| SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Most of | | | | 4. Overuse of images and flash animations/ having too |
| your quality traffic comes from search engines, | | | | many graphics on your page: While graphics and flash |
| therefore when building a website it is important to | | | | may be pleasing to the eyes, too many graphics won't |
| know the hints, tips and tricks that will give you better | | | | help you get a better ranking. In fact Google and other |
| placement in the search engines. Mistakes can actually | | | | search engines cannot read the content of an image. |
| hurt your site in the search engines without you even | | | | Flash only pages have no text; therefore there is |
| realizing it. I have come across a number of websites | | | | nothing for the search engines to read. |
| in which beginners not yet familiar with search engine | | | | 5. Not utilizing your Title Tag: Title Tags are really |
| optimization make the same common mistakes. | | | | important for search engines. A common mistake that I |
| Are you making these seven common mistakes too? | | | | see many new webmasters making is that they leave |
| 1. Irrelevant keywords: Many webmasters use | | | | the title tag empty or use irrelevant words. |
| irrelevant Keywords. Be sure to choose the right | | | | Your title tag is the first thing a search engine's spider |
| keywords that relate to your company. Be specific. | | | | sees on your page. You shouldn't put only your |
| Think about the words that web surfers will be typing | | | | company name in the title tag, but ad keywords about |
| to find your website. Inventory overture keyword | | | | your company. Use Inventory overture keyword |
| selector Tool is one of the best-known services for | | | | selector Tool to find related keywords. |
| helping you choose the right keywords. Use Inventory | | | | 6. No alt < img > attribute in tags: As I stated above, |
| overture keyword selector Tool to find what people | | | | search engines cannot spider images. Therefore the |
| are actually typing in to the search engines. | | | | alt image tag helps the search engines understand the |
| 2. No back links: Back links are extremely important to | | | | subject of the image. Be sure to include the alt |
| your website's rankings, therefore this should be one | | | | attribute with every image. |
| of your main priorities. The easiest way to get back | | | | 7. Bad anchor ext: Whatever you do, don't use "click |
| links is to ask for them. Visit sites related to your | | | | here" or other non-descriptive link text. I'm guilty of this |
| website and request a link exchange. | | | | one myself. Proper anchor text can help your ranking. |
| 3. Bad web design: Design mistakes can hurt your | | | | Your anchor text should describe the page that you're |
| website. A mistake that I found many new | | | | linking to. For example if you're linking to this article, your |
| webmasters making is they are not building their | | | | anchor text might read, "Seven Common SEO |
| website to ensure that it appears correctly at different | | | | Mistakes by Rose DesRochers" instead of "Click Here |
| screen resolutions. Your website will be the first | | | | to read this article." Anchor text is extremely important |
| impression and remember that first impressions are | | | | to your ranking. |
| everything. Can you afford to loose visitors because | | | | These are just a few of the most common mistakes |
| your website isn't viewing correctly on their monitor? I | | | | that you should avoid making. These SEO mistakes |
| for one use a screen resolution of 800 x 600. If you | | | | may be the main reason why your site is failing to rank |
| design your site to be viewable only by a screen | | | | well in the search engines. |
| resolution of 1024 x 768, I have an annoying horizontal | | | | Be sure to optimize your website for both search |
| scroll bar at the bottom of the page and I have to | | | | engines and people. Search engine optimization is hard |
| scroll horizontally, just to see the entire content of your | | | | work and an ongoing process. Invest a little time and |
| page. That right there is a turn off. There are many | | | | learn the proper techniques and not only will your |
| other web design mistakes, but we'll cover that in | | | | traffic come, but you'll increase your page rank. |
| another article. | | | | |