7 Huge, Yet Common SEO Mistakes
89It is easy to make mistakes when doing the SEO for a website. I've even caught myself making stupid mistakes here and there. That being said, it's important for web developers to know what some of the bad things to do are when it comes to SEO.
Sites with no mistakes stand a better chance against the big guys. Sites that have many backlinks, but have some problems in the markup can quickly climb in the search results when the SEO boo-boos are fixed. Luckily for webmasters, most of these mistakes are extremely easy to fix and can be completely fixed within minutes.
For those with search engines regularly crawling their sites, the changes can be made search engine-side almost instantly. Those with slightly lower crawl rates, will naturally have to wait longer, but the changes will have their benefits in time. I want to add that I have significantly edited this hub to reflect changes in SEO in recent years as metadata is definitely not as important as it once was.
Here are the most common SEO mistakes and how to solve them:
Mistake #1 Nothing to Read
The problem:
You have either filled an entire page up with nothing but images OR you are using development methods that aren't crawler friendly, for example a site that uses nothing but flash. The search engine has no text (or anything) to read.
You may have a well-written and keyword rich article that may be beautifully displayed in flash, but the search engines may not be able to read it. Therefore, you won't rank very well for your keyword rich article.
The solution:
Use more plain text on your website. Just because it is called plain text doesn't mean it has to look plain. There are some very beautifully designed sites that are easily readable by search engines. You don't have to sacrifice beauty so that the search engines can crawl your site.
Mistake #2 Nondescript URLs
The problem:
You might have a great webpage on your website with a keyword rich description on let's say strawberry cheesecake. You go in depth on your article about how wonderful and deliciously moist your cheesecake recipe is. Your URL, however just says www.somesortofsite.com/node61. Search engines place importance not only on the url, which should describe your site in some way, but also on the slug which, in this case, I've called node61.
The solution:
Get a url that describes your site. If you have a website on wedding music, try to get something like http://weddingmusic.com. If you write an article about Canon in D on your website, make sure the slug represents that somehow so that the url for the article will be something like http://weddingmusic.com/Canon_in_D. There are many ways to do this depending on the content management system you use. You can configure WordPress to automatically give you a descriptive slug based on the title of your article or you can also input your own slug.
Mistake #3 Using HTML Instead of CSS
The problem:
Everything on your site is HTML. You love HTML and can't get enough of it.
The solution:
If your site design is in HTML, you're committing a cardinal development sin. What year is this - 1997? Site design should be written in CSS. Why is this a problem? Search engines can have difficulty differentiating what is design and what is content if your site is written strictly in HTML.
Another difficulty faced by those whose sites aren't in CSS is painstaking process of making changes to a layout.
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Mistake #4 Missing Alt Tags
The problem:
No "alt tags" on your images.
The solution:
Add alt tags to each of your images. By doing this, you're giving search engines information about what's in the photo. You don't have to describe the entire picture, but at least put something descriptive there!
Everyone likes to know what's in a photo, even if they can't see it. Many people do not have the time to input alt tags for every single little icon or part of the design. It isn't really necessary to have alt tags on ALL images, just the important ones. The alt tag argument is becoming more and more controversial, but it doesn't hurt to add them and personally, I've noticed a difference since adding them.
Mistake #5 Meta Data Obsession
The problem:
You are spending too much time researching and finding the BEST information to use in your meta tags.
The solution:
Don't spend too much time doing this. While there are still a few search engines who rely on metadata, it is definitely not as important as it was in the past. It was so important in the past, that I even still have an article on nothing but meta data! Now, however, meta data means much less than it did in the past. I must confess that I DO still input information into those cute little metadata fields, but I do not spend nearly as much time on that as I used to. You shouldn't either. Get some quick tags and a nice little description in there and call it a day. Basically just set it and forget it.
Mistake #6 No Backlinks
The problem:
Your site has no back links.
The solution:
A site's on-page SEO really helps, but off-page SEO is what's going to bring it to the top. Web sites need back links. In fact, the most important part of SEO is back links. It's important to also put your keywords in your backlinks. It's important for backlinks to be natural... or at least appear natural, so webmasters must take care in not creating too many backlinks right away.
Too many backlinks in a short span of time looks fishy and sites have been penalized for this. Take it slow. Add a new backlink here and there. Taking it slow allows you a lot of space to dabble a little - to see what works and what doesn't without a major investment of time or money.
Quick Poll
Have you made any of these SEO mistakes?
See results without votingMistake #7 Bad Keywords
The problem:
You've picked a great keyword, but you have 50,387 back links and still don't rank for the keyword.
The solution:
You've picked some bad keywords. If you've already got a ton of backlinks and you wish to stay in your niche, you'll probably bring a lot more traffic in with *ahem* slightly less competitive keywords.
Every niche has those extremely competitive keywords, but those with a little creativity and research, you can come up with some good keywords - ones that people search for often, but is something for which your website can rank.
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Good simple and concise tips , I will put them into practice thanks !
Great post ! It's very useful to me ,thank you!
Good Hub, I must admit I'm guilty of #5 on several my sites.
These are great tips. Brief but straight to the point. A lot easier to remember. Thanks!
Thanks for tiips
Thanks for tiips
Melbel, Thanks so much for this Hub! I have a question about #1 - I had read elsewhere that one should list between 10 and 20 keyword metatags for each page, listing even possible misspellings of keywords. How can we know for certain which approach is best?
great information about seo.....
I totally agree with adding alt tags to images. Search engines cannot "see" your photo unless you add that tag to tell them what it is. It is even more important to use one of your keywords in the alt tag as well to help boost your rankings for that term.
I read an article from a company that did a study on titles that were being cut off by Google with … and those listings that had … in them received about 25% less clicks than ones that don’t. Not sure why, but be sure to stay within the 65 characters & you will have a better click through ratio.
good,it is very useful to me
Good information. I tried these tips on my site and now waiting to see the results. I will mention google feedback in your site soon.
As simple as it sounds, ALT tags will bring in some additional traffic. Very often pictures placed in hubs are ranked high in Google Images.
Excellent tips! I never knew about registering domains for more than a year helps out. Just curious though... how does almighty google know if you registered a domain for a year compared to two years?
great guidelines on # of keywords and title length; will start using that myself!
Hi,
Great Hub
Alt Tags are a controversial mather.
Some says that they are important for SEO.
Others says that dont make a diference to Google Positioning.
But ... i keep adding them and with the relevant keys
Interesting point on the expiration of the domain.
Very nice post....all great SEO tips for a beginner. And yes you need alittle of everything to have a powerful site!
Better check some of my sites... thanks for the tips!
VinceH, you will find that upon fixing the expiration date problem you will find yourself getting more traffic. It's a weird idea, I agree, but it does make sense and it does work.
If anyone has any questions, I'd be glad to answer them.
Hi melbel,
I have heard before about the registered expiration dates. But Matt Cutts has stated that it didn't matter. Do you think that Matt Cutts doesn't know all the details and just figured that it didn't.
It does make sense that this would be important. Have you tested this?
Mel, thanks for responding, your awesome! How can I contact you by email or any other form of communication?
Please email me or PM me on my profile.
Thank you for getting a hold of me. I will take a look at the powerpoint thing you sent me.
In mistake #1, you suggest that there should only be 10 keywords PER SITE. Everything i've read in the past suggest having each page keyword rich. Which is most productive for PR.?
I don't agree with the 10 keyword limit.
Just do a search, any search. View the source of any of the top results. Some have none, some have 10-20, but most have 20 or more keywords in the meta tags. And they are the top results in your search!
Good tips Melbel, but isn't the maximum length for meta description 160 characters? Correct me if i'm wrong.
These are really great tips!
Thanks. I would rather call it golden rules. God bless
Great info, especially about the backlinking
Great job.
Lot of talk here about the number of keywords to use in the tags. In my experience it does not matter at all. I have had no keywords, and different variations from one to twenty, same search engine placement for all variations. As far as Google goes, you can delete the meta keyword tag completely. All that Google cares about is the; #1 content, #2 title, and #3 description. The only reason I keep them at all is the smaller engines do use the keywords to a very small degree, and every little bit does help.
For those sites that use twenty keywords in their meta and are placing high in organic search, I guarantee you their placement is because of content and volume of traffic, not because they have a pile of keywords in the meta.
Bob
Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips... will try to implement them in the future.
Wow, these were some great tips melbel. Especially the CSS one, I had no idea about that!! I do have to look out for a solution to that.
I had no idea about the domain expiry thing, so thanks for the info on that.
This is a question actually.
Hello Melbel... Your hubs have so much information! Great job! The problem for me is that I don't know what half the terminology is yet! I read your "7 Huge, Yet Common SEO Mistakes" and I am curious about the #1 topic, too much info. In there you mention keywords and also meta keywords. Are they the same thing?
You also talk about your "site" would that be the same as our hubs? I'm using the adword keyword tool and putting anything on my hubs with 10,000+ monthly searches. On some hubs it's 20+ keywords. Should I limit them all down to 10?
Sorry if I sound like such a Simple Simon when it comes to this stuff...I just came here to write and there is sooo much to learn!
Thank you so much for your help! Dana =)
Vert good and relavent Post. I too have done many of these mistakes and learned the hard way. I still am not much into keywords still.
Sitebuilding and coding is easy. SEO, now that's tough. Great advice, although I have not seen that great a hit lately for 1yr domains. I have heard the same, but i have a few domains I renew a year at a time that are doing well for thier keywords. Rule #6 Backlinks is definitely the big one - my opinion is that it trumps the rest, but in this highly competitve environment - each and every one of your rules should be taken into account into your SEO plan.
Good tips, though the use of meta keyword restrictions is old now.
Great Hub. Really informative
Favicons are the usual mistakes that I see when I review a site for a client. Without a favicon they're missing out on branding their name.
Agreed! Branding is an important part of marketing a website. While branding has little to do with SEO, it has a ton to do with web marketing!
#4 especially is an important tip. You don't need to add alt tags for design elements, but anything with a subject matter (photos, illustrations, etc.), should have tags so that Google can understand it. Perhaps more importantly, alt tags allow the visually impaired to experience the content through screen readers.
Also, you won't be penalized for leaving out the meta keywords tag; they were so abused most search engines now ignore them entirely. The meta description tag is useful, but mainly for the purpose of describing your site on the search engine results page, rather than for SEO directly.
Hi!... Useful info, written in simple terms.
Meta tag spamming, title tag spamming, css design, alt tags, domain age, high page rank links, long tail keywords...all are definitely the deciding key factors in SEO and the commercial success...
Valuable content nicely explained! Keep up the good work! -- Thanks
great post! nicely done. this is a very useful hub. it explains everything that people need to know when doing SEO.
Good article. Though the only search engine that still looks at meta keywords is Yahoo (even then they're not weighed very heavily) and as far as I know there's no real keyword limit.
I learned lots of SEO techniques by visiting OIT2P.
Wow, I have received an enormous number of comments regarding this article. I have made some major edits to this regarding meta data. Thank you for your comments and support! Keep it coming!
Backlinks are the most common many miss out on. Yes it's easy to build a site, but then marketing and promoting it is another task! It does take time, but we worth the effort in the long run. Nice article.
Great information
Hey, nice article!
For mistake number 3 though, Search engines automatically parse out the HTML code and just read the text and images as they appear to the user.
However, while CSS doesn't give much in SEO value, it can vastly improve page load times, improve ease of site editing, and allow you to do some pretty nifty things!
This is awesome. And I agree with thisisoli about the HTML/CSS thing.
I've linked to your hub from my new one. It's great. Thanks!
excellent article... Very useful tips, you really can't imagine that how much this article is useful for me.... All the 'best seo strategies' at a single place, Great work, really appreciate your work,
Thanks
useful information...We should also avoid using unwanted scripts and frames in the pages..to make it easy for the search engine spiders to crawl..
I have much to learn in this field. Thankfully, you have spelled things out in an interesting and easy to read way. Thank you for sharing some very important information.
Hi, Im new to the hubpages but Ive found there's some great information here. The SEO techniques explained here were done in simple terms and was easy explained. Cheers for this.
What a top list of information! I added to the process by linking to this hub when I wrote about SEO myself!
One thing I would disagree with though, "Site designs should be written in CSS".... I think if you take out the HTML you won't be able to read anything at all....
Came back again today for another look lol.
Hi Melbel, nice hub indeed. You give a lot of great tips that can help optimize websites & hubs better. The main thing I focus on are good keywords and never-ending targeted backlinks, and of course quality content is always KING!
I am revamping my website and you just provided the road map.
I don't fully understand the CSS verses HTML. Two of my companies that I manage use CMS - is the back end HTML or CSS - how can the owner of the website know?
very useful to me ,thank you!
Great hub. I found this blog seriously helpful since I'm a newbie on hubpages.
Great hub , thank you.
Nice tips, very helpful. Thanks!
These are very common mistakes indeed. When I first started I must have broken every single one at one point.
Oh, I know! The domain time one was a biggie for me. A lot of people dispute that one, but when I added more time to my domains, I shot up in the SERPs... I was pleasantly surprised to say the least!
Good Info
Nice good
Nice tips it could help us a lot. thanks
If you have made the decision to outsource your SEO, make sure you do your homework. One thing you should not do is shop only on price. Shop on ROI for your dollar, and shop on the agencies desire to understand your business and its marketing strategy, and their ability to tie the SEO back to that.
The biggest mistakes was using my last name when I started my web site well over a decade ago. It would have been better to use a domain with something meaningful to my business, like you said. But that's one thing I can't change now since starting from scratch is not an option. However, thanks to reading your Hub I found other mistakes that I can work at fixing. Thank you. I voted up and useful.
the bad keyword you mean is the keyword that with too many competition ? i do think keyword research is an important part when doing SEO
Yes. A particular keyword can be a bad choice for a number of reasons including choosing one with too much competition, one with not many searches, and for those going for AdSense income choosing one with a low ppc can also be a bad choice depending on a number of other factors.
getting back links is most important thing, but at the same time, its the most difficult task as well
I'm just in the process of creating my first website for myself and am trying to read all the advice I can find. Thanks for the great article, really nice bullet points. Especially since I see I've done pretty well. Haven't started on the back links yet though. And yes, this seems really hard!!
Good and informative post. Thanks a lot.
Great tips, I will head back to the office and work on it. Thanks.
Thanks for the tips.
nice good tips..
thank u
I like your SEO posts. I myself have an SEO team in the Philippines so always love reading things from other SEO people. Agree with everything you wrote.
Daniel
Im an SEO freak really or is that nerd!!. I have made many mistakes along the way but the beauty of this SEO stuff is its always evolving therefore I am always learning! Thats a win win for me I love it , great post Melbel cheers :)
Another great hub! This one is worth studying. Bookmarked, voted up and useful too.
Excellent post ....!!
Great article and some good tips. Keyword rich content on your site very important. Before writing your web content you should go through keyword research process and find the correct targetted keyword which everyone will type in to the search box when looking for information. Also make sure the contents are original and not copied from the internet or other sources. Thanks.
Amazing Article! Yes, SEO mistakes are very common but can you please suggest me some ways to rectify them?
Great tips here. Although I feel it depends on the type of site when considering how much content to put on it. For example, if you are optimising for an eCommerce site you seem to get away with having less content.
Thanks for the tips. I think most of us have done one or two.
Still a very good article, now 2 years after its published. I am still in the process of researching for some case studies I am doing, but will start the process in the next week or two hopefully!
Some great points there, another thing to list not integrating social media into your website. Wont directly affect your SEO, but does have a big impact on traffic.
I cannot dispute any of these. When it comes to SEO, detail is EVERYTHING
Good Hub, another big mistake when people start out doing seo is that they keyword stuff the article thinking it is doing them good. Great tips here.
Great hub Melbel! Excellent points! Sharing!
My bad! Mea culpa. This hub is perfect and of grest values.
Thanks for sharing MissO.
lord
Sigh. I still am working on understanding everything you mentioned in your hub. I put tags on my hubs but don't know what alt tags are. I don't exactly understand backlinks. I have a lot to learn yet. Thanks for the info!
OK, Melbel! I say that respectfully and with admiration, since I don't know half of that vocabulary, (well maybe most). I try to write green hubs that can be re-cycled as the learning process proceeds. I'm inspired. Thank you for introducing me to this hub MissOlive. And, thank you Melbel, immensely for an introduction to SEO.
I really enjoyed this hub, and I learned a lot. Thanks so much!
Great info, though I'm still lost on the whole "backlink" issue...gotta do some more research!
Great information Melbel, glad you shared Miss O! Voted up and useful!
Melbel, I try to add a description in the image and the video after I read one hub on hubpages. You have explained the common pitfalls very simply with a solution.
Thanks for this info.
Voted up.
Hello Melbel, My perception is that things change quickly in Internet world. Is this still the way we should be looking at our efforts to get pushed out? Are there new developments we should be aware of ? Well written.
Melbel, this is such a great training tool. I have a sincere question. When you talk backlinks, is that the same thing as a link embedded in the text of my content? In other words, I write a post on how to bake brownies and include a link to Duncan Hines' Brownie Recipes on their official website. Have I just added a backlink?
@Sinea Pies - Sort of. You'll be creating a back link for Duncan Hines. But, you'll want back links promoting YOUR stuff. So, lets say you want to get a backlink for one of your hubs and you create a personal blog. On that blog, you talk about why you really like brownies and then you talk about your favorite recipe, then you link to your Best Brownie Recipe hub on your blog post. By doing this, you will have created a back link for your brownie recipe hub.
When Google comes to your blog and sees a link to you brownie hub, they'll think, "Oh, someone linked to this brownie recipe hub. It must be important." And thus they'll rank you higher in the search engines. That's really it in a nutshell.
These days, I put less importance in backlinking and more importance in creating awesome content. If you create awesome content, people will come across it and share it on their blogs, websites, social networks, etc... thus creating back links without any extra work on your part.
If the idea of back linking scares you, then don't do it. As a fantastic writer, you're far better off spending your time creating fantastic hubs and letting the back links come in naturally. Of course, it's never a sin to see where people have created back links and help them along! :P
Awesome reply...thank you so much for taking the time. That's what I love about HP...everybody shares and cares.
Actually, I checked the PR of my profile page and was shocked to see it was 3 out of 10. That was a real surprise.
Now, to improve some of my less popular hubs and, like you say, write great content!
Definitely agree with you that useful content is the most important factor.
I would maybe add to the list of mistakes, paying someone else for a large quantity of backlinks. This is a very risky business that could lead to being banned from search engines.
Nice tips. But i heard that Google bots can now read text within flash as well. I don't know how far that is true. But, one thing which still works is backlinks. However, Google has gone tougher on its perception of quality backlinks.
Nice useful information here :) Voted up. Worth a read for anyone who dabbles in SEO!
using css despite of html attribute is only to reduce the html tags size, isn't it?
packerpack 3 years ago
Good tips given here. I really liked them. I too have written a series of Hubs on SEO. Have a look and let me know how did you find it.