Forbes Lists World’s Most Common SEO Mistakes – Here’s How to Avoid Them

When Forbes speaks on any subject pertaining to business success, it’s generally a good idea to listen. As such, each year’s annual updates on SEO matters are not to be overlooked – especially when it comes to those tuned toward nipping bad habits in the bud.According to Forbes, there are only four types of SEO ‘professionals’ in the game today, which are:

1. “People who don’t really know what SEO is, so they don’t know that they should do something about it.”
2. “People who have bad information about SEO, so they do the wrong thing.”
3. “People who engage in SEO and knowingly violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.”
4. “People who understand SEO and attempt to abide by Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.”

The worst offenders of all are said those in the second and third categories as these and the types to spread the good word about what they’re doing summarily lead others down the wrong path. As such, not only are certain harmful mistakes still being made, they’re once again becoming epidemic.           1 – Duplicated ContentFor example, right at the top of the list for 2014 comes duplicate content – a habit most don’t seem to understand the severity of. For content to be considered duplicated, it doesn’t have to be identical in every way – if two entries are largely similar for the most part, they’ll be interpreted as duplicates. And even if a piece warrants republishing or revisiting, it won’t be looking upon kindly by Google and Co.2 – Generally Thin ContentNot to be confused with weak content, thin content refers to the practice of having a thousand and one pages with not nearly enough content to warrant their existence. Having pages in place just for the sake of it with no real content of relevance whatsoever will bring the site as a whole no favour – if the page exists, it needs to exist for a reason.3 – Buying Into HypeStaying ahead of the curve with SEO means picking up on the latest tips, tricks and positive practices as soon as they emerge. Sadly though, buying into hype and trusting the latest rumours without first allowing them to run their course and prove their worth can see you trying out a bunch of things that will end up dragging your SEO efforts through the dirt in a big way. Try new things out and further efforts by all means, but don’t be a guinea pig for risky tactics that don’t make any logical sense.4 – Forgetting Who You’re Writing ForBy this stage in the game, there shouldn’t be a single content writer on the planet that’s still writing for robots. Search engine algorithms have been fine-tuned to detect when content has been produced solely for their benefit and will administer a well-deserved smackdown to guilty parties. Engineer a whole site with nothing but SEO in mind and you’ll effectively ruin its SEO potential.5 – Cheap Out on SEOAnd finally, the time has come to accept that SEO is not cheap and is very much essential. You simply cannot expect to get your site to the top of the rankings without investing enough in the process – your rivals are spending hard and fast on beating you, so you need to do the same to stand a chance of getting ahead.