A well optimised web site with corresponding rankings on search engines such as Google and Yahoo! is the holy grail of internet marketing. But how do you go about the process of search engine optimisation ? Regardless of whether or not you intend to optimise your own web site or appoint a specialist SEO agency to do the hard work for you, web optimisation is a road paved with pitfalls, false hope and plain lack of direction.

Making the task just a little bit easier, Top Position’s own SEO experts advise that sometimes what you do wrong is every bit as important as what you do right. Make sure your search engine optimisation gets off on the right foot (and stays on the straight and narrow) with our Top 7 SEO Sins…

1. Focusing on Search Engines, Not Users

Optimisation is the process your web site undergoes in order to help it achieve the best possible listings. The reason for hankering after a position one inclusion? To attract as many targeted visitors to the web site as possible. It’s therefore surprising how many of those same web sites forget about their human end user in the quest for search engine success.

Filling web pages with gibberish and cramming as many key phrases as possible into the on-page content may yield short term SEO results but is guaranteed to turn off human eyes looking for information on a particular product or service. Well-written content that features a logical sentence structure, correct grammar and sensible word order is much more likely to result in a sale and win over the search engine web bots at the same time.

2. Link Spamming

Link spamming sees the protagonist chasing after as many links as possible, often using spurious excuses to respond to forum questions and social media discussions in order to gather huge numbers of external links. While link spammers may be hoping to artificially inflate their search rankings, the reality is that the links gathered are of little relevant use and almost no commercial use. Search engines value links based on the authority of the sites they come from so using link spamming techniques to generate link backs actually devalues the authority of the target web site.

A much better policy is to use the time that would be spent harvesting non-relevant links from weak sources for directed link building. By focusing link building efforts on relevant sites with a good Google page rank, optimisation activities will also target the desired demographic, attracting interested parties rather than large numbers of non-targeted internet users.

3. Disregarding the Importance of Link Text

The anchor text of the link should be written as carefully as possible. Search engines such as Google can use anchor text as an indicator of the value of internal links (links from one page of the site to another page of the site) so they should be carefully written. Unimaginative anchor text such as ‘click here’ also does little to add value to the user experience.

4. Not Tracking Progress

It is impossible to assess just how effective search engine optimisation activity is if there is no record of the starting point. Tracking is an often forgotten stage of SEO with most thinking the best measure of progress is simply the appearance of keywords in the organic listings. Not so. The number of link backs, page rank of sites publishing the external links, keyword density and new search inclusions are all important metrics determining the success of the SEO strategy being used. A reliable and regular report detailing these factors can be used to decide on any necessary changes in direction – do more high page ranked sites need to be targeted for example? Is the site more visible for new search terms? Is on-page optimisation resulting in a better keyword density? If the answer is no to any of these questions, tracking facilities enable you to change direction and then asses the impact of new activity.

5. Choosing the Wrong Keywords

Some SEO companies propose guaranteed listings for obscure keywords, showing just how easy it is to generate page one rankings for terms with little competition. Keywords that involve product names and long, involved model numbers are of little use in a strategic search engine optimisation programme. Keywords chosen should reflect popular products and popular words and phrases to describe the industry operated in. A keyword such as ‘flat screen TV’ would be a good goal for an electronics company selling flat screen TVs while Sony Flat Screen AB 123356BBBB would not.

6. Overlooking Accessibility

Web site accessibility is a critical consideration, making your web site accessible to all users regardless of disability or visual impairment. The Disability Discrimination Act 2004 is an essential guideline for any UK based web site and must be factored in to any SEO plan. Making link text as descriptive as possible is a part of accessibility but goes much further – actions such as introducing relevant ALT and Title tags comply with WC3 guidelines and make the site more user friendly for the visually impaired.

7. Not Planning Your SEO Strategy

Planning an effective SEO campaign is very much like planning a journey. You need a destination in mind. One of the common mistakes made by newcomers to SEO is to be overtaken by enthusiasm and neglect to map out points of interest along the way. Rather than focusing on the end goal, set short term objectives that are signposts towards the elusive page one ranking. By focusing on individual keywords and laying out a strategy for improving visibility, time and resources are directed efficiently. A good SEO plan also makes charting progress a more fruitful exercise.