Why trying to beat the Google algorithm is a really bad idea!

There is a common misconception that the goal is to beat the Google algorithm for SEO. However, this is not the case. The purpose of SEO, or your SEO goal should be to beat the competition, not the algorithm.

There are several reasons why trying to beat the algorithm is not a good idea.

First and foremost, it’s important to remember that the algorithm is constantly changing. What works today may not work tomorrow, and vice versa. Trying to keep up with the ever-changing algorithm is a fruitless endeavor. Google has confirmed that in 2020 that it released over 4500 changes to its search algorithm. It is reasonable to assume that this number would have been similar in 2021, as well.

Second, even if you could somehow manage to “beat” the algorithm, it would only be temporary. Google would eventually catch on and adjust its algorithms accordingly. You would then be back at square one, or much much worse, trying to figure out how to make it back to the top results.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, SEO is not about gaming the system. It’s about providing quality content that is relevant and useful to your audience. If you focus on creating great content, the algorithm will take care of itself.

Here are the top 10 mistakes that entrepreneurs make when they go after trying to beat the Google algorithm instead of staying focused on winning the competition.

1. Over-optimizing anchor text: When it comes to SEO, anchor text is one of the essential elements. However, over-optimizing your anchor text can be detrimental to your SEO efforts. Google’s algorithm is constantly changing and evolving, so you need to make sure that your anchor text reflects that. Using too many keywords or the same keyword repeatedly will not only make your site look spammy, but it will also give Google a negative signal about your site.

2. Stuffing keywords: In the past, SEOs would stuff their pages with as many keywords as possible in an attempt to rank higher for those keywords. However, this is no longer effective and can result in lower rankings. Google’s algorithm is now smart enough to recognize when a page is stuffed with keywords and will penalize it accordingly.

The consequence – your SEO goal will suffer.

3. Using low-quality links: In the SEO world, links are still one of the most crucial ranking factors. However, not all links are created equal. Google now emphasizes quality over quantity when it comes to links. That means that a few high-quality links are worth more than many low-quality links. So, when building links to your site, make sure that you’re focusing on quality over quantity.

4. Not making your site mobile-friendly: In today’s age, it’s absolutely essential that your site is mobile-friendly. More and more people are using their mobile devices to access the internet, so you will lose a lot of traffic if your site isn’t optimized for mobile. In addition, Google favors mobile-friendly sites, so not being mobile-friendly will hurt your SEO.

5. Ignoring local SEO: If you have a brick-and-mortar business, you need to ensure that you’re doing local SEO. Local SEO is all about optimizing your site for local search results.

What does local search mean? A search with the city or a neighbourhood name included in the search term would qualify as a local search. For example, “Dentist in Vancouver” or “Dentist downtown Calgary” would be examples of real local searches.

That means including your city and province or state in your keywords, titles, and other site elements. It also means getting listed in directories like Yelp and Google Maps. If you want to rank well in local search results, you need to ensure that you’re doing local SEO.

6. Not using social media: Yes, yes, social media platforms are “walled gardens” and don’t directly impact your SEO. That said, social media signals have the potential to be a big part of SEO. Google considers social signals when ranking sites, so you’re missing out on a big opportunity if you’re not on social media. Make sure that you’re active on at least one or two social media platforms and regularly sharing your content.

7. Not taking advantage of schema markup: Schema markup is a code that you can add to your site to help search engines understand your content. It can be used to mark up things like reviews, events, FAQs, and other data. Using schema markup can help your site rank higher in search results, so it’s definitely something that you should be doing.

8. Not optimizing for voice search: Voice search is becoming more and more popular, so it’s essential to optimize for it. When people use voice search, they use natural language instead of keywords. So, make sure that your content is written in a natural language style. In addition, you should also include long-tail keywords since those are the ones that are most likely to be used in voice searches.

9. Not tracking your progress: SEO is an ever-changing and complex field, so it’s essential to track your progress. That way, you can see what’s working and what isn’t. There are a number of SEO tools out there (including several free ones) that can help you track your progress, so make sure to use them.

10. Not doing any SEO: This is a funny way to try and beat the algorithm. However, you would be surprised how often people think that is the exact way to beat the algorithm! SEO is an essential part of your effort to get traffic to your site. If you’re not doing any SEO, then you’re missing out on a lot of potential traffic. Make sure that you’re at least doing some basic SEO, like optimizing your titles and descriptions. Even if you’re not an SEO expert, it’s still worth doing some basic SEO for your site.

Don’t Lose sight of your SEO Goal

So, remember, your SEO goal should be to beat the competition, not the Google algorithm. Focus on creating quality content for humans to read, not just for bots to crawl, and let the algorithm do its job.

Need us to help? Experdent is a leading Canadian Search Optimization company for dentists. Get in touch.

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