SEO mistakes you should avoid
Search engine optimization (SEO) is proven to be one of the most effective techniques in delivering actual results in terms of higher online traffic and a better standing in search engine results pages. SEO is being used by a growing number of web site owners because of it's tremendous beneficial effectsin this increasing saturated marketplace.
Adopting various effective SEO strategies is considered one part of successful web site management. It shows a commitment to the development and success of a web site. But on the other hand, there are also some SEO mistakes that are being committed by web site and online business owners. These are mistakes that are often very common that it is usually committed without realizing it. Some of these mistakes (that can actually cause a negative effect on search engine rankings) are:
Using improper URLS – using long URLs that also contain parameters are a big mistake because it can be hard to understand not just for a visitor but even for search engine spiders. It is so much better to just use descriptive file names that contain the proper keywords. By doing this, the visitor gets to navigate much more easily but it also helps in improving search engine results. You should remember though to not overload your filenames with keywords.
Using Title Tags and forgetting to put keywords – There are many instances of web site owners putting in web page titles that only contain the company name or some other text that has absolutely no relation or relevance to the content that’s on the page. A title tag is mainly used for informing both the visitor and the search engine spider about what’s on the webpage. The title tag is one of the factors that have a great impact on search engine results.
Poorly designed navigation – Navigation and sitemaps are important not only to web site visitors but to search engine spiders as well. It should be noted that JavaScript and Flash are not readable to bots and will ignore this type of content. That’s why it’s important to have a sitemap that is encoded in both HTML and XML to facilitate the easier navigation of the spiders through the web site. In order to make search engine spiders crawl through your web site more efficiently avoid using Flash- or JavaScript based menus and always have a sitemap.
Using the wrong anchor text – Using generic anchor text like “click here” should not be used as much as possible because it doesn’t say anything about the page it will link to. A far more effective method is to use descriptive text that actually tells you something about what the linked page will contain. Additionally, don’t use descriptive text that doesn’t have any relation to the target webpage.
Not allowing search engines – It’s not uncommon for someone to inadvertently ban a search engine from a web site. This usually happens when someone tinkers with the robots.txt file. This file is located in the root folder of the web site and its function is to tell bots which folders and pages they can crawl. Make sure you don’t play with the robots.txt file.
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