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Website Promotion: 10 Search Engine Optimization Blunders to Avoid

April 27th, 2010

If you want to develop a successful search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, go out of your way to avoid blunders that limit rankings.

Here are 10 to keep in mind:

1. Don't use frames.
Why would you want to use frames if SEO is important? Don't risk confusing the search engine spiders. Sure, you might write some scripts or adjust the content to work with frames, but you have better things to do with that energy.

2. Don't use Flash.
Flash looks awesome, but is slows down the user experience and it makes it tough to get ranked. The Flash future is bright for search engines ability to read some keywords, but what good will that do if pages lack visible text?

3. Don't skimp on titles.
Why would you possibly call a page About Us in the title since it's prime SEO real estate? Include search phrases that reflect the content.

4. Don't overstuff titles.
Limit titles to 70 characters with commas between phrases on EVERY page; use fewer characters on pages with limited content.

5. Don't bury text.
Design often gets in the way of text. Make sure your visible text appears high on the page.

6. Don't use graphics as page headers.
Graphic headers are a waste of time. Use text page headers and support them with strategic keywords - in the header, after the header or below the header.

7. Don't use the wrong words.
Website owners love one-word search terms because they seem to get a lot of traffic. The reality is that only a fraction of Internet users entering a broad search word want what you offer. Go for search terms with two, three or four words that help visitors qualify their interests.

8. Don't ignore link building.
Hunt down links from other websites that have content and categories that relate to what you offer. If you sell sweaters, find a specialty guide about sweaters or a portal about clothing.

9. Don't overwhelm your pages with keywords.
You might not write the same keyword in succession 10 times, but you can make the mistake of too much repetition. Mention your strategic search term several times throughout the page; promise yourself not to force it in too much.

10. Don't use long URLs.
If you use a database to maintain the website, you may end up with long URLs with several session IDs and parameters that produce many question marks and equal signs. They can hinder search engines from properly indexing pages. Work with your developer to limit them or remove them as much as possible.

Any questions?

Michael Murray
Fathom SEO
216.861.5951 ext. 111

Michael Murray is vice president of Fathom SEO, an Ohio-based SEO firm. A member of Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), he also authored the white paper, "Search Engine Marketing: Get in the Game."

Author: Michael Murray

 

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Being a webmaster is a much more important job than most companies would dare admit. Webmasters are responsible for the company web presence on every level, from the website copy to the web and email server administration. Additionally, webmasters are often tasked even more duties that should be considered unrelated responsibilities for the position of webmaster. These extra duties often will include online as well as offline promotion and marketing, search optimization, advertising, application programming, graphic design and/or brand management. The role of the webmaster has grown over the years and webmasters need to grow with the company's expectations or the website will not succeed. For instance, it is easy to get banned from the search engines for not knowing the correct methods to use to optimize a website for a better results ranking from the search engines for any particular search phrase.

This is why Webmastery is here, not just to offer direction and assist webmasters, but to do so masterfully, as you expect of yourself, or as your company expects out of you.
 

Since I am an American and know only American English and SEO methods, I specialize in American Webmastery. Hence the domain name, Webmastery.US.
 

However, please note that often both sides of the coin are presented here. Some webmasters swear by Linux and we offer articles by such authors to give insight to their creativity. Others are die-hard Microsoft software fans and use Windows based servers. Despite the bias, each system has its own advantages, and such articles are reprinted here for their positive contribution to those platforms, not to enforce their bias. It is we that have to make the final analysis.
 

This difference is even more apparent when I am showcasing and promoting white hat SEO (search engine optimization) and a black hat SEO article is published here, which method if followed could get a website banned from the search engines. The reason I allow it a small platform is to showcase its apparent and obvious idiocy in contrast to white hat SEO techniques. And as I cannot edit these articles in order to correct them, I let their illogicality and stupidity stand on their own for a time without any edits. But in case their spaminess is not apparent, I often do not let such articles stand long.
 

 


 

 

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