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5 SEO Don’ts

Updated: Feb 25, 2023 @ 3:27 AM

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I’ve served in my capacity as an active SEO since roughly the summer of 2011 and an elite SEO specialist since 2015. With over 10 years of ferocious market-conquering experience, I know a few things about SEO and best practices for meaningful longevity.

Meaningful longevity means I still have my first clients, and they’re happy.

While I won’t be sharing many tips, and I try not to, I will share a few fundamental concepts that anyone taking an interest in the executive actions of an SEO, at any level, can appreciate.

Ray'Von De'Shun Shanklin - The Houston SEO Expert
A Real SEO: Camped in the lab.

The main reason I’m writing this SEO blog post is that we need more SEO related content to help rank our website for SEO related search terms. We need the authoritative juice to make that happen, thus, this blog post.

Please know that I’m not a believer in SEO tutorials or people that think they can teach SEO because real SEOs don’t have time for such chicanery.

With that said, there’s a ton of good information out there but it takes a certain level of experience to know where to invest the time and what to take seriously.

Avoid Back-linking Schemes

Don’t Accept Candy From Strangers

Bad Neighborhood - Shady SEO

Backlinks are the lifeblood of SEO, top-notch content is the mother’s milk of SEO, and don’t let anyone tell you differently. If they do, they’re lying to you at worst and being disingenuous at best.

Good backlinks are hard to obtain but are worth the cost and effort. Sometimes you have to pay big bucks for great backlinks, while other times, they can be obtained for free or manufactured. In any case, the worst thing you could do is to purchase backlinks that you don’t control or intrinsically understand.

By buying into a backlinking scheme of any kind, especially the types that you don’t have control over, you lose control over the destiny of the money site’s ranking potential.

Having tons of backlinks is cool, but having quality backlinks is better. Having active control of all of your backlinks is advised. Having the ability to log into an offsite property to make changes to the content hosting the backlink is power. Owning the sites which host your backlinks is God-like elite SEO specialist power, which isn’t required.

For example, I would never use a product like that which is provided by BackLinks.com or TextLinks.net for one of my precious clients’ projects. Why? Because we have no way of knowing what “neighborhood” the backlinking sites are from or the history of them. The websites where they’re embedding backlinks could be criminals from bad neighborhoods. Such products will undoubtedly draw a manual penalty and get a web property de-indexed from the search engine entirely.

It’s SEO death.

Wannabe SEOs that use such services should find another way. Although I mentioned a couple of websites in my example, we’re not affiliates or haters of theirs. I wouldn’t recommend engaging in any form of backlinking or link exchange scheme. It’s dangerous.

With that said, an elite SEO could take advantage of any linking product and find a way to use it to their advantage, sans linking directly to a client or “money site.”

Avoid Using or Hosting Duplicate Content

Be Authentic. Be Original. Make Some New Value.

Imitation-Quality-Content-Is-King

There is no duplicate content penalty!

However, duplicate content does not represent the finest of quality; it ain’t original; it doesn’t put forth any new ideas, nor does it add any new value to “the discussion.” The concept of “The Discussion” is the basis of SEO. In other words, “authority on a specific topic” is the base genetics of modern SEO. Remember why I’m writing this blog post, and yes, it’s original content.

The problem with publishing or hosting duplicate content is the authoritative website that published it first owns it unless a more authoritative site published it too.

I don’t wanna digress into another subject. However, my point is original content is more important than duplicate content. So it’s best to avoid duplicate or non-original content.

Disclaimer: Non-original content has its place. Some duplicate content is okay such as product descriptions, legal notices, and other circumstances where it makes sense. The lesson to learn here is that duplicate content should not be the foundation of a prudent SEO campaign.

Avoid “Deals” & SEO Gimmicks

Drive-Thru SEO Companies Can’t Super-Size Your Fries

Shady SEO Salesman

SEM (passive search engine marketing) is a highly technical & precise skill. Ain’t no such thing as a $99.99 SEO or $199.00 per month guaranteed page 1 product or program – that works out long-term.

A professional SEO is a Doctorate level expert in their field with well over 15,000 hours of hustle in the trade and an income to match their skillset. Professional SEOs don’t care about $199.00 and don’t have time to work at that level.

I know it sounds harsh, but it’s true. I’m not here to make friends but to publish excellent content for VizTV Media’s authoritativeness in the SEO discussion. (Learning something yet?)

Although there are a few SEOs that have managed to scale their business to the degree that they somehow have time to reach out to the general public, they’re no longer able to provide the personal attention that their clients’ projects need. So, I’m not a believer in retail SEO.

I do the work, and I know how demanding it can be.

There’s no such thing as cheap SEO. If you hire a cheap SEO, remember, you’ll pay.

Avoid Unproven SEO “Experts”

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

SEO Experts

If you query a search engine for “SEO company” or “internet marketing company,” you’ll see hundreds, perhaps thousands of listings, ads, organizations, and freelancers vying for your business.

Before you hire any of these folks, be sure to have some proof of their productive veracity.

The method that most of my clients used to find me was not by searching in Google for an SEO company but as a result of seeing a competitor of theirs ranking on page 1 (at the top, in the 3 pack) for the search terms and keywords they wanted. Then, scrolling to the footer of their competitor’s website and clicking the “made by” link back to VizTV Media Services.

That’s how my clients find me. That’s what I consider productive veracity.

(However, we wanna rank for “Houston SEO Company” too and compete in SEM. Therefore, again, I’m writing this detailed SEO blog post to help us by helping you.)

Avoid the Temptation & Acceptance of Laziness

If they’re ranking, they have a hard-Working SEO.

Lazy SEO

The previous four sections all have one overarching theme; they’re the hallmarks of laziness. No lazy SEO that actively and deliberately half-asses on their work will ever have a chance of competing with the Navy Seals of SEO at VizTV Media Services.

We run a tight ship, immediately fire lazy operatives, and go the extra mile for every client, on every backlink, directory listing, video upload, image optimization, social media update. We do our part to make the kingliness of solid content work for us.

Know this.

Each of our clients once entrusted their businesses to lazy or incompetent SEOs. Although they had no way of knowing they were about to waste thousands of dollars on posers, we’ve recovered their losses and proven the value of SEO as an SEM strategy.

If you’re an aspiring SEO, don’t be lazy. If you’re interested in hiring an SEO, don’t be lazy. Otherwise, you’ll pay.

Need to Consult with an Elite SEO Specialist?

Contact VizTV Media Services

VizTV Media Services is a top-notch Houston SEO company that takes pride in winning for our clients. We do so much winning for our clients that they’re literally tired of winning.

If you’re interested in hiring a winning SEO & internet marketing company in Texas that will put your company in the winners’ corner, give us a call.

Although hiring an expert SEO ain’t cheap, it’s not prohibitively expensive. We work out fair solutions for all of our clients. If you’re reading this, you’re smart enough to have your business to the point where you can afford us. Act now. Time is ticking and can’t be replaced.

5 SEO Don’ts

VizTV Media Services

About The Author

I'm Ray'Von D. Shanklin (AKA VizFact), owner, and founder of VizTV Media Services. I'm a webmaster, SEO specialist, videographer, graphic designer, PPC campaign expert, and an all-around heck of a guy. If you have any questions or need help, reach out to me.