Top 5 "Don'ts" For Search Engine Optimization

Website optimization can have a significant impact on your search engine rankings. However, there are common pitfalls of poor search engine optimization which can cause the very opposite to occur. Check out our top 5 tips on how NOT to approach website optimization.

SEO Don’t Tip 1. Don't just use the first keywords that spring to mind without checking their usefulness to Search Engine Optimization first.
Although you may think that "Mike's bikes" is the phrase you would like to see most often in your website because that is the name of your shop, the chances of anyone actually typing "mike's bikes" into a search engine are low. However if your keywords include "bmx bikes Glasgow" there is much more chance a search engine will find your optimized webpage. There are several keyword tools online to aid website optimization.

SEO Don’t Tip 2. Don't try cramming hundreds of keywords into your website's written content.
Rather than achieving good search engine optimization because you have many repetitions of the same word or phrase, this can very quickly result in the polar opposite of website optimization. The major search engines will recognise it as spam and drop you to the bottom of their list or ban you altogether. Your website will also be virtually unreadable to your customers so your attempts at website optimization will have been a waste of time.

SEO Don’t Tip 3. Don't hide repetitions of your keywords behind pictures, off-screen or by making the text the same colour as your background.
This will have the opposite effect of the website optimization you are trying to achieve. Search engine spiders will read your website as spam rather than as optimized and possibly blacklist you from their results. This is not an accepted method of ethical search engine optimization.

SEO Don’t Tip 4. Don't use large amounts of Flash or Javascript in your site.
Search engines prefer to read text and will look for that first. Employing good website optimization doesn't mean you can't have Flash or Javascript all, just that they are best limited to a small amount compared to text content to achieve maximum search engine optimization.

SEO Don’t Tip 5. Don't think that once you have given your site a search engine optimization overhaul, that's all you will ever have to do.
Website optimization is an ongoing process. Although major search engine optimization can be carried out over a short period of time, without regular updates and changes, your website will slip down the results pages again as search engines are drawn back to new content.