You think you’re all that, huh?

You’ve got a blog on your website. You rank for a few keywords.

You’re a total badass at SEO, huh?

Stop it. Right now. Put down that API. Stop looking at your organic search traffic for just a second and listen.

These are the unhealthy SEO habits you need to quit right now.

1. Backlinking From Literally Everything

You know those guys who roam the bars desperate for any attention women will give them? Yeah, that’s you with your backlinks.

Quit letting this happen. And if you’re doing it intentionally, Google help you.

Google wants to see your content getting picked up by reputable and similar sites. You want backlinks from your niche. Backlinks that prove you wield authority like the king of content.

If you’re unsure on how to garner backlinks, you can always hire an SEO company. This service will not only monitor your backlinks for you, they could possibly help you identify backlink opportunities in your niche.

2. Over-Optimizing Your Anchor Text? Seriously?

How much time have you been spending on those anchor texts for your backlinks? You’re wasting your time.

Google cut back on anchor text as a signal back in 2012 and they’ve been pairing back farther every year or so. That’s not to say you should spend zero time on anchor texts, but you should spend minimal time.

The trick is to keep your anchor text relevant to your content. If there is a stat in your content, link back to that. If a concept, name the concept.

3. What’s That Clickbait On Your Site?

You liar!

People clicked on that link thinking they’d get an interesting article and all they got was fluff. You hooked them with an interesting title, but once they got there, they quickly bounced away.

Google increasingly emphasizes quality content over traffic. One of the biggest signals they measure is bounce rate. How many people bounce away from your content immediately?

If that number is high, then you’re not putting forth quality content.

Sure, hook people with an awesome title. But deliver on that title in your content.

Please the Google Gods

Yeah, Google constantly tweaks their algorithms. That’s why SEO companies exist. They keep tabs on what’s happening with Google’s search engine.

It’s your job to do the common sense SEO stuff and weed out any bad habits. Keep pleasing the SEO gods and you’ll garner plenty of organic traffic.