Cutting Edge SEO MasteryNegative Ranking Factors

On Page Negative Ranking Factors• Negative ranking factors are things you do on your

site that harm your rankings.• Linking out to low trust websites.• Duplicate Content• Not Being Mobile Friendly• Spelling & Grammar Issues• Readability Issues• Broken Videos or Use of Flash• Ignoring Canonical URL

Linking Out To Low Trust Websites• Be careful when linking to other sites from your

website.• Send links to only trusted sites. • Watch out for “fly by night” sites that you link to.• If a site asks you to link to them make sure it is a good site.

• Avoid linking to sites with low quality content.• If a site provides really good content link to it. • View the PageRank & age of a site before linking to it.• Use the Google Toolbar.• Look at Who Is data to see the age of a site you link out to.

Duplicate Content• Be careful about using duplicate content.• This would include covering the same content on your

site.• Use unique articles.• Watch out for using the same headlines.

• Your title tags should be unique. • Watch out for content in the footer of the website.

Not Being Mobile Friendly • You need to focus on Responsive Web Design.• Search engines place a huge importance on making

experience better for their visitors.• Your site should resize and adjust to fit any screen

size.• Drag the corner of the web browser window on your

computer.• Look at your website on your mobile phones and tablets.

• Use Google’s PageSpeed Insight’s tool to check for page speed.• Review errors that you can fix.• Ensure your images are sized appropriately.

Spelling & Grammar Issues• Search engines want a quality experience for their

users.• Content that is poorly written with grammar issues will

cause quick bounces and hurt your site’s credibility.• Poorly written content will cause a decrease in site

conversion as well.

• Think of your users when creating your content.• If you outsource your content ensure it is edited before

posting.• Strive for well written and unique content.

Readability Issues• Content that is difficult to read will also negative impact

you.• Beyond just spelling and grammar problems.

• Readability is how people read your content.• Avoid using long blocks of content.• Instead break up your content into short, easy to understand

paragraphs.• This makes it easy on the eyes.• Poor readability will cause quick bounces and impact rankings.

• Your background color and font should be easy on the eyes.• Most common is a white background with black font. • Dark backgrounds with a light colored font have proven difficult for

some.

Broken Links & Videos or Use of Flash• Bring your videos up to new standards like MP4 files.• Avoid using flash videos.

• iPhones and iPads for example struggle to play flash videos.• Search engines won’t deliver your results for a poor

experience.• Remember how important mobile search is.

• Consider using YouTube videos embedded• Use Wordpress plugins that allow for embedding of MP4

files.• Look for videos that don’t play.• Check your Google Webmaster’s Tools for broken links.

• Websites with lots of broken links will be negatively impacted.

Ignoring Canonical URL• Remember that http://yoursite.com and

http://www.yoursite.com are considered different links to search engines.• When getting backlinks to these two links the benefit

in PageRank would be split amongst the links.• Be consistent with the link you choose to use.• Pick one format and stick with it on all links you get.

Next: Updates & Understanding PageRank