subject: Is There Such a Thing as Over-Optimizing? [print this page] Is There Such a Thing as Over-Optimizing?
When you make your own website, you want it to be successful, which means attracting traffic, which means actually showing up on search engine results. As a savvy technophile, you're no doubt aware of that using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will help, but you're also concerned that you might run into problems if you over-optimize. As it turns out, you should be.
The Dangers of Over-Optimizing
1. The over-optimization penalty. Rumors have swirled around whether or not it actually exists, but there have been enough credible reports to suggest that it does. In short, if you attempt to over-optimize your own website (by, for example, stuffing superfluous keywords into your content), then search engines will automatically drop your website in the rankings: there are even tales told about Google's "950 penalty." Risking the loss of nine hundred and fifty ranks for your business website is foolish, and easily avoidable.
2. You annoy legitimate customers. Search engine results aren't what are paying your bills; customers are, especially if you're looking to create an online store. If you start keyword stuffing and duplicating pages, then your customers will notice, and unless they're fiends for SEO tactics, they're going to be turned off by it. If you've ever seen an article with ten percent keyword density, then you know how ridiculous it comes across. Make your own website free of such nonsense, and give your customers what they want: clean, easy-to-read content.
3. Using SEO as your only marketing strategy. Once you start, it's easy to fall down the rabbit hole of SEO, and before you know it, you'll be chasing page views instead of sales. SEO should be a part of your marketing strategy, but not the entire piecenot even the majority. Whether you decide to make your own website an ecommerce venture or a lead-based one, the best way to generate sales or leads is not through page views, but through knowing your customers and giving them what they want. All SEO does is get them through the door.
What to Avoid
1. Over-stuffing. Don't overuse keyword stuffing. If you prefer a conservative approach, make your own website's pages have less than 3 percent keyword density. If you're a little more of a risk-taker, you can go up to 7 percent. Ten percent density on any given web page is enough to guarantee negative consequences, whether it's turning off customers or getting socked with an over optimization penalty.
2. Bulking up your title tags. It's tempting to tweak your web page design to include more key words, but customers will see your title tags on search engine results pages, and they'll be less likely to click through if they think you're a spam website. Make your own website's title tags clean by only adding one or possibly two search terms.
3. Duplicate content. Not only is it a red flag for some search engine algorithyms, it's also annoying to customers. No one wants to click a link and wind up reading the same article (minus a few swapped out words) she just read.
4. Add backlinks slowly. Several search engines reward websites with a lot of backlinks; however, adding them too fast can put your website in danger of a penalty. You also want to make sure that your links relate to your site in some way.
By not getting too cute with your search engine optimization, you can keep the focus on where it should be: your customers. At the same time, you will make your own website stand out against the over-optimized crowd.
