subject: SEO Mistakes that Can Hurt Your Rankings [print this page] When you create your site's content, don't make the mistake of overusing certain keywords. It's important to maintain the keyword density of your content and keep it down to 4% to 5%. If you want the search engines to rank your site well, you should avoid using your keywords too often, as this can lower your site's ranking and value. Make sure that your keywords are targeted to the topic of your website. The search engines look at your keywords using something known as Lateral Semantic Indexing, or LSI, and your best strategy in regard to this is to not reuse the same words over and over, but use synonyms instead.
Keyword stuffing your content is a crime in SEO and you could be sentenced for it by the search engines. You have to use the right keywords and use them the right number of times. Your content and keywords should always be relevant and high quality. Finally, don't forget about the main keyword you are targeting, and this should always be highly relevant. This is how you achieve high rankings that you will be able to hold onto.
There are many times when you think you're doing right in SEO, but in actuality you're doing the wrong. This usually happens when you don't understand or follow the guidelines set by the search engines. There are specific rules that need to adhered to before you can get high rankings, not paying attention to them can be harmful to you. The majority of the unethical SEO routines go against these norms and that is not the right way. Aim to work within the rules of the search engines and get a relationship with them instead of going against their rules, because you are obviously not going to win against them. There is nothing evil about making up new SEO strategies but you should not risk your website and its reputation when doing so.
It is a mistake to leave your images without ALT tags, don't make it. Include ALT tags on all of the images on your site as the search engines think this is important. The primary reason for using these tags is so that while an image is still loading, your visitors will be able to tell what it is about. However, it could assist you with your search engine outcomes. Be certain that the keywords you put in the ALT tags are acceptable to be read by both search engines and human readers. To summarize, as you move forward you will find a lot more SEO mistakes, the ones talked about are just the tip of the iceberg.