The Word Wrangler

12 Search Engine Optimization Mistakes That Practically Guarantee Failure – Are You Making Them?

The most important thing for a web business is traffic. In fact, it’s more important than location is to real estate because, while you may only have a hundred or so businesses in a particular area, the web offers millions at your fingertips.

But just like brick and mortar businesses, if you can’t get people to come in, you’re not going to make any money.

The primary way web sites generate traffic is through search engines like Google or Yahoo. People go to these search engines, type in what they’re looking for and then wade through the results.

Advertising can help bring visitors, but it’s oftentimes more costly than it’s worth, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing.

The use of search engines is the number one way to drive traffic to your site because it’s inexpensive and because it allows users to narrow their searches through specific keywords.

However, too many web site owners still put too much attention on how their web site looks and neglect the art of boosting their rankings through SEO copywriting and solid keyword research.

The following are some common mistakes made by web site owners that prevent them from getting good traffic and generating revenue.

Mistake # 1: Not using targeted keywords effectively

Targeted keywords are the most important and most overlooked aspect of good web site design. Use the right keywords and get a steady flow of interested visitors. Use the wrong keywords and your site will get buried in the rankings.

Keywords are similar to Yellow Page listings in the phone book. When you go shopping for a plumber you look that word and all of the listings that go with it. Well, that’s how people search for things online. So when they type in ‘plumber’, that keyword needs to be all over your site (if you’re a plumber of course) in order for your pages to show up in their search.

But effective use of keywords means more than just randomly sticking them on your site and thinking it’ll create a mad rush of traffic. Where you put your keywords is as important as what keywords you use.

Keywords should be used within the copy on your pages, but you have to balance the use of your keywords with readability.

Quality content is going to get more visitors to your site than anything else, so that’s why it’s important to create copy that’s informative, easy to read AND laced with well-placed keywords that the search engines can pick up.

Mistake # 2: Poor keyword and keyphrase research

It’s estimated that around 80% of all online transactions start with a keyword typed into a search engine. That’s why having the right keywords on your website and in your content is vital to being found.

It’s important that you do some research on the keywords and phrases you intend to use on your website before you start building your site or writing content.

Knowing what words people tend to use when looking for your product, service or business can really help when you’re creating your pages and content. There are online services that allow you to enter keywords and phrases and then show you how popular they are.

Also consider using plurals as your keywords. Web surfers most commonly enter singular word forms, but if you use plural word forms like ‘plumbers’, the search engines will likely find you regardless of which form the user typed.

Using specific keyword phrases in your content will help people narrow their searches and let you attract exactly the kind of customers you’re looking for.

For example: If you happen to be a plumber in a city like Philadelphia, then you’ll want to try using the words ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Plumber’ together in your content. You can even get more specific if you want by adding something like ‘West Side’ to the phrase.

The benefit of being specific is that single words often generate thousands of relevant finds, while a specific group of words like: Philadelphia’s West Side Plumbers narrows the search down and can allow you to rank high in that small group if you’re using those words in your content.

Mistake # 3: Insufficient or poorly written content

Too many web site owners treat their content as if it was something they got out of a gumball machine. The fact is that the content is what’s going to get people to link to your site, which sends more potential customers your way.

It’s recommended that your site have at least 300 words of keyword-rich text per page. This helps search engines figure out what your web site is about and can help lead people where you want them to go.

And the text you use needs to contain the keywords your visitors are likely to use when they’re searching. If your business is web site design then you’ll want to create copy that uses terms like: web design, web page design, web site design, web designer etc. so that the search engines will know your page is about web site design.

However, you’ll have to do a little thinking beforehand. If someone happens to be searching for an Internet graphic designer, they won’t find your site unless you’re using that specific term. So, try to take into account the variations people might use when looking for your product or service.

Remember the bubble gum? Well, if you think your content is a few keywords wrapped around some other words then you’re doomed before you start. Content is the number one draw for search engine spiders, but if it’s poorly written or never updated, it’s going to make people think twice about doing business with you.

Think about going to a restaurant only to find a menu that’s difficult to read and full of misspellings. Yeah, they might have good food, but do you want to take a chance?

Mistake # 4 Using Flash intros & splash pages

Regardless of how good your keywords, content and links from other sites is the search engines aren’t going to be able to rank you highly if they can’t index your web pages.

Using splash pages is a good way to thwart the search engines because splash pages typically contain a large graphic image, Flash animation or a link to ENTER the web site. Since these splash pages lack keywords (and some lack words altogether) the search engines have nothing to index.

While these pages might look cool, they do nothing else but hurt your rankings. It’s best to ditch them.

Using Flash on your site is okay as long as you restrict it to small spots on pages such as in headers and logos. Just make sure your Flash animation doesn’t take up an entire page and that it’s combined with keyword rich content.

Remember that search engine spiders see and thrive on content they can read, and Flash isn’t it.

Mistake # 5: Using unethical techniques

It’s only natural to want to take the quick and easy route. But like other questionable practices, using underhanded techniques to gain higher page rankings will almost always backfire.

These techniques include:

• Keyword stuffing - This technique involves repeatedly stuffing keywords into their web pages. The problem is that it not only makes for ugly pages, but also results in a web site that’s nearly impossible for visitors to understand.

• Doorway pages – Are pages designed and built just to bring people using search engines to your site. These pages stand-alone and only go to your web site. Think of them as a really big click-through ad for your web site. The problem with these is that since it’s a page you’re just supposed to find – not to actually visit- many people just hit their back button assuming they’re in the wrong place.

• Invisible text – At one time this technique was pretty ingenious since it involves stuffing your site with keywords, but making them the same color as your background. The thinking was that the pages wouldn’t be cluttered, but the search engines would still find the keywords. It no longer works because of the advances in search engine design.

While all of these ideas did work at one time, they’re mainly a waste of time and resources now and can result in your web pages getting banned from the search engines. So you’re better off trying legitimate SEO techniques to boost your rankings.

Mistake # 6: Using graphics instead of text

Search engines rely mainly on plain text in order to rank pages. If your page is about web site design, the engines need to find those words in plain text on your pages. Placing text within graphics, or making the actual text a graphic, won’t help the search engines find your pages.

Navigation buttons that include words can’t be picked up by the search engines either. So, either use plain text links for navigation, or set up some plain text links at the bottom of your page if you’re set on using buttons.

It’s okay to use pictures on your web site especially if you have products that people need to see before they buy. But don’t use pictures in place of text. People might be searching for shoes and you might have tons of shoe pics on your pages, but the search engines can’t see that unless you have some accompanying text with the relevant keywords.

Right now text is what the search engines understand and rely on, so make sure you give it to them.

Mistake # 7: Not using keywords in title tags

I know from experience that it can be an ego boost to see your name, or the name of your company, up in the title bar of your web browser. But that doesn’t help people find you through keywords (unless they’re searching for your or your company’s name specifically).

When the web was still young it was common for sites to use something catchy like: Welcome to ABC Company in their title tags. However, as the web grew and it became tougher to find things, people realized how important it was to use specific keywords in their title tags so that search engines (and potential customers) could easily find those pages.

And when using keywords in your title tags make sure that those words are relevant to the content on the page. Otherwise people won’t get what they’re looking for and will likely go somewhere else.

Mistake # 8: Using too many keywords on a page

If search engines rely on keywords to find and rank your pages, then you could simply fill a page with keywords right?

Well you could (and some sites do), but I wouldn’t recommend it. Remember that getting someone to your web site is only half the battle. Once there they want a reason to stay, browse and ultimately buy your product or service.

This is done by giving them good content – not gibberish. Rather than trying to cram as many keywords as you can onto a page, go for a good balance of informative copy with well placed keywords.

These keywords can be placed in the headline of an article, throughout the body copy, in sub-heads and in block quotes. The idea is to have readable content with keywords to aid search engines.

While the search engines don’t really care about readability, you should. Having content that makes sense and is easily read by your visitors should be just as important as they keywords themselves. Throwing keywords together at the expense of readability is a sure way to make visitors click away from your site.

Mistake # 9: Not promoting your site through press releases & articles

There’s an old saying that goes – There’s no such thing as bad press, and while this usually applies to people in the entertainment industry, it can also apply to your web site as well.

Relying on the search engines to direct people to your site is fine, but it isn’t enough. You need to take every opportunity you can to let people know you’re out there and the good thing about the web is that a lot of marketing can be done for little or no cost.

A good way to get the word out about your site and what you have to offer is to use informative articles that contain a link to your site. These articles can be posted in numerous places like Helium or other sites that allow people to upload their own content.

E-zines are another great place to have your articles published. These online magazines are almost always looking for good content (especially content they don’t have to pay for). No matter what you’re selling or offering, there’s most likely an online publication that you could use to gain visitors.

The old-fashioned press release is another way to let people know what you are doing and where you can be found. These press releases can be submitted to local newspapers and to online news sites.

Marketing your online business is vastly more important than marketing a brick and mortar business because of the tremendous amount of competition. While a traditional store can usually rely on walk-in traffic, there are simply too many sites online to rely on search engines alone.

Mistake # 10: Insufficient link popularity

Think of link popularity as good word of mouth advertising. You’re much more likely to patronize a business if the recommendation comes from someone you know and trust right? Well the same is true online.

Search engines take into account the quality of the web sites that link to yours when determining rankings. If a site that’s getting a million hits a month links to your site, then the search engines consider that to be pretty good word of mouth and are likely to rank your site higher. For example: if the New York Times web site links to your site, it will lend more credibility to your site than if a no-name blogger with little traffic linked to your site.

Mistake # 11: Not using meta tags effectively

Meta tags include title tags, keyword tags and description tags and they play an important role in your page rankings. Meta tags help the search engines to prioritize and rank your site. These tags should be included on every page of your site and should be targeted for each individual page.

Some web site owners think that writing long descriptions and keywords will help them in the rankings, but search engines have a limited amount of space available for their database and will only index a portion of your web site.

It’s better to keep your tags short and relevant. Search engines look at the number of times each tag occurs and can penalize you if you overuse them.

Also beware of using all capital letters in your meta tags. While older search engines relied on upper case letters to prioritize web sites, most newer ones don’t. Some even look out for this in order to penalize the offending site.

Mistake # 12: Dead links

Having dead links in your HTML will not only throw off the search engines, but your readers as well. Because search engine spiders follow HTML links you need to provide active links so the spiders (and your readers) can follow them.

If you have to move a web page try using server-side redirects to send the search spiders to the new URL. If you’re unable (because of your web host) to do a redirect on the server side then create a separate web page that alerts visitors to the change and directs them to the new URL.

No matter how you handle it, never let your visitors encounter broken or dead links. For most people one dead link is all it takes for them to click away never to return.

Also, when creating links to other pages, using keywords in your links (anchor text) will also help with your page rankings. For example: using the keywords ‘website design’ (or other relevant keywords) will serve your site better than simply using ‘click here’ to get people to go to another page.

These mistakes will undoubtedly derail traffic that’s meant for your site. However, one of the biggest mistakes we all make is wanting too much too soon.

It’s understandable to want traffic to flow to your site right now. You want to put your pages up and be number one in the rankings by the end of the day.

That might happen if you’re selling pink and purple polka dotted LED bow ties and have your site optimized so that people searching for that item will find you, but for most sites, it takes awhile to see an increase in traffic.

It not only takes awhile for the search engines to index your site, but it takes awhile to develop the kind of positive buzz that makes others on the web take notice.

Sure, there are tricks and schemes you can use in order to drive traffic to your site, but most of these are unethical and can actually result in you not getting any traffic at all if you’re banned.

The sure way to get people to your site and keep them coming back is by offering them exceptional content. Great content not only gets the attention of readers, but of other web site owners as well, who link back to your site, which brings more visitors and so on.

If you can avoid making these mistakes you’ll likely avoid page rankings that are under the pile. Being visible on the web is the first step to being found on the web. And while you’ll still likely need search engine optimization to be found in the first three pages of keyword searches, you’ll want to be sure these mistakes don’t stick you on page 1000.

Invest a little time to learn the proper ways to increase search engine visibility. It’ll pay off not only in keeping your site from getting banned, but also in increased traffic, which is why you’re on the web in the first place.

If you’d like to hire The Word Wrangler for your next SEO copywriting project, contact me today: michael@thewordwrangler.com or 740.491.2573.