SEO Tricks That Will Lower Your Rankings - Questions to Ask
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To do this, you need to open up the hood and poke around at the idea's mechanics to see if everything is in order, by asking some questions.
Question 1. Does this topic sound like any known bad practices?
Remember how I introduced title stacking as a sub-set of META tag abuse? That is because they have a set of similarities which make them sibling ideas. If you run across a sibling idea to one of the ones that you already know is a bad plan, then you should pass it by. No hesitation and no further questions needed.
Question 2. How does this serve the readers or the searchers?
If the only benefit is to the site, then the odds are that it will get you lowered. Search engines and sites are supposed to exist for end users. If the tactic causes an impairment to their finding what they want, then it will be used as a reason to knock you down. Search engines know where their money comes from, and it is not from you.
Question 3. Does this seem like spam?
If it is the kind of tactic that you would be annoyed to encounter, either while searching or in an e-mail, then you should probably skip it. No one likes a spammer, and the search engines are no exception to that statement. So if you have the distinct odor of spam in your nostrils, you should pass up this idea and go on to the next one.
Question 4. Does it just feel wrong?
Even if you can't quantify the why of it, if an idea feels wrong for your site or for your conscience, then you should not use it, wither or not it will be treated negatively by the search engines. You have to trust you instincts and err on the side of caution.
Now that you know, you can be vigilant to keep your site from having its rankings lowered by an honest mistake that makes you seem like you are trying to do something that is evil -- even though we both know that you would never, ever do a thing like that.
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