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Here’s a consolidated list of things you most
definitely do not want to be doing if you want a high ranking in the search
engines. Let’s look at the most common search engine optimization mistakes:
Mistake: Overloading of Keywords
Trying to optimize a home page for all possible
keywords is not a good thing. If you attempt to squeeze in all the keywords on
the home page thinking it’s going to improve your ranking is not true. It will
appear that you are ‘spamming’ the search engines and it will make your rankings
even worse since those search engines will single you out. ‘Less’ can mean a lot
more when it comes to search engine optimization in that respect.
Mistake: Untargeted Keywords and Phrases
Choice of keywords in the META keyword tags are
very important and it’s crucial that you use keywords related to your line of
work or your business product(s). Targeting such generic words is a waste of
time. What you need to do is optimize your site for search terms and phrases
that are highly targeted to your precise business. There are numerous software
programs or services that can help you to find what people are actually typing
into the search engines to find goods and services familiar to yours and
concentrate on ranking well for those terms. The more qualified your site
visitors are, the more likely you are to convert those visitors into ‘paying’
customers.
Mistake: Non Utilization of the Title Tag
Most search engines index the content of the
title tags and consider it to be one of the most important factors in their
relevancy algorithm. What you place in your title can make or break your ranking
for particular search terms for various engines. When you don’t include your
most important search phrases within your title tag, you are overlooking a vital
opportunity in your quest for higher search rankings. In other words, give your
best information or rather ‘characters’ at the start of your tag, since search
engines give more ‘weight’ to content at the very beginning of the tags. If you
really want to include your company name in your title, put it at the very end
of your tag.
Mistake: Duplication of the Header Area
Here’s another mistake that many ‘newbies’ do
when it comes to designing their websites. Seeing the same title on every page
within that website which means the Meta tags are identical on every page, only
the visible content is different. Each page should be optimized for different
keywords whether it’s major or minor and can be an entry point to your site from
any search engine. Never repeat the titles or Meta descriptions in your website.
Treat each page of your website if it were the most important and optimize it
thoroughly. Don’t leave the head area without any optimization means. You’ll
regret it and the search engines will not direct traffic to your website.
Mistake: No Body Text, Too Much Splash and
Flash
A very common mistake. Many websites think the
more flashier they are with limited text will get them the traffic they need.
What you may not know is that without some text, or lack thereof, will not get
your site optimized since most search engines can’t index images. If you want a
web site to rank well in the search engines, you need to give them what they
want to see, visible content that is optimized just as well as the invisible
content. Most importantly, if you have no content on your main page and only
graphics does not say much about your intelligence and looks very
unprofessional. The bottom line is simple; a site with no visible content
becomes effectively invisible to a search engine and has almost no chance of
appearing in the rankings for logical searches.
These are the most common search engine
mistakes, of course, in no particular order. If any of this sound familiar to
you, don’t worry about it since you’re not alone. Many website owners will find
themselves in at least one or more of these situations. The important thing is
that when you do recognize an error within your optimization process, get the
correct solution, understand why the changes are needed, then you are better
equipped with the correct information and have the capability to reverse the
damage. |
