1. Putting search engines before users
Optimisation is the process your website undergoes in order to help it achieve the best possible listings. The reason for hankering after a number one ranking? To attract targeted traffic. It's therefore surprising how many websites forget about their human users in the quest for search engine success.
Cramming as many keywords as possible into each page may yield short-term SEO results but is guaranteed to turn off human eyes. Well-written content is much more likely to result in a sale and win over the search engine web bots.
2. Link spamming
Link spamming sees the website chasing after as many links as possible, often using spurious excuses to answer forum questions or social media discussions in order to build external links. The reality here is that the links gathered are of little relevant use and no commercial value. Search engines rate links based on the authority of the sites they come from, so using link-spamming techniques actually devalues the site's authority.
A much better policy is to use time that would have been spent harvesting poor quality links for a more strategic campaign. By focusing link-building efforts on relevant sites, optimisation activities will also target the desired demographic.
3. Disregarding link text
The anchor text of the link should be written as carefully as possible. Search engines such as Google can use anchor text as an indicator of internal links (links from one page of the site to another). Unimaginative anchor text such as 'click here' also does little to add value to the user experience.
4. Not tracking progress
It's impossible to assess just how effective SEO activity is if there's no record of the starting point. Tracking is an often forgotten stage of SEO, with many people thinking the best measure of progress is simply improved organic listings. Not so. The number of sales and new search inclusions are all-important metrics indicating the success (or otherwise) of the SEO strategy. A reliable and regular report detailing these factors can be used to decide on any necessary changes in direction and assess the impact of such new activity.
5. Choosing the wrong keywords
Some SEO companies propose guaranteed listings for obscure keywords, showing just how easy it is to generate page one rankings for terms with little competition. But keywords involving product names and numbers are of little use in a strategic optimisation programme. Optimisation for 'flatscreen TV' would be a good goal for a company selling flatscreen TVs. Optimisation for 'Sony Flat Screen AB 123356BBBB' would not.
6. Overlooking accessibility
Website accessibility is a critical consideration – making your website navigable to all users regardless of disability or visual impairment. The Disability Discrimination Act 2004 is an essential guideline for any UK-based website. Making link text as descriptive as possible is a part of this, but accessibility goes much further with actions such as introducing relevant Alt and Title tags compliant with WC3 guidelines.
7. Not planning your SEO strategy
Planning a useful campaign is very much like planning a journey. One of the common mistakes made by newcomers is to be overtaken by enthusiasm and neglect to map out points of interest along the way. Rather than focusing on the end goal, set short-term objectives that are signposts towards the elusive page one ranking.
Read More..
Showing posts with label SEO mistakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SEO mistakes. Show all posts
Monday, January 5, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Top 5 SEO Mistakes you should avoid doing
1.Ignoring the Keywords:
This is one of the most common mistakes most people do when building a website/blog. What this will do is..to end you up creating a site with keywords that nobody searches on the web or you could create a site with most searched (competitive) keywords on the net which will make you wait forever to see any results.
So, you should do a quick research on the keywords that most people search...You can use the Google Adwords tool to check whether the keywords you choose have a good amount of searches per month.Also, type your keywords in google search and make sure that you feel confident reaching the first page.
2. Spamming the Keywords:
Some people create web pages just repeating the keywords hundreds of times or blending the font text color with the background color (hidden text)..but, this won't help you increase your search engine rankings.
Also, remember that you are making the content for your visitors, not just for the search engines. Don't repeat the keyword too many times in the article...it doesn't sound right when you read it back.
3. Javascript Menus:
Now a days, lot of people are using Javascript menus for navigation,but search engines can't read javascript.So, you have to build your site accordingly and make sure that the search engines and visitors to your site can quickly navigate the pages. You should consider building an xml/html sitemap, so that all your links are easily crawlable by the search engines.
4. Bad Linking:
You have to be careful on the outgoing links. Linking to irrelevant sites (bad neighborhoods),and sites that have been penalized by Google can seriously effect your own rankings. Also, make sure that you don't have too many outgoing links on a single page. According to Google Webmaster tools, you shouldn't have more than 100 outgoing links on a single web page.
5.Forgetting about Off site optimization:
Lot of people optimize their site well, but they forget about off site optimization...ie, building good and quality backlinks from relevant sites. It is a good way to increase your search engine rankings quickly... Get links from strong sites with your main keywords in the anchor text. Build backlinks by submitting articles, participating in related forums,etc.
Read More...
This is one of the most common mistakes most people do when building a website/blog. What this will do is..to end you up creating a site with keywords that nobody searches on the web or you could create a site with most searched (competitive) keywords on the net which will make you wait forever to see any results.
So, you should do a quick research on the keywords that most people search...You can use the Google Adwords tool to check whether the keywords you choose have a good amount of searches per month.Also, type your keywords in google search and make sure that you feel confident reaching the first page.
2. Spamming the Keywords:
Some people create web pages just repeating the keywords hundreds of times or blending the font text color with the background color (hidden text)..but, this won't help you increase your search engine rankings.
Also, remember that you are making the content for your visitors, not just for the search engines. Don't repeat the keyword too many times in the article...it doesn't sound right when you read it back.
3. Javascript Menus:
Now a days, lot of people are using Javascript menus for navigation,but search engines can't read javascript.So, you have to build your site accordingly and make sure that the search engines and visitors to your site can quickly navigate the pages. You should consider building an xml/html sitemap, so that all your links are easily crawlable by the search engines.
4. Bad Linking:
You have to be careful on the outgoing links. Linking to irrelevant sites (bad neighborhoods),and sites that have been penalized by Google can seriously effect your own rankings. Also, make sure that you don't have too many outgoing links on a single page. According to Google Webmaster tools, you shouldn't have more than 100 outgoing links on a single web page.
5.Forgetting about Off site optimization:
Lot of people optimize their site well, but they forget about off site optimization...ie, building good and quality backlinks from relevant sites. It is a good way to increase your search engine rankings quickly... Get links from strong sites with your main keywords in the anchor text. Build backlinks by submitting articles, participating in related forums,etc.
Read More...
Friday, December 26, 2008
5 Mistake Can Kill Your SEO Process
1) Screwing up Robots.txt file.
Make sure your text is like the one written as User-agent:* Disallow:
It should not be like the one written as: User-agent:* Disallow: /
This mistake can drop your organic rankings drastically.
2) Too many variables or parameters in your URLs
Although Search Engines are getting better and better in means of
crawling long and ugly looking links but still they don’t like them.
Short URL’s also do get clicked more often in the result pages and
they are good for crawlabilty and clickabilty.
3) Session ID’s in your URL’s
Search Engines straight away do not like session ID’s in URL’s. If you
are using Session ID’s then just store them in cookies rather than
including them in your URL’s. Session ID’s can cause a single page
content to be visible at multiple URL’s and thus obstructing the
SERP’s.
4) Your site suffers from code bloat
Even though Spiders are normally good at sorting out code from
content, but that doesn’t mean you should make it more complex by
having so much code that the content is tough to find.
5) Your navigation and internal linking
Designers and developers can be pretty creative while designing a web
site but this creativity may come in the way Search Engine Crawlers.
Your site’s navigation build in complicated DHTML, java script code,
flash or Ajax based can stop a crawler in its track.
Read More..
Make sure your text is like the one written as User-agent:* Disallow:
It should not be like the one written as: User-agent:* Disallow: /
This mistake can drop your organic rankings drastically.
2) Too many variables or parameters in your URLs
Although Search Engines are getting better and better in means of
crawling long and ugly looking links but still they don’t like them.
Short URL’s also do get clicked more often in the result pages and
they are good for crawlabilty and clickabilty.
3) Session ID’s in your URL’s
Search Engines straight away do not like session ID’s in URL’s. If you
are using Session ID’s then just store them in cookies rather than
including them in your URL’s. Session ID’s can cause a single page
content to be visible at multiple URL’s and thus obstructing the
SERP’s.
4) Your site suffers from code bloat
Even though Spiders are normally good at sorting out code from
content, but that doesn’t mean you should make it more complex by
having so much code that the content is tough to find.
5) Your navigation and internal linking
Designers and developers can be pretty creative while designing a web
site but this creativity may come in the way Search Engine Crawlers.
Your site’s navigation build in complicated DHTML, java script code,
flash or Ajax based can stop a crawler in its track.
Read More..
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Worst SEO Mistakes
Worst SEO Mistakes
In this article we cover some of the worst SEO mistakes. Some of these will cause the search engines to ignore you; others will cause potential visitors to ignore you; still others may make your site disappear from the search engine results pages entirely. We'll go over each practice and explain why you shouldn't do it. We'll even tell you what you should be doing.
Flash
If you're making a new website and thinking of using Flash - stop. Though Adobe made Flash crawlable and shared technology with Google and Yahoo (leaving out Microsoft), Flash is still a bad choice.
If you don't show much content to the search engines, you will have to invest more in links. Not only does a Flash site cost more to make, but you'll need more money to optimize it. If there is no real reason to use Flash, don't. If you want cool movies and features, consider embedding Flash videos and using cool CSS styles.
No Use of Title Tags
"The most powerful HTML tag you have at your disposal" - Ross Jones, Search Engine Ranking Factors. Put keywords you target the page for into the tag. This is the part that shows up in search results as a big blue link, so make it count.
Another mistake webmasters make is to put something like "Welcome To...." in the title tag. Aaron Wall calls this "Welcome to low rankings."
Title Tag Duplication
Many designers create a site design without much regard for SEO, using one title tag for an entire website. Make sure to vary the title tags on your pages.
Messed up Robots.txt
It's a good idea to have a file to keep your error log clean of robot.txt requests, but if you can mess up a lot if you use it incorrectly. Here's how it looks, assuming you don't want to block ANY pages:
Read More...
In this article we cover some of the worst SEO mistakes. Some of these will cause the search engines to ignore you; others will cause potential visitors to ignore you; still others may make your site disappear from the search engine results pages entirely. We'll go over each practice and explain why you shouldn't do it. We'll even tell you what you should be doing.
Flash
If you're making a new website and thinking of using Flash - stop. Though Adobe made Flash crawlable and shared technology with Google and Yahoo (leaving out Microsoft), Flash is still a bad choice.
If you don't show much content to the search engines, you will have to invest more in links. Not only does a Flash site cost more to make, but you'll need more money to optimize it. If there is no real reason to use Flash, don't. If you want cool movies and features, consider embedding Flash videos and using cool CSS styles.
No Use of Title Tags
"The most powerful HTML tag you have at your disposal" - Ross Jones, Search Engine Ranking Factors. Put keywords you target the page for into the tag. This is the part that shows up in search results as a big blue link, so make it count.
Another mistake webmasters make is to put something like "Welcome To...." in the title tag. Aaron Wall calls this "Welcome to low rankings."
Title Tag Duplication
Many designers create a site design without much regard for SEO, using one title tag for an entire website. Make sure to vary the title tags on your pages.
Messed up Robots.txt
It's a good idea to have a file to keep your error log clean of robot.txt requests, but if you can mess up a lot if you use it incorrectly. Here's how it looks, assuming you don't want to block ANY pages:
Read More...
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
5 SEO Mistakes that Kill Your Website
If you’re the owner of a small business, you might be tempted to implement an SEO strategy by yourself. After all, it can get costly hiring an expert to do your SEO, and there are several things you can do if you take your time to learn SEO properly. Of course, you also open yourself to making many crucial SEO mistakes.
What follows is a list of 5 common SEO mistakes that will undo all of your hard word. Avoid these at all costs.
1. Targeting Broad Keywords- Let’s suppose you operate a small business that sells doors in Houston. As nice as it would be to rank for the phrase “doors,” the truth is you have absolutely no shot at doing that. Trying to do so is a waste of your time. Instead, you should try to rank for phrases like “hurricane proof doors” or “door installation in Houston.” The more specific your keywords, the more targeted your traffic will be.
2. Keyword Stuffing- As a copywriter, this is my biggest pet peeve. People get so caught up in making sure their keywords are peppered throughout the content that they completely ignore how it reads. Your readers shouldn’t be able to tell that your content has keywords in it. It should read like any other copy. What’s the point of ranking well if your content is unreadable?
3. Design not Crawler-Friendly- In order to give yourself the best chance of ranking well, your design needs to be crawler-friendly. Even though the search spiders have gotten better at crawling flash sites, you should stick with an easy-to-crawl CSS layout. This helps the spiders go through your site in a logical manner to ensure they rank your site properly for the relevant keywords.
4. Disorganized Content- Stop trying to do too much on your webpage. Disorganized content not only hampers your site’s usability, but it also prevents you from targeting additional keywords. Divide your content logically among several pages. This keeps each page short, focused, and targeted on specific keywords. It gives you the best chance of reducing your bounce rate and improving you rankings for multiple key phrases.
5. Ignoring the User- This is probably the most common SEO mistake I see. In a way, it goes back to point #2. If you’re new to SEO, it can be easy to get caught up in tailoring your site to the search engine’s specifications. The problem comes when you place a higher priority on pleasing the search engines than your human users. You should never sacrifice usability for the sake of accommodating the search engines. Instead, you can have the best of both worlds—SEO friendly and user-friendly. Keep your site easy to navigate for both the search spiders and your users. This way, you can convert those high search engine rankings into increased sales for your small business.
Read More...
What follows is a list of 5 common SEO mistakes that will undo all of your hard word. Avoid these at all costs.
1. Targeting Broad Keywords- Let’s suppose you operate a small business that sells doors in Houston. As nice as it would be to rank for the phrase “doors,” the truth is you have absolutely no shot at doing that. Trying to do so is a waste of your time. Instead, you should try to rank for phrases like “hurricane proof doors” or “door installation in Houston.” The more specific your keywords, the more targeted your traffic will be.
2. Keyword Stuffing- As a copywriter, this is my biggest pet peeve. People get so caught up in making sure their keywords are peppered throughout the content that they completely ignore how it reads. Your readers shouldn’t be able to tell that your content has keywords in it. It should read like any other copy. What’s the point of ranking well if your content is unreadable?
3. Design not Crawler-Friendly- In order to give yourself the best chance of ranking well, your design needs to be crawler-friendly. Even though the search spiders have gotten better at crawling flash sites, you should stick with an easy-to-crawl CSS layout. This helps the spiders go through your site in a logical manner to ensure they rank your site properly for the relevant keywords.
4. Disorganized Content- Stop trying to do too much on your webpage. Disorganized content not only hampers your site’s usability, but it also prevents you from targeting additional keywords. Divide your content logically among several pages. This keeps each page short, focused, and targeted on specific keywords. It gives you the best chance of reducing your bounce rate and improving you rankings for multiple key phrases.
5. Ignoring the User- This is probably the most common SEO mistake I see. In a way, it goes back to point #2. If you’re new to SEO, it can be easy to get caught up in tailoring your site to the search engine’s specifications. The problem comes when you place a higher priority on pleasing the search engines than your human users. You should never sacrifice usability for the sake of accommodating the search engines. Instead, you can have the best of both worlds—SEO friendly and user-friendly. Keep your site easy to navigate for both the search spiders and your users. This way, you can convert those high search engine rankings into increased sales for your small business.
Read More...
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