The latest major news from the world of search engine optimization is undoubtedly the news that Matt Cutts (Google's head of spam-related affairs) brought to the world. He stated that they are developing a filter and penalty to distinguish over-optimized websites from websites with good quality content.
What is over-optimization? Is SEO over-optimization?
Many questions are currently circulating on the internet. These are questions such as: should I stop doing SEO? Is SEO no longer allowed? Should I expect a penalty for over-optimizing my website?
If you want to know whether you will fall victim to the penalty for over-optimizing your website, you should ask yourself what exactly SEO is.
SEO is a fundamental element applied when building a website. SEO ensures, among other things, that the basic structure of a website is sound. Search engine optimization therefore ensures that the website is easier to understand. Without the basic structure, achieving a high ranking in search engines becomes very difficult.
Will I get a penalty for over-optimization?
When you are working on creating a website where the focus is primarily on good content and user-friendliness, you certainly won't receive a penalty. You also won't receive a penalty if you try to make the content easily findable for search engines.
Over-optimizing is not building a website focused on good content, but on trying to rank pages that are of no use to a visitor.
Avoiding an over-optimization penalty
Here are some tips you can use to prevent an over-optimization penalty.
Tip 1: Useful use of keywords
First of all, you should stop stuffing your website with keywords. This no longer works to rank your page higher in search engines. Use keywords smartly; for example, place them in strategic locations. Also, make use of various keywords and synonyms. The text must be easy to read for visitors and for Google; don't overdo it!
Tip 2: Link building
Use link building smartly; don't focus on just one keyword, but on various words and phrases. This shows search engines that your website is interesting for different topics, keywords, and target audiences. Your website has more value!
Tip 3: The visitor comes first
Try to think about your visitors while keeping the search engine in mind. Do not draw conclusions that are to your advantage and very detrimental to the visitors!
If you get to work properly with these three tips, you will definitely avoid an over-optimization penalty!