Dying Online Trends That Were Once Cool

How Internet marketing has changed what we are attracted to when visiting a website

Cluttered Websites

With millions of websites competing with one another, a cluttered website was at times seen as a unique way to leave a memorable impression on a website visitor. However, this proved to be a distracting and overwhelming method and today’s creators focus more on simple and elegant designs. The user experience should be kept as the focus and allow for easy and simplistic navigation.

Unsolicited Music Playing Websites

In the Myspace days, everyone with a profile was free to customize their page with a song of their choice. This was also adopted by various other sites that welcomed visitors with unwarranted music selections. This trend quickly became obsolete as the nuisance of invasive music caused visitors to quickly leave sites.

Flashy “Click Here” Linked Buttons

This maneuver to grasp users’ attention still exists although it is not nearly as effective as other types of linked text. Rather dull and unexplanatory, the phrase itself doesn’t inform the individual what the linked page is about. In this day and age, a busy web user wants to know the context of what kind of website a link will take them to, hence the ineffectiveness of a “Click Here” button. A wise internet marketing strategy would be to include relevant context to whatever linked text you want the user to click on.

Violating SEO Ethics with Link Buying

The previous trend of buying links used to be common practice, but the scene in SEO ethics has changed and this method is now penalized. While link building is still encouraged via “trades” through guest posting, Google has put a stop to link spamming with its Penguin Algorithm. As it is better for credibility anyway, it is not encouraged to buy links in your search engine optimization strategy as it could damage the site’s reputation.

Print Media and Yellow Page Advertising

For years, print media and the previously ever so prevalent “Yellow Pages” had been a staple in advertising. The Yellow Book in particular contained a large, local business directory with any given company’s phone number, hours, location, and specialization. Advertisements would be dispersed throughout the book, and similarly with print media, these methods remain present although less popular than online advertising. Many users now access information online via the internet and various applications on their smart phones, so it would be wise for content to transition to more digital copies.

Stuffing Content with Excessive Keywords

It had been common practice for SEO agencies and specialists to overuse keywords for the purpose of rankings. However, with an overabundance of keywords, it can be hard to read and understand content properly. It is still important today to use keywords in internet marketing today, but typically it is not recommended to exceed 3% of the content.

If you are a business owner/manager and don’t have all the necessary know-how of SEO to optimize your internet marketing strategy, contact us for a free consultation.