OUR PRODUCTS
: TIPS: SEARCH OPTIMIZATION, ADVERTISING
Top 10 Mistakes that Result in Low Search Rankings
Web-based businesses are focusing their efforts on the search engines, with good reason, because the majority of customers these days are not browsing, they are searching. The search engines are taking a customer’s desired keywords and providing the most relevant results it can find. Being a small or medium sized business owner, you want your site to be listed high and found for specific terms that most closely resemble your product. But what if you’re not on top and want to be? This article will outline the 10 most common mistakes made that often result in low or nonexistent search engine rankings.
10. Hosting Problems – Slow server.
With over four billion websites, and growing, the internet is a busy place. The search engines attempt to keep up, but in reality, have no time to be indexing them all. If your host server is a bit slow, the robot that indexes your website will start but may time out during the process. The best way to combat this problem is to just switch hosting companies. A slow server means a slow site, and that equals unhappy customers.
9. Hosting Problems – Free web space provider.
If you are currently using a free hosting provider, it is a good idea to make a change in the near future. Most importantly the URL of your website is essentially your brand name online. A customer needs to feel assured that your business is reputable and provides a quality service or product. Free domain names simply are too jumbled and unprofessional. Try paying for a URL and hosting that accurately reflects your business.
The other problem with free web space providers is that some search engines only index a certain number of pages per URL. If you and ten thousand other businesses are using the domain name www.sitexyz.com/yourbusiness, there is a good chance your site will not get indexed. Better yet, some search engines decide to leave out free hosted pages altogether because many of them are full of spam sites.
8. URL Contains Special Characters.
Choosing a good URL is the first major step in creating a successful website. Oftentimes web sites with special characters in their URL are just skipped by the search engine spiders. If your website is continually getting skipped there is no chance for you to show the search engines all the wonderful content contained on your site.
7. Poor Optimization – Hidden text in the background of pages.
A few years ago it used to be fairly standard for websites to include hidden, keyword-rich text in the background of their pages. The goal was to match the text color to the background color so the search engines would read all of these great keywords, and a customer would not have to see the mess. However, search engines no longer pay attention to text that is hidden, and many sites have actually been penalized by search engines for employing such tactics. Instead of trying to trick a search engine spider, it is best just to make each page on your site rich in keyword density the right way.
6. Poor Optimization – Overused keywords.
There is a fine line between not using enough keywords on your website and using too many keywords. If you are on either end of the spectrum you are not going to achieve the high search engine rankings that you are looking for. Search engines view sites with excessively high keyword density as spam sites. This includes overusing keywords on the page or in the meta tags. There is no established keyword density that works best; the best way is to read the page aloud. Does it sound natural of forced? If you feel like maybe some of the text on your website is forced, then try using an alternate word instead of the same term over and over again.
5. Poor Optimization – Using the wrong keywords
Choosing the right keywords can often be a tricky process. There are so many terms and combinations of terms out there, which ones fit my business the best? Put yourself in the place of a customer: if you were trying to find your product/service, what would you type into a search engine? This is different than words you use to describe your company. This is where many businesses lose focus. Pick words that accurately reflect your corporate identity. For example, instead of plastering “Mike’s Bikes” all over your site, try using terms like: custom motorcycles, fast bikes, or motorcycle dealer. Choose more general keywords that are likely to fit a customer’s search criteria. Include geographic qualifying terms, like “Sacramento motorcycle dealer,” because many people are searching for businesses in their local area these days.
4. Low link popularity.
There are several factors that contribute to how powerful the search engines perceive your website. One of the most important factors is link popularity, or how many incoming links to your website there are. Other relevant sites linking to yours let the search engines know that your site is credible and provides valuable information. A common solution to this problem is to join a reciprocal link partnership to increase the number of links pointing to your site. However, this tactic is being discounted by search engines. They are looking for similar websites pointing to yours with a relevant anchor tag on the link. If you have a furniture store, for instance, a link from a site about laser eye surgery will not be helpful. The more powerful the website that is pointing to you, the more credit the link gets in the eyes of the search engines.
3. Content Problems – Don’t Use Frames.
This concept is fairly simple, when using frames on your website, search engines are unable to read the text within the frame. This creates a sizeable problem because the search engines are not able to understand what the focus of your web pages are, and do not pick up any of your valuable content. It is best to avoid frames altogether. There are many ways to design a site so it functions like you want it, but is also attractive to search engine spiders.
2. Content Problems – Site has too little text
Sometimes simple is better than fancy. This is especially true when it comes to search engine spiders reading the content of your site. They are able to read the text that is on each page of your website, but do not take into account any images or styling (text size is a factor). Search engines also can’t see the text on a graphic, can’t follow navigation menus done in Javascript, nor do they do well with flash. For this reason a fancy site that relies on Flash and a lot of images may look nice but in reality is worthless in terms of search. Nothing takes the place of quality text content throughout your website. Images are still encouraged because they add to the aesthetic quality that many customers are looking for, but make sure to label each picture in the alt tags, and use plenty of text on the rest of the page. Your web designer needs to work with an SEO expert to create a super site both for humans and search engines.
1. Patience is a Virtue.
If you have gotten all the way through the first nine tips and are still having problems, maybe giving the search engines a little time will help. The amount of time it takes for a search engine to show your site in the rankings can take up to a full year and depends on factors like the history of your site’s URL, new links pointing your way, and content updates. A brand new website must sit for a few months while the search engines verify the credibility of the site. With so many new websites being launched everyday, many spam, the search engines must carefully choose which ones offer valuable content before placing them in their search results.
Hopefully these tips can help propel you into the search engine rankings sooner rather than later. The most important thing to keep in mind is to not try and trick the search engines because they will eventually catch on and penalize your website, an event your business can not afford! The impact of high search rankings on traffic to your site and bringing potential customers, is enormous. With the rules of each search engine changing on a daily basis, it may be a good idea to employ a professional to handle the content and search engine optimization of your business’s website.