Search engine optimization techniques have been around for a while. Ever since Google gained enormous popularity over a decade ago, website owners have been scrambling to reach the top of the results pages. The exact algorithm has remained a secret but their experts have been known to provide tips and tricks from time to time. Clever testing protocols have also allowed SEO practitioners to learn more about how ranking works. Despite all these, many still commit mistakes when trying to optimize sites. These hurt their chances of getting a higher ranking or worse. Let’s look at these common errors below:
1. Keyword Stuffing
When people use search engines, the type words or phrases that are related to their topics of interest. Google parses them and tries to compile a list of the most relevant pages. Focusing on keywords is necessary if you are aiming to do well in the rankings. However, a lot of times the focus can turn into overkill. The keyword gets repeated on a page to the point of nausea. It should be emphasized that quantity of mentions is not all that matters. Too much of anything can be bad as the page will look like it’s spam and get discarded. Keep it below 2% density or thereabouts.
2. Irrelevant Links
One good way to increase page rank is to have multiple sites link to yours. This is considered as a good indicator of your status. Logically, a site that gets listed as a reference a million times must be more interesting than those that only get a handful of mentions. Again, however, this is not a pure game of numbers. Generating inbound links from questionable pages will not be helpful. The search spiders will take note of the content of the linking pages and check if they are actually related to the site being promoted. Relevance is desired. Spam sites will be useless.
3. Unoptimized URLS
Inexperienced bloggers and site owners may create a web presence without knowing the technicalities behind the content management systems. These systems usually generate the URLs in a random manner using alphanumeric characters. This is a missed opportunity since search engines look for keywords within the page address and puts more weight on it than most other elements. This can be remedied by using add-ons that automatically append the post title to the URL. It can also be set up in various ways depending on what the owner wishes to achieve. The point is not to leave it as a jumbled mess when more value can be squeezed from it.
4. Poor Quality Content
Another mistake commonly made in the world of SEO is to generate poor quality content. It has been repeated time and time again that content is king. This will not only help in terms of rankings but also in terms of visitor satisfaction. Getting a high position on Google is great if you want to attract first-time readers. Creating engaging content is necessary if you want them to return without any prodding. Make the posts useful and memorable enough that they would want to come back. The AI behind these search engines is also becoming more sophisticated. They are getting better at differentiating what’s good from bad.
5. Random File Names
Sometimes pages will contain various file types including images that enhance a post. These are visually appealing and often educational, as in the case of info-graphics. Just remember to make their file names and related meta tags as descriptive as possible. These might just make it to the top of the image search rankings which tends to be less crowded. Far too many people ignore this section of Google and miss out on a tremendous opportunity to be seen.
6. Global Keywords
The use of global keywords is another mistake that is so commonly made by businessmen. Few companies actually have the ability to rank high on generic keywords. Due to the stiff competition, the trend today is to go local and focus on the crowd that you are actually aiming to sell to. For instance, those who operate in Delaware should use the names of the state and surrounding cities in their keywords. This will help people to find them while searching for local businesses. It will also help them rank high on a more relevant phrase. Contact a Delaware SEO expert if you need help in doing this. They will use advanced search engine optimization tools to get great results.