10 Costly Search Engine Mistakes to Avoid

If you have a website then you already know the importance of traffic. Traffic is to Internet marketing as location is to real estate. It's the only thing that really matters. If you cannot generate targeted visitors to your site, you will not make any sales.

Usually the owner or designer of the website is the person designated to drive traffic to the site. The chief ingredient in generating traffic is the search engine. Of coarse, you can use advertising, but it's going to cost you. Using the search engines to generate targeted (interested in your product) traffic is the least expensive method known.

Unfortunately, many website owners do not understand the importance of search engine visibility, which leads to traffic. They place more importance on producing a "pretty" website. Not that this is bad, but it is really secondary to search engine placement. Hopefully, the following list of common mistakes, made by many website owners, will help you generate more targeted traffic to your site...after all, isn't that what you want.

1. Not using keywords effectively.

This is probably one of the most critical area of site design. Choose the right keywords and potential customers will find your site. Use the wrong ones and your site will see little, if any, traffic.

2. Repeating the same keywords.

When you use the same keywords over and over again (called keyword stacking) the search engines may downgrade (or skip) the page or site.

3. Robbing pages from other websites.

How many times have you heard or read that "this is the Internet and it's ok" to steal icons and text from websites to use on your site. Don't do it. Its one thing to learn from others who have been there and another to outright copy their work. The search engines are very smart and usually detect page duplication. They may even prevent you from ever being listed by them.

4. Using keywords that are not related to your website.

Many unethical website owners try to gain search engine visibility by using keywords that have nothing at all to do with their website. They place unrelated keywords in a page (such as "sex", the name of a known celebrity, the hot search topic of the day, etc.) inside a meta tag for a page. The keyword doesn't have anything to do with the page topic. However, since the keyword is popular, they think this will boost their visibility. This technique is considered spam by the search engines and may cause the page (or sometimes the whole site) to be removed from the search engine listing.

5. Keyword stuffing.

Somewhat like keyword stacking listed above, this means to assign multiple keywords to the description of a graphic or layer that appears on your website by using the "alt=" HTML parameter. If the search engines find that this text does not really describe the graphic or layer it will be considered spam.

6. Relying on hidden text.

You might be inclined to think that if you cannot see it, it doesn't hurt. Wrong.... Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them invisible. For example, some unethical designers my set the keywords to the same color as the background of the web page; thereby, making it invisible.

7. Relying on tiny text.

This is another version of the item above (relying on hidden text). Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them tiny. Setting the text size of the keywords so small that it can barely be seen does this.

8. Assuming all search engines are the same.

Many people assume that each search engine plays by the same rules. This is not so. Each has their own rule base and is subject to change anytime they so desire. Make it a point to learn what each major search engine requires for high visibility.

9. Using free web hosting.

Do not use free web hosting if you are really serious about increasing site traffic via search engine visibility. Many times the search engines will eliminate content from these free hosts.

10. Forgetting to check for missing web page elements.

Make sure to check every page in your website for completeness, like missing links, graphics, etc. There are sites on the web that will do this for free.

This is just a few of the methods and techniques that you should avoid. Do not give in to the temptation that these methods will work for you. They will do more harm than good for your website.

Not only will you spend weeks of wasted effort, you may have your site banned from the search engines forever. Invest a little time to learn the proper techniques for increasing search engine visibility and your net traffic will increase.

Jeff Casmer will help you setup your very own money making website today that's 100% ready to take orders and pull in MASSIVE PROFITS for you right now...GUARANTEED! Plus, you'll get your own pre-written ezine-in-a-box customized and setup for you absolutely free WITHIN 24 HOURS!! Get started immediately at: http://www.24hourwealth.com

---

The Latest Craze: Local Search, 7 Steps to Being #1 in Your Local Market

Anyone would agree that it is much easier to be... Read More

Google Sitemaps Explained - How To Use Google Sitemaps

Three Ways To Index Your Site With Google Sitemaps [Difficult,... Read More

7 Search Engine Optimization Mistakes and Solutions

To many websites, webmasters discover that major sources of website... Read More

Do It Yourself SEO

Internet surfers use search engines more than any other tool... Read More

Google WebSearch? & Google Adsense - Yahoo!

The makers of the world renowned search engine, Google, have... Read More

Search Engine Marketing: 20 Nitty-Gritty Strategies To Compel People To Link To Your Website

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know... Read More

Work With The Search Engines - Dont try to Outsmart the Search Engines

Contrary to the claims of high-priced SEO firms, optimizing your... Read More

Would You Like More PageRank?

The higher the PR of your site the higher will... Read More

Great Site Ranking in Google The Secrets Out

How many years did you register your domain name for?... Read More

Optimum SEO Keyword Density ? A Real-Life Case Study

So you've built your website, you know what keywords you... Read More

Fixed Point of Reference

According to author Frank Peretti, "A fixed point of reference... Read More

Why You Should NOT Submit Your Site On Search Engines

Before to answer to this question we have to know... Read More

What are the Benefits Of Submitting To Directories?

Increasing your web traffic and rank in search engines is... Read More

Whats with the Competition? Ever Heard of Cooperation?

I attended the SES Expo in San Jose, CA the... Read More

Google Page Rank Is Dead - Part III

HELP! My PR page rank is grey, call the development... Read More

Directories and Their Importance for Search Engine Rankings

About directories:A directory is simply a web site that contains... Read More

The Life Blood of Internet-Based Home Businesses...Search Engines

Anyone involved in an Internet-based home business will soon come... Read More

Search Engine Optimization SEO Made Easy

SEO is a never ending battle! So is SEO... Read More

Link Building Services

In today scenario when we talk about Search Engine Optimization,... Read More

SEO Deadly Sins - Mistakes That Hurt Web Page Ranking

The following are a list of mistakes can ensure that... Read More

Meta Tags - An Important Part of Every Web Page

Meta tags are an absolute must from a search engine... Read More

Being dumped by Google? Learn how to avoid becoming a victim next time around!

After Google latest update nicknamed "Florida", many webmasters discovered that... Read More

Boost Your Search Engine Ranking And Generate Free Traffic With Reciprocal Links

Reciprocal links are an important step in your overall plan... Read More

Search Engine Optimization and Web Site Usability

Build a Web site and the people will come.Ha! If... Read More

How To Get Number 1 Spot In Google, Every Time, Guaranteed

Woaah! Wait a minute. Before I exclusively reveal these insider... Read More

Content Is King

Over the past few years, there have been many debates... Read More

Goofy Mistakes that Hurt Your Search Engine Rankings

One thing is for sure, you don't want to spend... Read More

Googles Next Big Move

November 2003 might go down in history as the month... Read More

Search Engine Optimization - Enhancing Web Site Visibility

I've had several prospects and clients say to me "I... Read More

Why Top Search Engine Placements Never Move?

#1 question when it comes to web advertising is how... Read More

How to Increase Alexa Ranking of Your Website

Alexa toolbar also useful to Browse expired websites database. Many... Read More

The Sandbox Effect

What once many people thought they had a penalty, is... Read More

The Search Engine Optimization Secret that Everybody Ignores

Search engine optimization is a very critical task in the... Read More