Google and other big search engines get updated all the time, so it can be really tough to stay ahead of the curve on SEO strategies. But there always will be a few things that you do not want to ever do in your SEO strategizing, if you want to stay in Google’s good graces. Read on to learn what they are!
- Forgetting to conduct your keyword research: The whole online thing is about keywords. Your website is only going to show up when you want if you have done the right keyword research. You should not post stuff that is just what you felt like writing today. It needs to be based on appropriate research. We like to use the free Adwords Keyword Research at Google, for example. You can use this free tool to find search queries that give enough returns to be of interest to you, but not so competitive that you can’t compete for high ranking.
- Designing a website that Google can’t index: Your site is indexed by spiders that look at your content and store it for display in search engines. If your site can’t be read by a spider, guess what? You won’t get indexed. You should be careful that your website does not depend too much on images, Flash, and Javascript. These things can provide awesome content for your visitors, but they can cause problems with indexing. Always have a text-only version of your site available for indexing purposes.
- Not updating your content: If you do not update your content on a regular basis, you will lose your ranking over time. Getting new site content adds more relevant keywords and will help you get more search-related website traffic. Google also has a new freshness policy for content, so the more updated your content, the better.
- Thinking too much about search engine spiders. SEO is key, but the people who come to your website matter the most of all. Any SEO work you do should not hurt your site content quality, or prevent people from wanting to come to your site to read or shop. You should follow standard SEO practices as much as possible, but always keep your actual visitors at the front of your mind. Make their experience on your website the most informative possible, and you will be rewarded by more satisfied customers, and more search engine traffic.