The document discusses common harmful SEO practices, particularly within WordPress, emphasizing 20 key bad habits, such as neglecting SEO plugins, poor internal linking, and ignoring Google's guidelines. It highlights the consequences of these mistakes on website traffic and rankings, especially after the implementation of Penguin 4.0, which penalizes manipulative links in real-time. The document also details best practices for local SEO, including the importance of location signals and using structured data effectively.

1. BAD SEO HABITS
MEETUP
Common and Harmful WordPress SEO mistakes
Things you can’t ignore with Penguin 4.0
Bad Habits in Local SEO

2. Our Panel of Experts
Tim CapperPeter Mead
@GuideTwit
Sha Menz

3. COMMON AND HARMFUL
WORDPRESS SEO MISTAKES
Peter Mead
WordPress SEO Consultant,
Melbourne SEO meetup co-organizer

4. 20 Bad WordPress
SEO Habits
SEMrush meetup with Sha Menz, Tim Capper and Peter Mead
@petermeadit
https://www.semrush.com/webinars/bad-seo-habits-meetup/

5. So many Bad Habits
What kind of bad habits are there?
● Mistakes that anyone can make
● Spammy practices or cheap services
● Technical Issues and errors
● Lack of strategy and planning
These come about by:
1. Being unaware of the issues
2. Trying to beat Google at its own game

6. Mistakes that anyone can make

7. Ticking the noindex box
It’s the oldest trick in the WordPress SEO book.
You tick the box and forget to untick later, and your site won't index.
#1

8. Not installing an SEO plugin
You don't actually need an SEO plugin to do SEO on WordPress, but…
If you want to do it the hard way you can dig into the files and code.
Install a plugin:
● Yoast SEO
Or
● All in one SEO Pack
#2

9. Not connecting with Google & Bing
There are many benefits of connecting you site with Google and Bing.
It allows you to take control and visibility into the crawlers and indexing,
And a whole lot more, Install:
● Google Search Console
● Google Analytics
● Google Tag Manager
● Bing Webmaster tools
#3

10. Not submitting sitemap.xml
Sitemap lists URLs for crawling
Gives data about each URL to indicate priority and frequency etc.
Also indicates any new URLs on your site
Create and submit an xml sitemap through Yoast or All-in-one plugin
Keep an eye out for sitemap errors
#4

11. Blocking .js and .css file in robots.txt
It used to be the norm to block extra resources in your robots.txt
Now it’s best to let Google figure out what to do with Javascript and Style sheets
If blocked Google may not see all of your site properly or crawl it
#5

12. Poor internal linking strategy
Lack of any internal links to important resources on your site
Too many internal links to pages just to get rankings
Links with inappropriate or misleading anchor text
Links that are badly structured, broken or in redirect loops
#6

13. Ignoring Google Webmaster Guidelines
You may not know about Google Webmaster Guidelines
● https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en
You may not think they are that important, or you can beat Google
Consider two factors:
● What’s your appetite for risk?
● How much do you stand to lose if you site tanks?
#7

14. Spammy practices or poor services

15. Homepage title keyword stuffing
You think your homepage title should have your important keywords in it
Yeah sure, keywords are important in homepage title!
But not by repeating a set or variation of keywords
● Don’t: <title>Blue Widgets | Red Widgets Online | Best Widgets</title>
● Do:<title>Widget Brand - Best Red and Blue Widgets Online</title>
Google may rewrite your Homepage title if you get this wrong
Anyways, it just looks spammy and your CTR could tank
#8

16. Meta Description Keyword Stuffing
Some people think Meta Description is a place to put all their important keywords
Rank higher because of some trick or something?
This just looks really spammy
● CTR will tank
Better to use the Meta Description as you little marketing grab
So folks can get an idea of what your site is about before clicking on the result
Better CTR, bounce rate, higher time on site, more page views etc. etc. Hopefully
#9

17. Lazy naming of images
You upload the image to WordPress and use it without ALT or Naming it properly
Your Blue Widget product photo comes off the camera as D-1028374.JPG
The name means nothing and no ALT text so what is the picture about?
Best to descriptively name it blue-widget-posing.jpg
Address ALT text like alt=”Blue Widget Posing”
This is also good HTML coding and accessibility. www.W3C.org
Don’t stuff keywords into image names or alt text: all-images-are-blue-widgets.jpg
#10

18. Errors in HTML code Theme or Plugin
Your Theme might be poorly coded, and have HTML errors
Your plugin might have errors in it
Your blog posts might have HTML errors inadvertently
These can disrupt or distort search engine crawlers such as Google Bot
Check your site with the W3C Validator
Validator.w3.org
#11

19. Using spammy link tactics
Innocently publishing pingback/trackbacks linking to a spammy site
Participating in webrings or reciprocal links schemes, or submitting directory links
Buying cheap advertised links. But the ad said 5,000 PR 9, DA 60+ for $5 ??
Cheap easy links, even for satellites, may work for a time. What’s the risk?
Better to embark with Quality Content Marketing and Targeted Outreach
Why people link:
1. Interesting Engaging Content 2. Great info and Resources 3. Visitor Relationship
#12

20. Technical Issues and errors

21. Persisting with slow website speed
You know your site is a bit slow, but loathe to move it or address server issues.
Google site speed tool: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/
Caching plugins and server caching can help but...
Consider moving to some quality hosting if you want real improvements
Chris Burgess has excellent Site Speed Tips,click to view on Slideshare
#13

22. Ignoring permalink structure
One of the first things to do
Adjust your permalink structure
You need friendly readable urls. How to (Yoat) change permalink structure
#14

23. Not addressing taxonomies
So you create a blog post called My Next Blue Widget
You put it in the Blue Widget category and the Tag it with Blue Widget
Categories and tags create URLs, which can display same content different ways
Also Plugins or Themes may create extra taxonomies
Google crawl and index these and can cause duplicate or cannibalizing effect
For small sites, you can noindex taxonomies.
For large site, you may want to optimize taxonomies effectively
#15

24. Putting your blog on a subdomain
By placing your blog on a subdomain like blog.widgetbrand.com
You are weakening, you need to now build authority and trust and PR :o
May be ok, for very large brands, or those who have strategies and budgets
Best to put your blog on widgetbrand.com/blog
Similar issues with satellite sites to help you in sub niches bestwidgetbrand.com
The searcher intent is the same so best to build your brand on preferred domain
#16

25. Lack of strategy and planning

26. Creating page for every keyword
You may think that each time you find a keyword you want to rank for
You need to create some content for that keyword
Hummingbird and RankBrain have changed all that
Now it is about Searcher Intent, think topics rather than keyword variants
So: “Blue Widget Length” and “Blue Widget Size” same search intent ??
So think and structure your site like a librarian to avoid cannibalizing content.
Click here for some tips by Dawn Anderson to avoid Content Cannibalization
#17

27. Not doing proper keyword research
Keyword research is very important, you may have heard this...
Why?
Because without it you cannot know what people are searching for to find you
Proper research including CPC, Competition, Difficulty, Synonyms, Intent
Google keyword planner old staple, has changed now for paid advertisers
SEMrush has terrific tools including Keyword Magic Tool
Many other tools including seobook keyword tools and Moz Keyword Explorer
#18

28. Poor Content Marketing Strategy
Content Marketing is the new Link Building
Primary goal for Content Marketing is to build online reputation and visibility
Links are important, Google sees links as a form of endorsement
Natural links that have been earned
The unhelpful links are Purchased or manufactured Links
Many types of content to provide interesting and engaging, useful to your audience
Give compelling reasons for people to link to your site
#19

29. Poor Content Promotion Strategy
So you create the articles and write all this great content, then what?
But you need to promote it or peeps don’t know it's there
Content Promotion Strategies Include:
● Email Lists
● Content Syndication
● Social Media
● Viral Content
● Targeted PPC
● Targeted Outreach…
#20

30. What bad habits do you have?

31. THINGS YOU CAN’T IGNORE
WITH PENGUIN 4.0
Sha Menz
Lead Software Architect at link
removal outreach tool, rmoov

32. Avoiding The Abyss
How To Beat Bad SEO Habits Before They Appear
@SEMRush Online Meetup @ShahMenz @rmoov

33. BEWARE
Bad SEO habits kill
• Traffic
• Revenues
• Businesses
• Families and friendships

34. Top 3 Horrendous Habits
š Sticking like glue to what you know
(when the rest of the world has moved on)
š Ignoring customer needs
š Manipulating the Link Graph

35. “Of course people can find me! I’ve sent faxes and I’m in the phone book.”

36. Sticking like glue to what you know
“It’s a Mobile First world”

37. It’s a Mobile First World

38. OK Google…I need an answer quick!

39. Sticking like glue to what you know
Search queries are changing

40. If you’re still keyword stuffing for the short tail…

41. Ignoring customer needs
It’s not about you
…it’s about your customers

42. I have to get a
pair of those
yellow hot pants!
Me too!

43. “of course they’ll buy
purple trench coats –
they’re so much cooler”

44. Manipulating the Link Graph
I’ve said it before,
and I’ll say it again…

46. there’s only one way…
Is recovery possible?

48. quit manipulating anchor text

49. Clearly
not
natural

50. quit manufacturing links

51. quit paying for followed links

52. quit redirecting for link juice

53. quit using directory sites

54. very few directories are not seen as manipulative now

55. quit links via Wordpress themes,
badges, widgets etc.

56. quit trying to “beat Google”

57. you’ll just end up clinging to that runaway train…

58. So let’s talk about

59. which is actually

60. Penguin in the wild…

61. Is it the light at the end of your
tunnel?

62. What do we know about Penguin in November 2016?

63. Penguin is now part of the
Core algorithm
Penguin 4.0

64. Penguin makes assessments
of the backlink profile
(and adjustments to rankings)
in real time
Penguin 4.0

65. Manipulative links are discounted
Penguin 4.0

66. Penalties are no longer applied
Penguin 4.0
-but loss of link value from newly tagged spam will hurt

67. The effects of the algorithm are
more granular
Penguin 4.0
-adjustments may be made at page or section level

68. The effects of the algorithm may
be more granular in other ways
Penguin 4.0
-partial recovery for specific keywords may indicate more work needed

69. Disavow files are recognised and
applied in real time
Penguin 4.0
-this applies to both additions and deletions

70. Disavow files are NOT DEAD!
Penguin 4.0

71. Disavow files are the only reliable
way to clean up a fishy mess
Penguin 4.0

72. and keep angry Penguins from you door

73. and if you’re thinking Penguin
can’t hurt you any more…
Penguin 4.0

74. and keep angry Penguins from you door

75. If Penguin assesses large scale
manipulation ALL link equity will be
discounted!
Penguin 4.0

76. Don’t forget about manual actions!
Penguin 4.0

77. Be smart…avoid the Abyss
Bad SEO Habits Kill

78. thank you
Need help? Call me 02 6145 2065
@SEMRush Online Meetup @ShahMenz @rmoov

79. BAD HABITS IN LOCAL SEO
Tim Capper
SEO Consultant at Online
Ownership and Google TC

80. We take a look at some Bad Habits when dealing with Local SEO. Some are practices that
developers have not updated and your site is subsequently not following best practice,
some from a lack of understanding of Local SEO, and some relate to misinformation.
Bad Habits in Local SEO
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

81. On Site:
§ Location, Location, Location
§ Connect the Signals
§ Page Titles & H Tags
§ Structured Data
§ Events
§ Local Content
Google Business Page:
§ Use It
§ Cover Image, Logo
§ Tag Line & Story
§ Images
§ Reviews
§ Insights
Bad Habits in Local SEO
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

82. In Local SEO your location and defining that Location is crucial to your visibility in local search results.
Reinforce your location and make it easy for customers to find your location by adding your Business
Details site wide. The easiest way to achieve this is within your footer.
There are numerous ways to layout a footer, but your Business Name, Address and Contact Details must
be included. ( We use this for structured data later on )
Location, Location, Location
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

83. The largest localisation signal for any local business is your Google Business Page, but developers, businesses
seem to ignore adding the the G+ icon next to their other social icons……Add It!
Make sure your Business Name on sites home page matches the Google Business Page, without it you may
not have a Knowledge Panel appear.
If you are embedding a map to show the
business location, use the map embed
from your own business page.
This can also be used to provide review
Structured data in the form of aggregate
Ratings, which will appear as stars in
Search results.
Connect the Local Signals!
Connect the Signals
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

84. Each Page should provide a unique that best describes the service or product on that particular page.
Including your location in your landing page title tag, you will be letting both search engines and human
visitors know that your business serves and is located in a specific geographic location.
Home Page : Tim's Boiler & Heating - Emergency Plumber - Northampton, UK
For Internal Service Pages: Boiler Installation & Repair - Northampton - Tim's Boiler & Heating
Making sure your city and state (county) is present in the title, H1 and H2 tags of your organic landing
pages it allows search engines to understand the intent of the page.
For your main page your H1 should include name and overall service and the H2 would include town
and county. On a product specific page the H1 would be the actual product / service and the H2 would
ideally contain the area again.
This is not set in stone and could migrate to the H3 tag, but be aware of a proper structure.
Page Title & H Tags for Local SEO
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

85. Now that your business details are
in the websites footer, you can use
JSON-LD schema markup to
annotate the businesses
information.
The JSON-LD script shown here can
be added to the websites
header.php or footer.php file.
Check to see if Schema.org
supports your type of business, if
not use the default of
LocalBusiness.
Structured Data Markup
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

86. Use Events structured data to have your
businesses events displayed direct in the
knowledge panel.
Yes, this also includes SaleEvents.
Recent like for like testing on events, showed
a 36% increase in engagement on a
businesses events page when appearing in
the knowledge panel.
Check: https://schema.org/Event
Events
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

87. If you don’t publish it, there is no way for Google and other search engines to know what your business
offers and where it offers it. Think about your customers and what they need from your content:
§ What do consumers want to learn about your category, products, or services? Do you have snackable
content on mobile that answers their questions?
§ Do consumers want to visit your business? Are you helping them find nearby locations and highlighting
in-stock inventory on your mobile site/app and in mobile search results?
§ What are consumers doing with your product or service (for example, baking cookies, buying a home,
recovering from an injury)? Do you have how-to video content to support their efforts?
§ Where are consumers buying your product? How can you support consumers who are buying from
you in-store or while on the go? Are you empowering consumers to check out in whatever way suits
their need?
§ Start growing your business today by understanding your customers needs and satisfy those needs with
your content.
Local Content
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

88. Yes your Google Business Page is a social platform that is ignored. Most business forget about using their
business page once they have updated their business info. It may not be as popular as FB, Twit or Insta,
but if there is one thing that will spark your interest, its this.
Post on your business page are read, understood and indexed by Googlebot which all leads to a better
understanding by Google as to who you are, where you are and what you offer.
So next time you post onto your Social profiles, update your Business page too.
§ *Bold Text Is Especially Good for Titles and Headlines*
§ _Italics are especially good for adding emphasis_
§ -Strike this text out-
Use your Google Business Page
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

89. Time to add your logo and header image, the last thing you want is for a potential shopper to see an
unloved business page, what does that say about you as a business.
Change your header image to a more Christmassy feel, go on get into the spirit of it.
§ Dashboard: https://business.google.com/manage/
§ Manage Location
§ Photos
Cover Image & Logo
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

90. With the new layout of Google+ adding a tag line and story to your business page is now located in your
About Me section.
§ About Me: https://aboutme.google.com/
Tag Line & Story
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

91. A picture is worth a thousand words. Use your photo section to provide images about your business,
products and service.
Photos can generate a lot of views, do not ignore these.
§ Dashboard: https://business.google.com/manage/
§ Manage Location
§ Photos
Images
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

92. Reviews are big, bold and attention seeking in the local pack and maps. Heat map studies have shown
how users naturally check out businesses with reviews showing on their Google business listing first.
You need five business reviews before you have review stars showing alongside your business listing.
§ Incorporate a review strategy into your customer service emails
§ Respond and reply to all reviews via your dashboard
§ How to create a Direct Link for Customer Reviews.
Reviews help customers in their final purchase journey. Reviews for a business or product has shown to
increase conversions by 28% and being a Local business, reviews on your Google Local Business Page
are an important part of your Local SEO.
Reviews
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

93. Insights consists of five sections, each of which gives you a different way to understand how customers
interact with your listing:
§ How customers find your listing
§ Where customers find you on Google
§ Customer actions
§ Driving directions requests
§ Phone calls
Search: Export data from Google Business Insights
Insights
onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper

94. onlineownership.com
plus.google.com/+TimCapper