accountancy services, best accountancy services, hire accountancy services.

The thinking behind this was simple. Marketers would target a keyword independently, give more pages for the search engines to crawl, and thereby appear more relevant.

However, this technique didn’t work for long as search engines were more concerned with user intent rather than just technical optimization.

Moreover, the usability and the architecture of the website went awry because of this practice. This was an issue with search engines.

What you should do instead

User intent is what matters the most.

1. What is the intent behind a search phrase?
2. What kind of content would be most relevant to users?

Many a times the intent behind different search terms would be the same and it's better if you have one page which gives all the information they’re seeking, rather than having several pages.

That being said, you shouldn’t miss out on opportunities to fit in your keywords intelligently.

Outdated technique #5 - Overdoing Keywords

Having keywords in your content is definitely a good SEO practice, but you shouldn’t go overboard with it.

Try to avoid repeating long tail keywords in your copy to get rid of redundancies. Also, remember that keyword stuffing no longer works and should be avoided.

What you should do instead

Concentrate on writing good content that the reader is seeking for instead just focussing on keywords.

There are proven frameworks to write great copy which addresses the real need of the customer. You should follow them.

Remember, the more you engage visitors on your site the better it is for your ranking.

Also, do not forget to use related keywords. Google uses Latent Semantic Indexing, which basically means that it understands synonyms. Therefore, don’t be shy of using related keywords in your copy.

This will also give you chance to rank on wider range of keywords.

Here’s a technique to have LSI friendly keywords

1. Use one look’s reverse dictionary to find synonyms.
2. Use these synonyms + modifiers to get related keywords using soovle.
3. Use LSIGraph/ Ubersuggest to check for keyword volumes.

   

So these are some of the old school techniques which do not work any longer.

Remember, search engines like Google, Bing are always evolving and we need to keep up to the change they make in their systems.

Writing great content is the only way to have a successful website. Instead of quick SEO fixes, focussing on sustained long-term effort would turn out to be more fruitful.

This article must have surely given you a gist about the current and the future working of SEO.

Want to hear the industry pioneers like Danny Sullivan, Rand Fishkin, Jill Whalen and more talk about the early days of SEO and where it’s headed to now?

Here's an interesting movie you should watch.

Looking for an agency with expertise in SEO techniques?

Pigtail Pundits has been practicing SEO for 22 years. We have executed SEO projects for results for our clients in India and internationally.

Write to us about your requirements here.

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