Classic SEO Mistakes to Avoid

Over the last week or so we have been looking at various SEO techniques to help increase traffic and popularity. So in this post I think it is important to summarise common SEO mistakes that prevent effective search engine optimization. Whether you are an internet marketing company or SEO student, these things are important to learn and recap on now and again.

1. Lazy Keyword Research: It is easy to cut corners and guess your way through a keyword strategy. We have all done it, creating a head-top list of seemingly great short and long tail words that we think users would target. If we would target the words personally, surely others would too, right? Wrong – don’t be lazy, you will only end up having to carry out the research properly at a later date so get it done in the first instance.
2. Neglecting the Title Tag <Title>: Always target a keyword in the title tag, do not be swayed by aesthetic reasoning or client wants to ignore this important aspect of SEO. This is a standard procedure for effective search engine optimization.
3. Remaining Stagnant: Search engines love new content and so does your fan or customer base – good quality, user friendly content that is. Remember that SEO techniques are open ended, they don’t stop because SEO is perpetual. Don’t leave your website stagnant for too long or your popularity and visibility will decrease.
4. Keyword Stuffing: Don’t keyword stuff your content. There are many deluded people, most of them aspiring internet marketers and the odd cowboy internet marketing company, who think the higher the keyword density the better. A 500 word page should have a keyword density of between 1.7-2%. Use keywords strategically but remember to write for humans not solely for search spiders.
5. Javascript: Remember that search engines cannot read Javascript. If you must have Javascript menus then ensure you build a sitemap.
6. Images are No Substitute for Headings: The title of this pointer says it all – Images can look more pleasing on the eye for menus and headings but they are not SEO friendly. H-tags are essential for effective search engine optimization.
7. Flash Needs HTML: If you have a flash site then be sure to create a HTML version. Flash is more searchable than it was 2 years ago but search engines adore HTML.
8. Avoid Link Farms: Backlinks are great, but backlink spamming is not cool. Avoid using link-farms, spamming forums and newsgroups and any other related naughty activity. Do yourself a favour and use only ethical SEO techniques.
9. URLs Are Important: Keywords in a URL are not essential, but it makes sense to include at least one keyword in there as Google does apportion some weight to this factor when listing results.