Don't be fooled! SEO can harm your business

There's no doubt about it, search engine optimization is what helps your website rank high in search engines, and who doesn't want to be there? SEO is probably one of the most talked about, yet misused, tactics out there. We've all stumbled upon that blog post that makes absolutely no sense and is written in broke
English, only to boast a hundred or so keywords and links. Well, guess what? The SEO police (better known as Google) are on the hunt for black-hat SEO tactics.

On April 24th, Google made a big change in the algorithms, effecting many online businesses. Although nobody knows exactly what changes Google is making, we do know that, while still in works, this new idea is meant to "level the playing field" so that website owners with great content (but not so great SEO tactics) will be able to rank better against those websites that overuse search engine optimization strategies.

While there aren't any clear cut answers as to what constitutes SEO abuse, there are some obvious black-hat SEO strategies to avoid like keyword stuffing, link farms, doorway pages and invisible text.

Google wants to see quality over quantity, and they're working hard to weed out the sites that don't provide the best result for each search term. Providing your readers with truly informational content that is relevant to their search, will help your website soar in the rankings. You want your website to be a resource for customers, and jumbled keywords won't help you to do that. Provide your viewers with great content that's useful.

Another thing to keep in mind is not to fall prey to "SEO experts" offering 15,000 links for $15. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Use your time and resources to participate in quality link building strategies with your SEO consultant. And, if you're unsure of where your website's search engine optimization tactics lay, contact a seasoned website designer and SEO specialist (that you trust) to help you find out. But again, be sure to do your research before putting your website in their hands as it could potentially be the kiss of death on Google.