Seo In 2022: What Not To Do
SEO is something every web developer should know, but, like all of the web, it’s ever-evolving, and what was good advice a year before now can be the exact opposite. Some don’t get that, spreading bad advice left and right. Today we’re telling you what NOT to do. SEO in 2022 is one thing. Will it change in 2023? Most probably!
Read also: Googlebot Uses Only 15 MB of Content. What Does It Mean For SEO?
SEO in 2022
Covid? What Covid?
Sadly, Covid is still with us, and it looks like it’s not going anywhere. And yet, people are tired of seeing mentions of it everywhere — especially on websites that have little to do with it. Our advice: ditch Covid mentions on your pages and don’t mention it on Google My Business. Why? Most of the time, it means for a user that you don’t update your site and still live in the past. Also, never blame Covid for something like shopping delays or unavailable customer service representatives. Oh, and yes, please update your copyright date in the footer. You can use Java for that.
Keyword density
I know people who falsely claim that keyword density is essential and that you must overuse a specific word to win Google’s attention. It’s been more than ten years since that’s been true! Mention your keyword a few times on a page and stop at that. Otherwise, Google will (rightly) think you’re trying to manipulate it.
Page length matters little
What is the perfect amount of words per page? 1500? 2000? 700? It only depends on the topic. Try to stay informative and deliver the info concisely. And use as many words as you need; there’s no magic number. Just write until there’s nothing else to say. Most important advice? Make sure your content is actually good. That means it’s factual, grammatically correct, and not manipulative. Both people and search engines appreciate that.
Removing content is fine
Back in the day, people used to say that removing content from websites was a bad thing to do. That is simply not true: most of the time, old content is useless and does more harm than good. And if you don’t want to remove the old articles, try to keep them up to date.
Alt tags are not for keywords
Alternative text in images is critical, but many SEO optimizers use that space to add keywords. That is not only wrong but also harmful. Remember: Alt tags are for describing what a picture is to people who can’t see. Accessibility is everything in 2022, so please do not repeat that mistake.