subject: SEO mistakes that can really hurt you if you're not careful [print this page] SEO mistakes that can really hurt you if you're not careful
SEO seems simple on the surface but there are many things that you may be unaware of. If you are serious about getting tons of free targeted traffic to your site then you have to learn at least basic SEO. As an internet marketer, you must seriously consider getting high rankings so people can find your site when they do their searches. In fact, some marketers have become very wealthy by focusing on SEO as their main way of getting traffic to their landing pages. A good search engine optimizer is worth his weight in gold; both as an internet marketer and as a consultant. If you are new to SEO or have been taught wrong then this article will be a life savior because it teaches you what to avoid. For some reason, many internet marketers believe that SEO is a bag of tricks that is updated every month, in fact, it is the opposite.
Images can greatly enhance the look and feel of your site, but too many can actually damage it. Having a high number of images on your website will leave less room for search engine friendly content, which will lead to a lower ranking. The text that appears on images is not like the plain text you have on your pages. Search engines cannot read images, so any text on them is absolutely useless as far as SEO is concerned. Of course, some graphics are a good idea, so be sure you enter your niche's keywords within the ALT tags for each image displayed. Search engines are able to read your ALT attributes, so having your keywords in there can assist your ranking in the long run.
Keyword research is an integral step in any type of search engine marketing. The best SEO starts with good keyword research. The traffic you get isn't much targeted, which means it doesn't convert and give results. Your focus should be on keywords that are popular among searchers. Understanding how to do keyword research correctly will greatly increase your chance of success with SEO. Keywords are the foundation of SEO so make sure that it is a solid one. To assist you with your keyword research, several companies have keyword tools that you can use online for free to compile a keyword list for free.
Another SEO problem is choosing a bad title and description, as these can also affect your search engine rankings. Search engines will factor in the keywords and themes chosen in the title and description to try and calculate a ranking for your site overall. Search engines are no longer what they used to be a few years ago, which is why you need to give extra focus to these elements. All in all, when it comes to SEO, you should always be ethical. Some webmasters have no idea the damage the above mistakes can do to their website. Never needlessly include lots of keywords on your site as search engines will think you're spamming. Also, copying content will put your out of favor with readers as well as search engines. It doesn't matter if you're going to do it yourself or you're going to hire someone to do your SEO for you, only use the most ethical SEO methods.
