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It is possible to learn from both good and bad examples. Usually I write about
what you "should" do to optimize your website, but now I will highlight some of
the things that you should "not" do when you prepare your web pages. This list
is not in any order of importance as all the points should be taken seriously if
you want your site to do well in the search engine queries for your main
keywords.
1. Using a "Splash Page".
I think you have seen sites where you go to the main page and all you see is a
beautiful picture with the two words of text saying "enter here." The picture is
beautiful, no doubt, but this is a disaster when it comes to search engine
optimization. Search engine robots are looking for text, but there is no text on
a "splash page." The main page of any website is the most important page, and it
has the best chance of being optimized. If you use it to place a pretty picture,
you are throwing away this chance. Search engines don't appreciate splash pages,
and many human users too are annoyed by having to click to finally view the
content. Avoid splash pages at all costs.
2. Putting Important Text, or even all the Text as an Image.
I have seen clever web designers produce a beautiful web page that has images
and text combined to look like a normal web page. However if you try to put your
cursor over the text and select it, you can't do it because there is no text.
The whole page has been rendered as a jpg or gif image. It looks good to the
viewer, but the search engine robot doesn't find any searchable text. Be careful
if you are using some automatic web design programs which turn text into images.
Also while it is quite extreme to turn an entire page into an image, you should
also avoid changing your important headlines into gif images.
3. Not Putting Title And Description Tags on Pages.
Have you ever visited a web page that showed the words "new page" in the line at
the top of the browser? The website owner forgot to put a title tag on the page.
The title tag, which is in the head section of the document and is put between
the items is treated by search engines as one of the most important indicators
about the content of a page. If you leave out the title tag or don't pay much
importance to what you put there, then you are wasting a good optimization
opportunity, as well as showing a sloppy kind of site construction.
Similarly, the description tag is often shown in search engine results pages as
the description of your site. If you make a compelling description, it helps
people to click through to your site. Ideally you want your site to be well
ranked, but a high ranking is not enough. You need people to click through once
they see your site's listing, and a good description can help you out.
4. Putting the Same Title and Description Tags on all the Pages.
Each of your pages is unique and has a special function, and you should let
search engines and users know about this by changing the title and description
tags to match the content on that particular page. It is not possible to
optimize one single page for many different search terms, but it is possible to
optimize each of the pages of your site for one or two important search phrases.
If you take the time to make unique title and description tags for each of your
pages, you can take advantage of this possibility and rank well for several
search terms.
5. Trying to get by with a "Brochure" Site.
If you want to be the top site in your particular field, then you have to
deserve it. The best way to deserve is to offer a good amount of quality
content. You cannot get by with just putting a few pages with general
descriptions about your company. For example, if you are selling electronic
items, then back up your offering with reviews and helpful information for the
consumers. This will make your site a valuable resource. Human visitors, and
search engines alike, will soon recognize you as an authoritative source of
information in your field.
6. Redesigning an Existing Site and having bad links.
Your old website may have looked bad, but it had traffic and search engines
indexed those pages and people are finding those pages based on the information
that the search engine robots compiled from them. If you redesign your site, and
completely toss out the old urls, without compensating for it, then you are
tossing away all the traffic you built up before, because search engines will be
sending people to pages that no longer exist.
There is a way to avoid this. If it is possible, stick to the same structure
that your old site had and retain the same link addresses for the new pages. If
this is not possible then the best thing to do is to make "permanent redirects."
For this you will have to make a .htaccess file a text file with instructions
on the functioning of the site . This file will tell search engines to
permanently redirect traffic from an old link to a new link. When this file is in
place if anyone types in the old url, he or she will be permanently redirected
to the new location. Similarly the search engines will soon change their
listings from the old links to the new links.
It is possible to learn from both good and bad examples. Usually I write about
what you "should" do to optimize your website, but now I will highlight some of
the things that you should "not" do when you prepare your web pages. This list
is not in any order of importance as all the points should be taken seriously if
you want your site to do well in the search engine queries for your main
keywords.
7. Not Using Local Keywords.
If you have just set up a web design business, don't think that you are going to
be able to get a first page listing for the term "web design" or "web designer."
The competition is too great and you are just starting out. But if you live in
Ohio then it is possible to get a good listing for "Web design, Ohio" So, put those geographical terms in your title tag, your
description tag and the text on your page. Wherever possible optimize your site
for local and regional keywords and you will stand a much better chance of being
found by people who need your products or services.
8. Trying to do "Branding" in the Title Tag.
Everyone likes to put the name of their company first and the title tags of most
sites reflects this. The first thing you see in the upper left hand corner of
the blue line at the top of the browser is the name of the company. But if no
one knows about your company, then no one is searching for your name. People are
searching for answers to their needs, not to find you! If you can, avoid the
temptation to put your company name as the first (and for search engines) and
most important word in your title tag. Rather, put the most important keyword
that people will use when searching for a site such as yours. You can do your
branding elsewhere on the page with your logo and supporting text but don't
try to do it in the title tag unless you are already quite famous.
9. Trying to Trick the Search Engines with Hidden Text, Cloaking or Doorway
Pages.
If you had to prioritize the list, then you guess this is the biggest mistake you
can make. Instead of putting energy into deceiving the search engines, you
should use the same enthusiasm and skill to construct web pages that offer solid
content to visitors. In the past people used to put hidden text, stuffed with
keywords using font coloring that matched a background, or construct doorway
pages or even pages with code that tried to deceive the search engines. These
methods don't work and can get you banned from search engine indices. If anyone
proposes to help you with "optimization" methods such as this, then you should
avoid it like a plague.
10. Linking to bad sites.
You can't get into trouble if a questionable or substandard site links to you,
but according to Google, you can be penalized if you link to what they call bad
neighborhoods. These are spam sites or other sites that have a bad reputation.
So, don't accept offers to link with any and all websites. Visit the proposed
link partner and see if the site is ranked, as opposed to being banned, and if
there are any other issues that might make it questionable. If you have doubt,
then don't.
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