Search Engine Optimization Top Ten Mistakes: Part 2

I find there are some very common mistakes made by beginners in performing search engine optimization. Although well intentioned, and probably more misinformed, these errors in very basic search engine optimization seem to regularly occur. Here I have included the next 5 as Part 2 of this article. In this and in Part 1, I have touched briefly on each of these points. In future articles I will be addressing each of these points in greater detail.

6. Flash Graphics
Although pleasing to the eye (well, most of them are), flash graphics on sites cannot be indexed for content by the search engines. This holds true for any information content that is displayed on the page in the form of a graphic. Similar to the use of the ALT tags for static images, flash graphics must be tagged appropriately if they are to stand a chance in improving your indexation by the search engines.

7. Broken Navigation
We all know how frustrating it is to receive the "Page Not Found" error when surfing a website. In addition to irritation, we often doubt the site's credibility to some extent. The search engine spiders "feel" the same way when broken links or "Page Not Found" errors are encountered. As such, your site will drop in the overall indexation and will hurt you overall in the search engine results pages.

8. Poor Redirects
Similar to the Broken Navigation mistake, I have witnessed many sites who have removed a page completely after the content on the page is either no longer in place (say, a sales page that is now over) or the page content has been moved to a new page. For whatever reason, too many webmasters simply remove the page from the site file structure. The problem here is when the search engine spiders return to check on any updated content on the page, they cannot find the page and receive the 404 Page Not Found error.

Ensure that your site structure remains in place and NEVER completely delete the page from your site - this includes renaming the page as the search engines will be looking for the old page title. Use 301 Redirects by modifying your .htaccess file to tell the search engines that the page has been moved. this will not only preserve your site's "integrity" with the spiders, it will also ensure that the new page is indexed as the spider follows the redirect to the new page.

9. Poor Backlinks
Too many people are getting far too uptight about inbound links. Yes, it's vitally important to receive links from other sites to your site. However, and I can't emphasize this enough....your links must be relevant. When it comes to backlinks, it's quality over quantity. If your site sells sports equipment and your site is linked to by a local towing company, the search engines will not put much weight on the link. However, if your sports equipment site has a link from Nike , you can bet that the search engines will place a great deal of weight on the importance of your site.

10. Worrying About PageRank
Stop worrying about your page rank and concentrate on your site content and your site traffic. This may sound like a contradiction to some people. However, page rank is a minor indication of how well your site is being marketed. For example, if your site has a PageRank of 8, and nobody visits your site, what good is your PR doing you? Conversely, if your PageRank is 1 (or 0 for that matter), and your site is receiving 500 page views a day, with half of those visitors converting to customers.....do you really care about PageRank?

Search Engine Optimization Top Ten Mistakes: Part 1

I find there are some very common mistakes made by beginners in performing search engine optimization. Although well intentioned, and probably more misinformed, these errors in very basic search engine optimization seem to regularly occur. I have included the first 5 in Part 1 of this article. In this and in Part 2, I will be touching briefly on each of these points. In future articles I will be addressing each of these points in greater detail.


1. Identical Page Titles.
It amazes me how often this happens. The title tag (Title META Tag) is the same for each page on the site. Not only is this frowned upon by Search Engines, but this is a missed opportunity for search engine optimization advantages. Search engines place a lot of weight on the title of your page as this is the first line that is shown in a search engine results page (SERP). This can be used to your advantage in a search engine optimization strategy as your targeted keywords and key phrases can and should be placed in the title and will improve your ranking in the indexes.

2. Missing Descriptions.
In a similar fashion to the Page Titles, the page description META Tag is extremely important for search engine optimization. On a search engine results page (SERP), the desciption is what is listed below the page title. Where no description tag is found, most search engines will use the first paragraph of visible text from the page. Placing a description META Tag creates an opportunity to not only customize what searchers see on a results page, but provides an opportunity to include your targeted keywords and key phrases, increasing your keyword prominence, weight and frequency and thereby increasing your rankings in the indexes.

3. Choosing the wrong keywords
Far too often, well intentioned marketers, search engine optimizers and web designers fall into the trap of using industry or corporate terms and expressions as keywords. It is crucial when researching your keywords that you step outside of your business think about the keywords and key phrases that will be used by your customers. To illustrate this, think of how many people call your business and use "layman's terms" when inquiring about your product or service. These are the terms that will be used by people looking for your product or service. Also, a big mistake is using your company name as a constant keyword throughout your site. Remember, these are the terms that when entered into a search engine, are triggering your indexed page to be shown.

4. Choosing too many keywords
Don't choose a list of keywords as long as your arm. Select 2 or 3 keywords maximum for each campaign (product, or product area) and optimize each of the pages that are specific to that campaign with those identified keywords. Go through the same process for the next product or product area and so on. This will provide for a more content oriented page and will provide for a higher indexation by the search engines.

5. Keyword stuffing
Once you have selected your 2 or 3 keywords, use them throughout your content...BUT....do not overuse them. We have all seen web pages that seem to contain the same keywords used over and over and over and over and over....get the point? Search engines recognize keyword stuffing and your site will be penalized for it. Furthermore, and more importantly, you will distract and annoy your site visitors.