Return to the Blog.

9 COMMON WEBSITE MISTAKES

1. Unfocused Content. If the Search Engines can't easily tell what your website is about, they will bury it too deep in the search results to be found by your Prospect. Focused, relevant content is the gold standard of the web. Relevance is measured by the percentage of keywords present and how they are distributed through a body of text. Don't fail to use your Prospect's keyword phrase and its variations throughout the main body of text - especially at the beginning. The algorithms will take note if you fail to mention your keywords frequently and early in the text. Concise, well-written content pays off by impressing the Search Engines and by better converting your Prospect.

2. Deceptive Content. Use keywords—but don’t overstuff the text with the same keyword phrases in an attempt to influence the algorithm. This is deceptive and you run the risk of an “over-optimization penalty” if you overdo it. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Good writing addresses the concerns of your Prospect directly, clearly, and naturally. Bad, repetitive writing can earn a penalty. The smartest algorithm (Google’s) not only expects to find the keyword phrase, but also looks for related phrases which it believes should share the page. Just communicate effectively to your Prospect and the Search Engines will do their best to get your message to the right people.

3. Buried Content. Don’t hide your good, relevant content deep in your website or the algorithm will conclude that you don’t really want your Prospect to see it. For example, if your Prospect is vitally concerned with “stone restoration,” don’t bury it at the bottom of a page on the more general subject of “masonry techniques”. A web page that is about something will always outperform a web page that tries to be about everything. If the subject is important to your Prospect, dedicate a page to it so that the Search Engines and Visitors can easily recognize your commitment to the topic. Don’t link your dedicated “stone restoration” page only from an obscure subpage or the algorithm will, again, conclude that you are hiding it because it is unimportant. Instead, link to this important page from every page on your website so that the Search Engines know that you mean it.

4. Invisible Content. Creative webmasters like to use web techniques such as flash, java, frames and image text, but use of these formats can render your message invisible to the Search Engines. The algorithms don’t penalize these formats, but the “spiders” (programs which visit your website to collect text), often can’t read them as well as they read HTML text. As a result, your complete message may not be available to the Search Engines. Work-arounds which offer duplicate content in HTML aren’t always effective and may trigger penalties if they seem deceptive. If in doubt, suggest that your webmaster stick with pure, natural HTML text. A beautiful, clever website that nobody sees will produce no qualified leads.

5. Inaccurate Keywords. If you don’t anticipate the exact keywords that your Prospects will enter into the Search Engine, it is unlikely that your website will turn up in their results. Over many years in business, you have no doubt learned to listen to the concerns of your Prospect. Your website needs to do this as well as you do. Use the words your Prospect naturally uses when first inquiring about your work, even if they aren’t technically correct. Be sure to research and incorporate possible alternates, plurals and even misspellings. If you work with dissimilar groups using different language for the same work (conservators and church trustees, for example), consider furnishing pages of dedicated content targeted to their respective concerns and keywords. Use what you already know about your Prospect to make sure that his or her web search leads to your website.

6. Improper Tags. Your good, relevant content will not rank well if it is not “tagged” according to the most current requirements of the algorithm. Besides the main body of text, content consists of an assortment of “tags”, well defined fragments of text distinguished by specific coding, placement or appearance. These include, but are not limited to, metatags, title tags, heading tags, alt tags, and link text. Over time, informal conventions have been established for their most effective use. Although the experts disagree on what exactly these conventions are, they do agree that tags must be used properly in order for your good, relevant content to be ranked fairly. (More about Tags in Section IV)

7. Bad Company. Your website can be penalized for outgoing links to a “bad neighborhood”, defined as any community of websites who link for the sole purpose of manipulating the algorithm and not because of related content. To avoid penalties or loss of ranking, avoid outgoing links for any purpose other than the convenience of your website Visitor. (More about Links in Section III)

8. Illegal Tricks. If a Search Engine decides that your website is cheating, it will penalize it. Even if the algorithm doesn’t catch you, they employ human investigators and informers (perhaps your competition) who probably will. If caught, expect no due process, even if your transgression was inadvertent. The safe course is not to use any suspect technique, ever. Don’t participate in linking schemes. Don’t hide or switch content on your Visitor using such well-worn techniques as same color backgrounds, tiny text, frames tags or page redirects. Don’t worry about what the competition is getting away with. If they choose to risk the penalties, that is ultimately to your advantage.

9. Inconsistent Effort. If you want your partnership with the Search Engines to continue to grow and flourish, don’t take them for granted. Theirs is a competitive business. They change their algorithms constantly in an unceasing effort to refer their Visitor to the best possible search results. In turn, they want your best. They will notice if you fail to update your content or if you have dead links. They expect your website to remain compliant with their current rules. Yesterday’s innovation can be considered a deceptive practice today. Monitor what they think of you. Don’t neglect to track your performance in their keyword search results and in your own web server statistics. The Search Engines like to favor old friends, but they need to be reminded that you still care.