We are fairly passionate about our subject here at Smart SEO. so you could be forgiven if you thought our stance might be ‘no amount of SEO is too much SEO’ but actually, if you did think that, you were wrong (you see, we can surprise you). In this game it is actually pretty easy to overdo it and optimizing your site to within an inch of its life is definitely not best practice.
There are so many examples of bad search engine optimization out there and, in fact, many over optimized, spammy websites do rank quite well, so when starting out in this profession bad habits are easy to pick up. The key principal to remember is that the best of our industry is about creating great sites that people want to use, can find and can navigate easily. Websites should be built for human beings because if they don’t cater to what people are asking for then a) they will not achieve their final objective even if they do rank well and b) people will stop asking to see them.
So What Does and Over SEO’d Site Look Like?
Well, to the untrained eye it just looks a little bit weird. Visitors are unlikely to gain a valuable experience from a visit to a site where the content is so stuffed full of keywords that the sentences don’t make sense.
Overly long, keyword and key phrase rich page titles and URLs are also characteristic of over optimized sites, as are back link profiles without any editorially lead, quality links.
All of the above are often apparent on websites that have been designed for search engine visibility rather than the visitor and it stands to reason that they do not provide the best user experience. It is also worth noting that the engines themselves are onto these tactics and using them could see you penalized. In short, perfecting the art of SEO is worth doing if you have long-term objectives for your site and your business.
What Does Good Optimization Look Like?
That is a complex question that we – along with a whole host of other bloggers – are endeavoring to answer on a daily basis. Sufficed to say, it is subtle and it does not impede but rather enhances the visitor experience. Good SEO practice is ever evolving but perfect the art of including just the right amount of subtle optimization to avoid overdoing it and help you meet your goals.