Every webmaster is interested in search engine optimization. It is a crucial aspect of any website, perhaps even more important than the web design itself. If you are struggling to put together a plan for SEO, there are thousands of resources online that can teach you how to optimize your website from beginning to end. However, the search engines have recently been changing algorithms and honing their methods to avoid scammers who take advantage of the existing search formulas. As a result, many websites have plummeted in rankings and some online businesses have completely crumbled. You can avoid this scenario by watching out for some common SEO mistakes. Avoid these common errors when you start optimizing your website.
First, make sure you use keywords correctly and avoid keyword stuffing. As you read information online about search engine optimization, you will see that you need to carefully choose keywords that will lead the right audience to your website. However, once you identify the keywords, you must use them correctly. Don’t overuse keywords in an attempt to simply attract search traffic. This leads to web content that sounds unnatural and the abnormally high keyword density will cause search engines to flag your site as suspicious and you will be penalized in search rankings. Instead, use keywords naturally throughout your content. Implement them in article titles, throughout the content where appropriate, and in metatags. Just make sure you never go beyond 5% density or you could pay the price.
Second, avoid paying for backlinks. Most SEO tutorials will instruct you to build as many backlinks as you can to give your site credibility and increase rankings. However, paying a stranger to create links is rarely a good idea. For one thing, these links are often placed on sites that are nothing but spam. As the sites eventually get flagged, those links out of the site will be penalized. The best way to create backlinks without penalties is through great content. If you have good, intriguing content, people will naturally link to you to share your information. There is no need to pay for backlinks if you are producing good content or have a great product.
Finally, avoid setting up a webpage and then leaving it alone. Instead, you should update your page on a regular basis. With recent search engine updates, it’s important to keep your website fresh to keep the search engine crawlers constantly visiting your site to index new content. This means you should try to incorporate a blog or some other method of publishing updated content on at least a weekly basis. This is also a great opportunity to expand your keyword usage naturally over time and even utilize some long tail keywords that were overlooked in your site’s main framework.
