Outdated Local SEO Tactics to Let Go Of

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SEO has been here for a long while.
Many tactics and strategies have worked wonders for businesses. But there is always something better, an upgrade. SEO pioneers are still following outdated SEO tactics that may backfire.
Avoid the tactics mentioned here if you have a business and plan to implement local SEO strategies.

11 Outdated Local SEO Tactics

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The right SEO efforts will take your business to new heights. But if you stick to the old tricks, you will do more harm than good.
Here is a list of 11 outdated local SEO tactics.

1. Not Utilizing Google My Business

In 2014, Google came up with a significant update that changed the Local SEO game completely. The pigeon update by Google aimed to reward local businesses with a good online presence and better search engine visibility.
Not focusing on Google My Business will impact your online business negatively.

What You Should Do:

• Use your business email ID to proceed with GMB.
• Get reviews from existing customers on Google and other platforms.
• Keep track of updates by search engines while forming local SEO strategies.

Update your details in Google My Business, the ultimate Local SEO friend.
Here’s a screenshot of Google My Business:
Read: What are the Benefits of a Google My Business Listing?

2. Inconsistent NAP Across Different Platforms

Has your SEO strategist not mentioned NAP yet?
That is a red flag.
A local business looking to form an online presence must have a consistent NAP. Name, address, and phone number are essential details posted across local directories and listings. Conflicting information on various platforms will harm your rankings and business.

What You Should Do:

• Check all the online platforms.
• Proofread NAP data.
• Update your details instantly in case of a change in operations of your business.

Add local schema to your website by going to Google Structured Markup Helper, a guide for Google to understand data on your page.
Here’s a screenshot of a schema generated by Google Structured Markup Helper:

3. Improper Keyword Research

SEO can reap benefits if the keyword research is on-point. Even the pioneers in SEO can make this basic mistake of not doing proper keyword research.
A few common errors with the keyword research part include: picking high volume keywords, focusing only on queries in Google Search Console, and not paying attention to keyword localization.

What You Should Do:

• Focus on long-tail keywords.
• Do location-based + brand/ business keyword research.
• Get into topical research and look for related terms.

Use more keyword tools for research, including:

• Ahrefs: Get a wide array of keywords for your content
• keywordtool.io: Get long and short tail keywords instantly
• keyword planner: Check the right set of keywords for your page here

Here’s a screenshot of keywordtool.io displaying longtail keywords:

4. Keyword Stuffing

Even if you are on-point with your keyword research, it can backfire if the keywords are not inserted carefully. Long gone is the practice of stuffing your pages with keywords of all forms.
If you pull that stunt now, Google will punish you by dropping your ranking and even banning your online presence altogether.

What You Should Do:

• Write for the readers, not for search engines.
• Keep a check on keyword density and stick to guidelines.
• Write long content to add a variety of keywords.

Use these tools to avoid keyword stuffing in your content:

• Keyword density checker by Small SEO tools: Calculate keyword density on your webpage instantly
• SEO review tools: Enter your webpage URL and get an instant keyword density report
• Prepost SEO: Spot your mistakes and fix them immediately

Here’s a screenshot of a keyword density checker by Small SEO tools showing the keyword density of a website:

5. Creating Thin Content

Local businesses making an online presence are often tricked into believing that they don't need to focus on the content. This ends up giving a bad shape to their websites.
Too many pages with too little content that provides no real value are just a dump. Thin content doesn't qualify for higher rankings on search engines either.

What You Should Do:

• Create informative and long-form content.
• Add images, audio, and video content to your website.
• Remove thin content from your website and duplicate URLs.

Use these tools to spot duplicate content on your website:

• SEMrush: Conduct the site audit to spot duplicate pages right away
• Data yze: Find duplicate content and images instantly
• Siteliner: Find duplicate content, broken links, redirections, and much more

Here’s a screenshot of Siteliner showing the amount of duplicate content a website has:

6. Poor Interlinking

You know well that search engines rank web pages by following internal and external links. If your SEO consultant doesn't suggest this strategy, then I am afraid you'll have to let them go.
Interlinking improves the fitness of your website. It conveys the relevancy of pages, the relationship of pages, and the value of pages.

What You Should Do:

• Make a proper website structure.
• Interlink all the related content and hierarchical pages.
• Use appropriate anchor text without stuffing keywords.

You can check interlinking opportunities by using tools such as;

• SEMrush: Get interlink reports and spot opportunities
• Ahrefs: Audit your interlinking and fix with Ahrefs suggestions
• SEOptimer: Add the right interlinks on your webpages using the SEOptimer audit report

Here’s a screenshot of what anchor texts look like:
Read: How Internal Linking Affects Your SEO?

7. Creating Subdomain Instead of Subdirectory

Many SEO "experts" preach on creating a subdomain, especially for blog sections like blog.website.com. But did you know this outdated SEO tactic will bite you?
By creating a subdomain, you end up creating competition for yourself.

What Should You Do:

• Create a subdirectory instead of a subdomain like website.com/blog.
• Submit both XML sitemaps with old and new URL
• Ensure that the migration is smooth and 301 redirects are done properly.

You can submit your XML sitemap on Google Search Central, the ultimate guide to Google for your website.
Here’s a screenshot of submitting an XML sitemap to Google Search Central:

8. Creating Multiple Pages For Similar Keywords

Have you ever heard of keyword cannibalization?
A website creates multiple pages to rank for the same keywords.
Earlier, the SEO experts would suggest you create multiple pages for the same or similar keywords. But the truth is, it doesn't work anymore. It's a self-sabotaging SEO tactic.

What Should You Do:

• Make a pillar-cluster content strategy and consolidate duplicate content.
• Refurbish your content and include all the information on one page.
• Use 301 redirects.
• Find new keywords and work on including them.

You can use these tools to do keyword and content suggestion research:

• Keywordtool.io: Get keywords best suited for your business for website and social platforms
• Ahrefs: Find keywords you've been missing out on
• SEMrush: Get a keywords list of your competitors and best content suggestions

A screenshot of SEMrush showing a competitor’s keywords:

9. Getting Spammy Backlinks from Poor Sources

Search engines have evolved and constantly updated their guidelines. But some SEO strategists don't upgrade their tactics.
Earlier, people would buy poor-quality backlinks and get away with them to make a website rank higher. But it doesn't work anymore and is enlisted as black hat SEO.

What You Should Do:

• Do a site-wide backlink check.
• Contact the Google Webmaster and request backlink removal.
• You can create a disavow file and submit it to Google. This file should have all the backlinks you want Google to ignore.

You can use the following tools to conduct a backlink audit:

• SEMrush backlink audit: Get a complete picture of your backlink profile and instructions to fix them
• Majestic: Get full backlink report in minutes
• Ahrefs: Compare your backlink profile to your competition and much more

Here’s a screenshot of SEMrush showing the quality of a website’s backlinks:

10. No Auditing of Website and SEO Efforts

What is your efforts' worth if you are not auditing your website regularly?
If your SEO team doesn't audit the website regularly, then they must. No matter how small or big your business is, auditing websites cannot be overlooked. It is not a one-time job.

What Should You Do:

• Check your website design for any intrusive pop-ups or ads
• Check navigation and mobile-friendliness of your website
• Identify broken links or pages and fix them

You can conduct site audits using tools like

• Ahrefs site audit: Schedule daily, weekly, or monthly crawls of your website
• Screaming Frog: The fast and advanced SEO audit tool to improve the overall SEO performance of your website
• SEMrush: Get a complete list of issues and instructions to fix your website in minutes.

Here’s a screenshot of broken link scan results by online broken link checker:

11. Setting Wrong KPIs

Often Local SEO KPIs are set wrongly. They are lined up based on regular SEO.
Although every strategy is similar, the performance evaluation must keep a few defining factors. If you set the wrong KPIs, you'll not know which SEO tactic worked well for your business.

What Should You Do:

• Track GMB insights for website views, direction requests, calls, and bookings
• Check the number of visitors and their sources
• Check the interactions with your business profile
• Track conversion rate, CPC, and CTR

You can use the following tools to help you set and track Local SEO KPIs

• Google Analytics: An ultimate guide to your website activity
• SEMrush: A reliable tool to track rankings, positions, and competition
• GMB Insights: A guide to the performance of your local business online

Here’s a screenshot of Google Analytics displaying critical website KPIs:
Read: Which SEO KPIs You Should Measure (And Why)?

Key Takeaways

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• Don't neglect your Google My Business Page. Update your details there
• Focus on getting your NAP data consistent throughout the platforms
• Do proper keyword research using the right tools for your website and avoid keyword stuffing
• Create good quality content with the right interlinking
• Avoid making a subdomain
• Don't get into keyword cannibalization
• Go for good quality backlinks only
• Conduct regular site audits
• Set the proper Local SEO KPIs for your business