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SEO Disaster CSI Why Do SEO Disasters Happen and How To Prevent Them Digital Olympus, April 5 2019
Who am I?
Who am I? • VP of Community at ContentKing 2015 - now
Who am I? • VP of Community at ContentKing • Previously: ran an SEO agency 2015 - now 2009 - 2015
Who am I? • VP of Community at ContentKing • Previously: ran an SEO agency • I ❤ to write and talk about SEO 2015 - now 20...
Who am I? • VP of Community at ContentKing • Previously: ran an SEO agency • I ❤ to write and talk about SEO 2015 - now 20...
Why SEO Disasters?
• I love hearing and reading about them Why SEO Disasters?
• I love hearing and reading about them • Makes me a better SEO Why SEO Disasters?
• I love hearing and reading about them • Makes me a better SEO • Helps me teach others Why SEO Disasters?
Why do (SEO) Disasters happen?
Why do (SEO) Disasters happen?
SEO Disaster CSI
What happened and what was the result? SEO Disaster CSI
What happened and what was the result? Why did it happen and 
 how it could have been prevented? SEO Disaster CSI
A note on laying blame
A note on laying blame SEO Disasters are caused by developers :(
A note on laying blame SEO Disasters are caused by developers :(🚫
A note on laying blame SEOs love to blame developers SEO Disasters are caused by developers :(🚫
A note on laying blame SEOs love to blame developers Sometimes rightfully, often not SEO Disasters are caused by developer...
A note on laying blame SEOs love to blame developers Sometimes rightfully, often not Take responsibility! SEO Disasters ar...
GEO redirects gone wrong Polemic Digital Barry Adams
What happened? GEO redirect gone wrong
• Migration domain.nl to domain.com/nl What happened? GEO redirect gone wrong
• Migration domain.nl to domain.com/nl • Launch of domain.com/de, domain.com/gb (and more) What happened? GEO redirect gon...
• Migration domain.nl to domain.com/nl • Launch of domain.com/de, domain.com/gb (and more) • Hreflang What happened? GEO re...
• Migration domain.nl to domain.com/nl • Launch of domain.com/de, domain.com/gb (and more) • Hreflang • Automatic geo redir...
The result GEO redirect gone wrong
The result GEO redirect gone wrong
How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
• Education on best practices How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
• Education on best practices • Involve specialists early on How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
Pagination gone wrong Anonymous
What happened Pagination gone wrong
• New JS-driven pagination system was rolled out. What happened Pagination gone wrong
• New JS-driven pagination system was rolled out. • “More user-friendly” What happened Pagination gone wrong
The result Pagination gone wrong
The result Pagination gone wrong • A massive change to internal link structure
The result Pagination gone wrong • A massive change to internal link structure • Indexed pages went down
How could it have been avoided? Pagination gone wrong
• Education on best practices How could it have been avoided? Pagination gone wrong
• Education on best practices • Testing How could it have been avoided? Pagination gone wrong
Canonical in body StoxSEO Patrick Stox
What happened? Canonical in body
JavaScript magic was used
 to modify <head> What happened? Canonical in body
The result Canonical in body
The result Canonical in body
• Google ignored the canonical URL The result Canonical in body
• Google ignored the canonical URL • Duplicate content frenzy The result Canonical in body
How could it have been avoided? Canonical in body
• Education on best practices How could it have been avoided? Canonical in body
• Education on best practices • Testing How could it have been avoided? Canonical in body
Disavow like goody two-shoes Anonymous
What happened? Disavow like goody two-shoes
Gullible SEO disavowed all links
 that looked “unnatural”. What happened? Disavow like goody two-shoes
The result Disavow like goody two-shoes
How could it have been avoided? Disavow like goody two-shoes
• Critical thinking How could it have been avoided? Disavow like goody two-shoes
• Critical thinking • Discuss with peers How could it have been avoided? Disavow like goody two-shoes
Canonical to dev environment JLH Marketing Jenny Halasz
What happened Canonical to dev environment
• New “Press” section was added What happened Canonical to dev environment
• New “Press” section was added • Press release sent out, got lots of links! What happened Canonical to dev environment
• New “Press” section was added • Press release sent out, got lots of links! • None of these pages were
 indexed by Google...
The result Canonical to dev environment
How could it have been avoided? Canonical to dev environment
• Education on best practices How could it have been avoided? Canonical to dev environment
• Education on best practices • Testing How could it have been avoided? Canonical to dev environment
• Education on best practices • Testing • On-page SEO monitoring How could it have been avoided? Canonical to dev environm...
Minimizing SEO Disasters
Minimizing SEO Disasters 1. Education on best practices
Minimizing SEO Disasters 1. Education on best practices 2. Involve specialists early on
Minimizing SEO Disasters 1. Education on best practices 2. Involve specialists early on 3. Testing
Minimizing SEO Disasters 1. Education on best practices 2. Involve specialists early on 3. Testing 4. On-page SEO monitori...
Keep learning
Keep learning Want to learn more about SEO disasters? • contentkingapp.com/blog/seo-fails/ • contentkingapp.com/blog/seo-f...
Don’t let SEO Disasters surprise you! contentkingapp.com
Exclusive offer for Digital Olympus We’d love to help you prevent SEO Disasters First 6 weeks for free Create a trial acco...
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ContentKing - Digital Olympus - SEO Disasters

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We'll walk through five real-world examples of some of the worst SEO Disasters and examine why the happened and how they could have been prevented.

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ContentKing - Digital Olympus - SEO Disasters

  1. 1. SEO Disaster CSI Why Do SEO Disasters Happen and How To Prevent Them Digital Olympus, April 5 2019
  2. 2. Who am I?
  3. 3. Who am I? • VP of Community at ContentKing 2015 - now
  4. 4. Who am I? • VP of Community at ContentKing • Previously: ran an SEO agency 2015 - now 2009 - 2015
  5. 5. Who am I? • VP of Community at ContentKing • Previously: ran an SEO agency • I ❤ to write and talk about SEO 2015 - now 2009 - 2015
  6. 6. Who am I? • VP of Community at ContentKing • Previously: ran an SEO agency • I ❤ to write and talk about SEO 2015 - now 2009 - 2015
  7. 7. Why SEO Disasters?
  8. 8. • I love hearing and reading about them Why SEO Disasters?
  9. 9. • I love hearing and reading about them • Makes me a better SEO Why SEO Disasters?
  10. 10. • I love hearing and reading about them • Makes me a better SEO • Helps me teach others Why SEO Disasters?
  11. 11. Why do (SEO) Disasters happen?
  12. 12. Why do (SEO) Disasters happen?
  13. 13. SEO Disaster CSI
  14. 14. What happened and what was the result? SEO Disaster CSI
  15. 15. What happened and what was the result? Why did it happen and 
 how it could have been prevented? SEO Disaster CSI
  16. 16. A note on laying blame
  17. 17. A note on laying blame SEO Disasters are caused by developers :(
  18. 18. A note on laying blame SEO Disasters are caused by developers :(🚫
  19. 19. A note on laying blame SEOs love to blame developers SEO Disasters are caused by developers :(🚫
  20. 20. A note on laying blame SEOs love to blame developers Sometimes rightfully, often not SEO Disasters are caused by developers :(🚫
  21. 21. A note on laying blame SEOs love to blame developers Sometimes rightfully, often not Take responsibility! SEO Disasters are caused by developers :(🚫
  22. 22. GEO redirects gone wrong Polemic Digital Barry Adams
  23. 23. What happened? GEO redirect gone wrong
  24. 24. • Migration domain.nl to domain.com/nl What happened? GEO redirect gone wrong
  25. 25. • Migration domain.nl to domain.com/nl • Launch of domain.com/de, domain.com/gb (and more) What happened? GEO redirect gone wrong
  26. 26. • Migration domain.nl to domain.com/nl • Launch of domain.com/de, domain.com/gb (and more) • Hreflang What happened? GEO redirect gone wrong
  27. 27. • Migration domain.nl to domain.com/nl • Launch of domain.com/de, domain.com/gb (and more) • Hreflang • Automatic geo redirects What happened? GEO redirect gone wrong
  28. 28. The result GEO redirect gone wrong
  29. 29. The result GEO redirect gone wrong
  30. 30. How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
  31. 31. • Education on best practices How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
  32. 32. • Education on best practices • Involve specialists early on How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
  33. 33. How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
  34. 34. How could it have been avoided? GEO redirect gone wrong
  35. 35. Pagination gone wrong Anonymous
  36. 36. What happened Pagination gone wrong
  37. 37. • New JS-driven pagination system was rolled out. What happened Pagination gone wrong
  38. 38. • New JS-driven pagination system was rolled out. • “More user-friendly” What happened Pagination gone wrong
  39. 39. The result Pagination gone wrong
  40. 40. The result Pagination gone wrong • A massive change to internal link structure
  41. 41. The result Pagination gone wrong • A massive change to internal link structure • Indexed pages went down
  42. 42. How could it have been avoided? Pagination gone wrong
  43. 43. • Education on best practices How could it have been avoided? Pagination gone wrong
  44. 44. • Education on best practices • Testing How could it have been avoided? Pagination gone wrong
  45. 45. Canonical in body StoxSEO Patrick Stox
  46. 46. What happened? Canonical in body
  47. 47. JavaScript magic was used
 to modify <head> What happened? Canonical in body
  48. 48. The result Canonical in body
  49. 49. The result Canonical in body
  50. 50. • Google ignored the canonical URL The result Canonical in body
  51. 51. • Google ignored the canonical URL • Duplicate content frenzy The result Canonical in body
  52. 52. How could it have been avoided? Canonical in body
  53. 53. • Education on best practices How could it have been avoided? Canonical in body
  54. 54. • Education on best practices • Testing How could it have been avoided? Canonical in body
  55. 55. Disavow like goody two-shoes Anonymous
  56. 56. What happened? Disavow like goody two-shoes
  57. 57. Gullible SEO disavowed all links
 that looked “unnatural”. What happened? Disavow like goody two-shoes
  58. 58. The result Disavow like goody two-shoes
  59. 59. How could it have been avoided? Disavow like goody two-shoes
  60. 60. • Critical thinking How could it have been avoided? Disavow like goody two-shoes
  61. 61. • Critical thinking • Discuss with peers How could it have been avoided? Disavow like goody two-shoes
  62. 62. Canonical to dev environment JLH Marketing Jenny Halasz
  63. 63. What happened Canonical to dev environment
  64. 64. • New “Press” section was added What happened Canonical to dev environment
  65. 65. • New “Press” section was added • Press release sent out, got lots of links! What happened Canonical to dev environment
  66. 66. • New “Press” section was added • Press release sent out, got lots of links! • None of these pages were
 indexed by Google?! What happened Canonical to dev environment
  67. 67. The result Canonical to dev environment
  68. 68. How could it have been avoided? Canonical to dev environment
  69. 69. • Education on best practices How could it have been avoided? Canonical to dev environment
  70. 70. • Education on best practices • Testing How could it have been avoided? Canonical to dev environment
  71. 71. • Education on best practices • Testing • On-page SEO monitoring How could it have been avoided? Canonical to dev environment
  72. 72. Minimizing SEO Disasters
  73. 73. Minimizing SEO Disasters 1. Education on best practices
  74. 74. Minimizing SEO Disasters 1. Education on best practices 2. Involve specialists early on
  75. 75. Minimizing SEO Disasters 1. Education on best practices 2. Involve specialists early on 3. Testing
  76. 76. Minimizing SEO Disasters 1. Education on best practices 2. Involve specialists early on 3. Testing 4. On-page SEO monitoring
  77. 77. Keep learning
  78. 78. Keep learning Want to learn more about SEO disasters? • contentkingapp.com/blog/seo-fails/ • contentkingapp.com/blog/seo-fails-bigseo-community/ • contentkingapp.com/blog/five-seo-disasters/
  79. 79. Don’t let SEO Disasters surprise you! contentkingapp.com
  80. 80. Exclusive offer for Digital Olympus We’d love to help you prevent SEO Disasters First 6 weeks for free Create a trial account:
 contentkingapp.com/digital-olympus

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