What shouldn`t I be doing?

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Brandon Deane: You really should use something like yoast so you can see your keyword density etc. rather than guessing
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  Brenda Michelin: She said that she uses Yoast.
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  Brandon Deane: Brenda Michelin yup I’m saying USE IT to determine keyword density instead of guessing. Did you miss the part shes trying to get away from Yoast?
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  Michelle Korn: Brandon Deane It was discussed a few times in another SEO group that Yoast sucks & can do more damage than good.
  
  I didn`t say I was leaving Yoast, I said I can`t b/c if I do, then I`ll lose all of the work I already put into Yoast.
  
  And I`m not even sure if Yoast tells you when you`ve put too many of the kws in the article.
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  Brenda Michelin: What are you trying to achieve? Just maximize on-page? SEO is much wider than just on-page technical, but that is a good start. If you are a local business, have you claimed your GMB (Google My Business)?
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  Michelle Korn: Brenda Michelin - no I`m not a local biz, I cater nationwide.
  
  I thought about getting one local biz entry & I heard there`s a way to do it with multiple locations, but I don`t know how to do that & that would mean I`d have to get addresses in different cities/states.
  
  I`m just trying to get listed in the SE.
  
  I think I`m listed somewhere in AUS LOL, but I want in the US & right now I`m sure I`m not listed anywhere near page 1.
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  Brandon Deane: Other SEO plugins you can import your settings from Yoast but most are missing keyword density calculator etc. many really good seos I know have at least one page running yoast just for that feature then they copy/paste onto a site running rankmath or seopress or whatever you want to use. I think you will find though only changing a plugin wont change much. If your on page is dialed you need to start with social signals and backlinks. I don’t really have any more time for this question but hopefully that helps and best of luck.
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  Michelle Korn: Thanks
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  Michelle Korn: Can`t someone answer my questions?
  
  Thanks
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  Michael Martinez: You don`t provide enough information for anyone to even guess at why you lost traffic. It could have had nothing to do with your site at all. The algorithms sometimes just start ranking things differently.
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  Michelle Korn: Michael Martinez I did, I listed all of the things I do when writing up an article, & I just wanted someone to tell me which things I do that is wrong.
  
  Now I apologize, but I just edited the post as I made it seem like I was talking about the site that lost my #1 ranking.
  
  I`m not, I`m talking about any of my current sites which don`t rank either, but they were never #1 to begin with.
  
  Thanks
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  Michael Martinez: Michelle Korn The process you describe at the end of your post is still very vague. It sounds like you`re chasing keywords, trying to rank for queries that are already competitive. There are so many things that can go wrong with a strategy like that and where you use your keywords or how many times you repeat them is a crude formula that doesn`t come with any guarantees. There could be other issues affecting any traffic changes you`ve experienced. Are you using "nofollow" or "noindex" on any pages? Are you blocking some parts of your site in "robots.txt" from being crawled? Do you use other plugins that change the HTML code on the page or in the navigation? Have you been buying links? Nothing really happens in isolation.
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  Michelle Korn: Michael Martinez - You do understand this is for all of my blogs (I have many) that I write articles on right?
  
  I think twice now you`ve missed the part where I told you that this is NOT the site I mentioned in 2012. I say that b/c you said "traffic changes, " & the only site I ever got traffic to were the 3 that died in 2012.
  
  No, I`m not blocking anything & I assume my site is do-follow, but maybe WP or Yoast sets every post to no-follow.
  
  And no, I haven`t blocked anything on the robot.txt. I never go on it. I only know of it, not what to do in it.
  
  I think the sitemap from Yoast goes on it (once.)
  
  I have no idea if the plugins change the html or nav.
  
  I don`t buy links. I would never do that.
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  Michael Martinez: Let`s leave 2012 in the past. As I said, you haven`t provided enough information for anyone to do a proper analysis and that is why people who are inclined to try to help you ask questions. We have to walk through a lengthy list of potential issues to identify good candidates for further investigation.
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  Michelle Korn: Michael Martinez IMO I did give all the information I needed to give.
  
  I simply asked the following...
  
  1. I put the kw in the heading & do an h1
  
  2. I make sure the kw is in the first sentence.
  
  3. I sometimes put the kw in the tag (I`m using WP)
  
  4. I put the kw in the alt tag for the image
  
  5. I label the file for the image with the kw.
  
  6. I put the kw in the slug & description
  
  7. I guesstimate how many times I use the kw in an article trying not to overstuff.
  
  So please tell me what shouldn`t I be doing?
  
  I didn`t ask for a whole class on SEO which would take months LOL
  
  I only wanted to know what I`m doing now that`s right or wrong.
  
  So I`m unclear what you think I haven`t included in my question.
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  Michael Martinez: Michelle Korn What should you NOT be doing? Following a formula. Unfortunately all you`ve presented us with is a formula. It`s vague, hypothetical, and provides no insight into how your site is published, what your traffic data looks like, what you`re competing against, or anything else that could be used to provide you with helpful cautionary information. So the bottom line here is that if all you share is a formula, the best advice you can get is not to follow a formula.
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  Michelle Korn: Michael Martinez
  
  I wasn`t asking you to determine if I`m doing an overall good job on my SEO as a project for my biz. I was asking if what I`m doing with my articles is ok & you just don`t seem to want to give me an answer, so I`m just going to stop now & find out some other way.
  
  Thanks for all your help.
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  George G.: 2012 is 7 years ago. Go backwards and see what updates google has launched back then and you will most likely find the issue... but seo has chnaged quite a bit in the past 7 years so as Michael Martinez said, it could be anything.
  
  You should post the actual url if you want someone to suggest something more useful.
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  Michelle Korn: George G. - I apologize.
  
  I edited the post. I didn`t want help with the 3 sites that were lost in 2012. I`m talking about any of my current sites which don`t rank either, but they were never #1 to begin with.…See More
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  Jimbo Jones: The problem does not lie in on-page optimization. Is your site a health/drugs/money related site?