Beware the Nemesis of False and Old Hat SEO Reports

My password tool sent me on an interesting sideways path last week. It warned me of duplicate passwords and a poor score for other passwords. One of the duplicates was for Attracta. I’ll fix that. So I revisited Attracta after a long absence. They’d added a new feature—an SEO evaluation. I thought I’d test it. I’m reporting on the results to spare any members of Writing My Own Book from making SEO decisions based on some of the flawed information the report generated.

The SEO report’s results were shocking, and not in a way that reflects positively on Attracta’s expertise.  In a nutshell, this report contained so many inaccuracies I can’t begin to express my astonishment. I said this in an email. I’ve yet to get a response.

I’ve tested many  SEO plug-ins.  This was the most inaccurate report I’ve ever seen an SEO firm generate.  Not only was the information inaccurate; the recommendations were outdated.  It appears they have not stayed current with Google.  In addition, it appears the assessment tool does not work well with WordPress websites. Few of the SEO strategies I have used—page meta descriptions of 160 characters or less, title tags and alt tags on images—were identified during the scan, so dire warnings appeared for these ‘issues.’

I’m not going to say that Attracta is just out to get business. It is possible, they just haven’t kept up with the times. However, anything that appears to use techniques Google has punished in the past has no place in your SEO strategy.

SEO Advice that Could Actually Hurt!

Add your keyword to anchor text.

Do this with extreme caution. Many websites lost page rank during the initial Penguin update when Google punished them for aggressive anchor text/keyword use. It’s still a core part of Google’s algorithm. You never know how this is calculated, so keep anchor text use minimal. It’s a Google target because it can create a negative user experience.

SEO Advice That Just Doesn’t Matter Anymore

Many of the items that were flagged in the report with anxiety-causing red Xs offer little benefit with Google in 2016 or 2017. Here are just a few of them.

The URL does not contain an exact keyword match.

Guess what. Google stopped matching URLs and keywords a few years ago through one of its algorithms updates.  It doesn’t hurt to have an exact match. It  just doesn’t help very much.  I prefer the way Yoast SEO  does it. You will see a yellow caution dot in their report.  It’s not measured as an essential; it’s a recommendation.

You need to add text effects to your keywords such as  ‘bold,’  ‘italicize,’ or ‘underline.’

While adding text effects to keywords won’t hurt, it won’t help either.  I do not recommend  underlining text unless there’s an associated hyperlink. People expect to click on underlined text.

You need to have your exact keyword within the first 100 words.

Really? Not any longer.  Google’s algorithm depends heavily on latent semantic indexing. Exact match keywords only apply when the person running the search places quote marks around to their search term.  Without quote marks, Google just looks for all of the words entered into the search. It may give preference to the order, yet often does not.

Keep your domain name under 15 characters.

Not only is this next to impossible, unless you’re willing to pay a great deal of money for your domain name, it’s an arbitrary role. Google does not punish you for your domain name length. Sure it’s less convenient for a tablet or smartphone user to enter your name the first time; however, once you’ve entered a URL, most phone browsers will save it. Even in the mobile-first world, your domain name length isn’t a deal breaker.

You must use your keyword in your domain name.

This may work on your home page; however it’s pretty useless on the rest of your website. Consider the URL for this website. When I was considering domain names, keywords such as ‘book writing’ had already been taken. I considered ‘writing a book’ and ‘writing your book.’ All had been taken. ‘Writing your own book’ was another consideration. However, I was listening to the trend in 2011—pick a potential search term. I thought people would search for “Where can I find help with writing my own book?” In addition, I hoped it would be easy to remember.

Do you know what the reality has been?  Google caught onto the trick and stopped rewarding websites for including keywords in their domain names.  So the lesson you need to take away is this. It may help to include a keyword in your domain name. At the same time, it may deliver zero benefit. You best strategy is to focus on your long-term goals.

• Are you an author? Then your name may be the best strategy of all for your URL.
• Do you serve a niche? Then niche keywords may be the logical choice for your URL.
• Do you want to target a specific audience? Then a message-oriented phrase may be your best choice for your URL. That message could also be your business name.

SEO Advice That’s Conditional

Include at least 2000 words on a page.

I recently researched this topic for an SEO firm. The statistics suggest context is everything. One human resources study suggested just over 1200 words was the sweet spot for HR specialists. Shorter articles/blogs didn’t elicit as many comments as the longer ones did. The study used comments to measure engagement. Author of Living Forward and Platform, Michael Hyatt uses a range of blog lengths—from under 500 to over 1300 words—very successfully. His secret is writing on his topic until it’s covered effectively.

When you’re considering how many words you need for a page, ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the purpose of this page? If we are discussing your Home page, the importance of delivering value fast trumps word count every time. If it’s a sales page, text could easily exceed 2000 words before it’s fully effective.
• Can I use pictures to pull visitors into my website? Remember that saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Combining words with visual elements is vital. It’s better to have good alt text attached to your graphic elements than to saturate the content above the fold with too much text.
• Is there a way to position text so it’s there for SEO without irritating potential customers? I choose a theme for this website that allows me to place “Home Page” information below other content which I believe offers higher engagement potential. What I wrote there serves an important SEO role for Google. I’ve done my best to ensure it isn’t boring, yet I recognize these are words many visitors to my website will never read—at least not until I’ve earned their interest in what I have to say.
• Am I selling, educating or entertaining (or all three)? I used to think these were separate skills. It’s better when they aren’t. When every word you write is recognized for the selling tool it is, you’ll experience better SEO results as a side benefit. I’m not talking about pushy, you-have-to-buy-my-product content. When you write to benefit those you can genuinely help, you are writing strong selling content.

Not every page on your website needs a high word count. Sometimes 150 words plus one or more pictures are a better choice—especially if you’re just starting out with selling a product and don’t have feedback or testimonials to pull into the page.

SEO Advice You Should Pay Attention To

While the scan didn’t identify many of these elements on my website, they are there. You want to be sure you’re following these practices as well.

• Activate at least one social plugin that allows you to publish to your social media accounts. (Publicize from JetPack does this.)
• Ensure you have one social media plugin that makes sharing your website content easy for your visitors. (Publicize doesn’t have this function.)
• Make sure your website is mobile friendly. Look for the term “responsive design.” This will keep your costs down by eliminating the need for a separate mobile-friendly version.
• Only allow links from other sites that are highly ranked with Google. For example, a link from a high-ranking blogger such as Michael Hyatt would be valuable to my website. Links from low-ranking websites such as a recognized article farm might actually hurt my website.
• Link related content on your website. A series of blogs on a specific topic should be linked together.
• Keep navigation at max three layers deep.
• Ensure HTML is W3C validated.
• Optimize WordPress websites using a caching plugin.
• Install an SEO plugin, such as Yoast SEO, to your WordPress website so you can optimize each page and/or post separately.
• Apply H1, H2 and H3 formatting to key headlines.
• Use page specific keywords in headlines when appropriate.
• Use up to 160 characters to write a meta description for each page. If you don’t, Google creates an excerpt, which often makes little sense.
• Include one keyword for your page in the meta description.
• Use that keyword (remember it can be a phrase) up to one time for every 150 words on your page.
• Work the keyword into your page’s title whenever possible.
• Edit the friendly URL to remove filler words such as ‘a’ and ‘the.’

The most successful SEO firms will tell you that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.

So when someone calls promising you rapid results, resist the bait. A deadly hook is hidden in all the promises. You’ll find yourself poorer and possibly even further behind.

I’ve proven it before. Just stick with it.

• Blog as often as you can. It doesn’t have to be every day.
• Add great content to your website, such as short videos and information that really helps your potential customers.
• Create enticing freebies.

It may take time before you gain traction, however that beats the results you get when you don’t do it at all. A website that’s sitting there selling nothing. An investment failing to realize its potential. An embarrassing… Nothing.