BAD SEO HABITSMEETUP

Common and Harmful WordPress SEO mistakes

Things you can’t ignore with Penguin 4.0

Bad Habits in Local SEO

Our Panel of Experts

Tim CapperPeter Mead

@GuideTwit

Sha Menz

COMMON AND HARMFULWORDPRESS SEO MISTAKES

Peter MeadWordPress SEO Consultant, Melbourne SEO meetup co-organizer

20 Bad WordPress SEO Habits

SEMrush meetup with Sha Menz, Tim Capper and Peter Mead

@petermeadit https://www.semrush.com/webinars/bad-seo-habits-meetup/

So many Bad HabitsWhat kind of bad habits are there?

● Mistakes that anyone can make● Spammy practices or cheap services ● Technical Issues and errors ● Lack of strategy and planning

These come about by:

1. Being unaware of the issues2. Trying to beat Google at its own game

Mistakes that anyone can make

Ticking the noindex boxIt’s the oldest trick in the WordPress SEO book.

You tick the box and forget to untick later, and your site won't index.

#1

Not installing an SEO pluginYou don't actually need an SEO plugin to do SEO on WordPress, but…

If you want to do it the hard way you can dig into the files and code.

Install a plugin:

● Yoast SEO

Or

● All in one SEO Pack

#2

Not connecting with Google & BingThere are many benefits of connecting you site with Google and Bing.

It allows you to take control and visibility into the crawlers and indexing,

And a whole lot more, Install:

● Google Search Console● Google Analytics● Google Tag Manager● Bing Webmaster tools

#3

Not submitting sitemap.xmlSitemap lists URLs for crawling

Gives data about each URL to indicate priority and frequency etc.

Also indicates any new URLs on your site

Create and submit an xml sitemap through Yoast or All-in-one plugin

Keep an eye out for sitemap errors

#4

Blocking .js and .css file in robots.txtIt used to be the norm to block extra resources in your robots.txt

Now it’s best to let Google figure out what to do with Javascript and Style sheets

If blocked Google may not see all of your site properly or crawl it

#5

Poor internal linking strategyLack of any internal links to important resources on your site

Too many internal links to pages just to get rankings

Links with inappropriate or misleading anchor text

Links that are badly structured, broken or in redirect loops

#6

Ignoring Google Webmaster GuidelinesYou may not know about Google Webmaster Guidelines

● https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en

You may not think they are that important, or you can beat Google

Consider two factors:

● What’s your appetite for risk?● How much do you stand to lose if you site tanks?

#7

Spammy practices or poor services

Homepage title keyword stuffingYou think your homepage title should have your important keywords in it

Yeah sure, keywords are important in homepage title!

But not by repeating a set or variation of keywords

● Don’t: <title>Blue Widgets | Red Widgets Online | Best Widgets</title>● Do:<title>Widget Brand - Best Red and Blue Widgets Online</title>

Google may rewrite your Homepage title if you get this wrong

Anyways, it just looks spammy and your CTR could tank

#8

Meta Description Keyword Stuffing Some people think Meta Description is a place to put all their important keywords

Rank higher because of some trick or something?

This just looks really spammy

● CTR will tank

Better to use the Meta Description as you little marketing grab

So folks can get an idea of what your site is about before clicking on the result

Better CTR, bounce rate, higher time on site, more page views etc. etc. Hopefully

#9

Lazy naming of imagesYou upload the image to WordPress and use it without ALT or Naming it properly

Your Blue Widget product photo comes off the camera as D-1028374.JPG

The name means nothing and no ALT text so what is the picture about?

Best to descriptively name it blue-widget-posing.jpg

Address ALT text like alt=”Blue Widget Posing”

This is also good HTML coding and accessibility. www.W3C.org

Don’t stuff keywords into image names or alt text: all-images-are-blue-widgets.jpg

#10

Errors in HTML code Theme or PluginYour Theme might be poorly coded, and have HTML errors

Your plugin might have errors in it

Your blog posts might have HTML errors inadvertently

These can disrupt or distort search engine crawlers such as Google Bot

Check your site with the W3C Validator

Validator.w3.org

#11

Using spammy link tacticsInnocently publishing pingback/trackbacks linking to a spammy site

Participating in webrings or reciprocal links schemes, or submitting directory links

Buying cheap advertised links. But the ad said 5,000 PR 9, DA 60+ for $5 ??

Cheap easy links, even for satellites, may work for a time. What’s the risk?

Better to embark with Quality Content Marketing and Targeted Outreach

Why people link:

1. Interesting Engaging Content 2. Great info and Resources 3. Visitor Relationship

#12

Technical Issues and errors

Persisting with slow website speedYou know your site is a bit slow, but loathe to move it or address server issues.

Google site speed tool: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/

Caching plugins and server caching can help but...

Consider moving to some quality hosting if you want real improvements

Chris Burgess has excellent Site Speed Tips,click to view on Slideshare

#13

Ignoring permalink structureOne of the first things to do

Adjust your permalink structure

You need friendly readable urls. How to (Yoat) change permalink structure

#14

Not addressing taxonomiesSo you create a blog post called My Next Blue Widget

You put it in the Blue Widget category and the Tag it with Blue Widget

Categories and tags create URLs, which can display same content different ways

Also Plugins or Themes may create extra taxonomies

Google crawl and index these and can cause duplicate or cannibalizing effect

For small sites, you can noindex taxonomies.

For large site, you may want to optimize taxonomies effectively

#15

Putting your blog on a subdomain By placing your blog on a subdomain like blog.widgetbrand.com

You are weakening, you need to now build authority and trust and PR :o

May be ok, for very large brands, or those who have strategies and budgets

Best to put your blog on widgetbrand.com/blog

Similar issues with satellite sites to help you in sub niches bestwidgetbrand.com

The searcher intent is the same so best to build your brand on preferred domain

#16

Lack of strategy and planning

Creating page for every keywordYou may think that each time you find a keyword you want to rank for

You need to create some content for that keyword

Hummingbird and RankBrain have changed all that

Now it is about Searcher Intent, think topics rather than keyword variants

So: “Blue Widget Length” and “Blue Widget Size” same search intent ??

So think and structure your site like a librarian to avoid cannibalizing content.

Click here for some tips by Dawn Anderson to avoid Content Cannibalization

#17

Not doing proper keyword researchKeyword research is very important, you may have heard this...

Why?

Because without it you cannot know what people are searching for to find you

Proper research including CPC, Competition, Difficulty, Synonyms, Intent

Google keyword planner old staple, has changed now for paid advertisers

SEMrush has terrific tools including Keyword Magic Tool

Many other tools including seobook keyword tools and Moz Keyword Explorer

#18

Poor Content Marketing StrategyContent Marketing is the new Link Building

Primary goal for Content Marketing is to build online reputation and visibility

Links are important, Google sees links as a form of endorsement

Natural links that have been earned

The unhelpful links are Purchased or manufactured Links

Many types of content to provide interesting and engaging, useful to your audience

Give compelling reasons for people to link to your site

#19

Poor Content Promotion StrategySo you create the articles and write all this great content, then what?

But you need to promote it or peeps don’t know it's there

Content Promotion Strategies Include:

● Email Lists● Content Syndication● Social Media ● Viral Content● Targeted PPC● Targeted Outreach…

#20

What bad habits do you have?

THINGS YOU CAN’T IGNOREWITH PENGUIN 4.0

Sha Menz

Lead Software Architect at linkremoval outreach tool, rmoov

Avoiding The Abyss

How To Beat Bad SEO Habits Before They Appear

@SEMRush Online Meetup @ShahMenz @rmoov

BEWARE Bad SEO habits kill

•  Traffic

•  Revenues

•  Businesses

•  Families and friendships

Top 3 Horrendous Habits

� Sticking like glue to what you know (when the rest of the world has moved on)

� Ignoring customer needs

� Manipulating the Link Graph

“Of course people can find me! I’ve sent faxes and I’m in the phone book.”

Sticking like glue to what you know

“It’s a Mobile First world”

It’s a Mobile First World

OK Google…I need an answer quick!

Sticking like glue to what you know

Search queries are changing

If you’re still keyword stuffing for the short tail…

Ignoring customer needs

It’s not about you …it’s about your customers

I have to get a pair of those

yellow hot pants!

Me too!

“of course they’ll buy purple trench coats – they’re so much cooler”

Manipulating the Link Graph

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…

there’s only one way…

Is recovery possible?

quit manipulating anchor text

Clearly

not

natural

quit manufacturing links

quit paying for followed links

quit redirecting for link juice

quit using directory sites

very few directories are not seen as manipulative now

quit links via Wordpress themes, badges, widgets etc.

quit trying to “beat Google”

you’ll just end up clinging to that runaway train…

So let’s talk about

which is actually

Penguin in the wild…

Is it the light at the end of your tunnel?

What do we know about Penguin in November 2016?

Penguin is now part of the Core algorithm

Penguin 4.0

Penguin makes assessments of the backlink profile (and adjustments to rankings) in real time

Penguin 4.0

Manipulative links are discounted

Penguin 4.0

Penalties are no longer applied

Penguin 4.0

-but loss of link value from newly tagged spam will hurt

The effects of the algorithm are more granular

Penguin 4.0

-adjustments may be made at page or section level

The effects of the algorithm may be more granular in other ways

Penguin 4.0

-partial recovery for specific keywords may indicate more work needed

Disavow files are recognised and applied in real time

Penguin 4.0

-this applies to both additions and deletions

Disavow files are NOT DEAD!

Penguin 4.0

Disavow files are the only reliable way to clean up a fishy mess

Penguin 4.0

and keep angry Penguins from you door

and if you’re thinking Penguin can’t hurt you any more…

Penguin 4.0

and keep angry Penguins from you door

If Penguin assesses large scale manipulation ALL link equity will be discounted!

Penguin 4.0

Don’t forget about manual actions!

Penguin 4.0

Be smart…avoid the Abyss

Bad SEO Habits Kill

thank you

Need help? Call me 02 6145 2065

@SEMRush Online Meetup @ShahMenz @rmoov

BAD HABITS IN LOCAL SEO

Tim Capper

SEO Consultant at OnlineOwnership and Google TC

We take a look at some Bad Habits when dealing with Local SEO. Some are practices that developers have not updated and your site is subsequently not following best practice, some from a lack of understanding of Local SEO, and some relate to misinformation.

Bad Habits in Local SEO

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

On Site: §  Location, Location, Location §  Connect the Signals §  Page Titles & H Tags §  Structured Data §  Events §  Local Content

Google Business Page: §  Use It §  Cover Image, Logo §  Tag Line & Story §  Images §  Reviews §  Insights

Bad Habits in Local SEO

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

In Local SEO your location and defining that Location is crucial to your visibility in local search results. Reinforce your location and make it easy for customers to find your location by adding your Business Details site wide. The easiest way to achieve this is within your footer. There are numerous ways to layout a footer, but your Business Name, Address and Contact Details must be included. ( We use this for structured data later on )

Location, Location, Location

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

The largest localisation signal for any local business is your Google Business Page, but developers, businesses seem to ignore adding the the G+ icon next to their other social icons……Add It! Make sure your Business Name on sites home page matches the Google Business Page, without it you may not have a Knowledge Panel appear. If you are embedding a map to show the business location, use the map embed

from your own business page. This can also be used to provide review Structured data in the form of aggregate Ratings, which will appear as stars in Search results. Connect the Local Signals!

Connect the Signals

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

Each Page should provide a unique that best describes the service or product on that particular page. Including your location in your landing page title tag, you will be letting both search engines and human visitors know that your business serves and is located in a specific geographic location. Home Page : Tim's Boiler & Heating - Emergency Plumber - Northampton, UK   For Internal Service Pages: Boiler Installation & Repair - Northampton - Tim's Boiler & Heating

Making sure your city and state (county) is present in the title, H1 and H2 tags of your organic landing pages it allows search engines to understand the intent of the page. For your main page your H1 should include name and overall service and the H2 would include town and county. On a product specific page the H1 would be the actual product / service and the H2 would ideally contain the area again. This is not set in stone and could migrate to the H3 tag, but be aware of a proper structure.

Page Title & H Tags for Local SEO

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

Now that your business details are in the websites footer, you can use JSON-LD schema markup to annotate the businesses information. The JSON-LD script shown here can be added to the websites header.php or footer.php file. Check to see if Schema.org supports your type of business, if not use the default of LocalBusiness.

Structured Data Markup

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

Use Events structured data to have your businesses events displayed direct in the knowledge panel. Yes, this also includes SaleEvents. Recent like for like testing on events, showed a 36% increase in engagement on a businesses events page when appearing in the knowledge panel. Check: https://schema.org/Event

Events

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

If you don’t publish it, there is no way for Google and other search engines to know what your business offers and where it offers it. Think about your customers and what they need from your content: §  What do consumers want to learn about your category, products, or services? Do you have snackable

content on mobile that answers their questions?   §  Do consumers want to visit your business? Are you helping them find nearby locations and highlighting

in-stock inventory on your mobile site/app and in mobile search results?   §  What are consumers doing with your product or service (for example, baking cookies, buying a home,

recovering from an injury)? Do you have how-to video content to support their efforts?   §  Where are consumers buying your product? How can you support consumers who are buying from

you in-store or while on the go? Are you empowering consumers to check out in whatever way suits their need?

  §  Start growing your business today by understanding your customers needs and satisfy those needs with

your content.

Local Content

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

Yes your Google Business Page is a social platform that is ignored. Most business forget about using their business page once they have updated their business info. It may not be as popular as FB, Twit or Insta, but if there is one thing that will spark your interest, its this. Post on your business page are read, understood and indexed by Googlebot which all leads to a better understanding by Google as to who you are, where you are and what you offer. So next time you post onto your Social profiles, update your Business page too.   §  *Bold Text Is Especially Good for Titles and Headlines* §  _Italics are especially good for adding emphasis_ §  -Strike this text out-

Use your Google Business Page

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

Time to add your logo and header image, the last thing you want is for a potential shopper to see an unloved business page, what does that say about you as a business. Change your header image to a more Christmassy feel, go on get into the spirit of it.   §  Dashboard: https://business.google.com/manage/ §  Manage Location §  Photos

Cover Image & Logo

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

With the new layout of Google+ adding a tag line and story to your business page is now located in your About Me section. §  About Me: https://aboutme.google.com/

Tag Line & Story

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

A picture is worth a thousand words. Use your photo section to provide images about your business, products and service. Photos can generate a lot of views, do not ignore these. §  Dashboard: https://business.google.com/manage/ §  Manage Location §  Photos

Images

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

Reviews are big, bold and attention seeking in the local pack and maps. Heat map studies have shown how users naturally check out businesses with reviews showing on their Google business listing first. You need five business reviews before you have review stars showing alongside your business listing.   §  Incorporate a review strategy into your customer service emails §  Respond and reply to all reviews via your dashboard §  How to create a Direct Link for Customer Reviews.

Reviews help customers in their final purchase journey. Reviews for a business or product has shown to increase conversions by 28% and being a Local business, reviews on your Google Local Business Page are an important part of your Local SEO.

Reviews

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

Insights consists of five sections, each of which gives you a different way to understand how customers interact with your listing: §  How customers find your listing §  Where customers find you on Google §  Customer actions §  Driving directions requests §  Phone calls

Search: Export data from Google Business Insights

Insights

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper

onlineownership.com plus.google.com/+TimCapper