Seo The Absolute No Nos

By Author: Mel Joelle
Total Articles: 4328
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From what we continue to see from new clients that seek your assistance, it is clear the old and bad habits die hard when it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Here the absolute DON'T'S OF SEO:

Keyword Stuffing - yes, some still resort to this. The most extreme is cramming invisible text (white text on a white background) loaded with keywords under the false notion that Google doesn't know what you are doing and that this will somehow make you more relevant than your competition. The important place for keywords are in the Title, the metadata, the anchor text and in the body, naturally, as part of the flow of well written, unique and engaging content material.
Keyword Over-Concentration - concentrating on the same keyword over and over again across all of the pages of the website vs. making each page unique to itself with keywords, tags, et al that reflect the relevant content of the page.
Link-Farms - tricks used to register many domains and somehow believing that linking to each other will generate relevance in the eyes of Google. Links are important, but they have to be RELEVANT ...
... NATURALLY OCCURRING as well.
Reciprocal Linking - Google sees little value here, particularly if the links involve irrelevant sites or pages that are just parking lots of links. On the other hand, if you can get a reciprocal link with an .edu site, this would be the exception; or a known authority in a relevant field with a strong website.
Duplicate Content - need I say more? Google is too smart for that. There are no shortcuts to getting consistently great results steady streams of highly relevant content for active indexing activities and syndication online.
Flash Introduction and Home Pages - this is a sure way to make your site invisible to the Search Engines.
Relying on Google alone - while Google is the proverbial 800 pound gorilla, Yahoo, Live, MSN, Ask need to be targeted as well. In addition, by syndicating content (articles) and Press Releases, you gain additional and valuable exposure. One of our clients got a major new client, not by find the website on Google, but by finding an article that discussed exactly what the new client was seeking.
Failing to Submit Site Maps - well constructed websites, generating great content need to continuously, either manually or dynamically, submit their sitemaps to the search engines. Many fail to do so either through carelessness, ignorance, or just plain forgetfulness.
Failing to Link within the Website - Internal Linking is very important to the search engines. It backs up the integrity of the site map and further clarifies the inter-relationship of the pages and the content of those pages.
Ignoring the Human Factor - SEO is not just about all of the geeky kinds of things discussed above actually, it only qualifies you to be on the playing field. Do all of the above and you will not likely see too much benefit in terms of page 1 rankings. CONTENT is often ignored as it is critical that your site is seen as active, engaging and interesting. Fresh, non-duplicate content must be syndicated so that readers across the web can see your material AND to create the most valuable highly relevant backlinks the #1 point-getter in the eyes of the search engines.
Not Blogging - this is a great source of new and fresh content. Start this immediately and get everyone in your organization to contribute to the blog.
Not Keeping Up - SEO and Internet Marketing are constantly evolving. There are a myriad of changes, adjustments, new approaches and trends that leaves those who just keep on doing what they've been doing in the dust. You can't just keep mowing the lawn sometimes you need to weed and feed, re-sod, et al.

I've written here about the do nots of SEO but if you read carefully, you also have a pretty good idea of what you really should do to optimize not only your website but also the business results of your online business strategy.
Click here to read the rest of SEO No Nos. If you enjoyed this article, you also might like our other stories about Internet Marketing.