Keyword Optimization -
An Important First Step!

By : Greg Chernoff

Now that you have the keywords or keyword phrases for your web pages, another common mistake is to repeat it over and over. The search engines have gotten sophisticated enough to know if you are trying to spam them by using the same keywords in a row, or creating a bulk of keywords with no real purpose within your sites design.

Hidden text is placing search engine keywords on your web page the same color as the background. Visitors can not see the text, but the search engine can read it. If the search engine spider detects the use of hidden text, they may ban your web page from ever being indexed in the future.

Search engine spiders read text. They don't care if your web site looks pretty. Another common mistake is lots of graphics. Sure it may impress your visitors but it won't help you achieve top search engine ranking. Using the ALT tag in your image tag helps, but does not replace good old quality text content. Search engine spiders give better search engine positioning for relevant keyword rich content on your web page.

Finally but definitely not the last search engine optimization error is the use of automatic submission tools. Many search engines, like Google, state in their guidelines for you not to use automated submission tools. There are only a handful of search engines, indexes and directories, that drive any real traffic to your web site. You should manually submit to each one to ensure the required information is accurately entered. Most automated submission tools will submit to over 5,000 search engines. Many of these search engines only harvest your email address and provide no real value for your business.

Now that you are aware of some of the most common mistake in search engine optimization, you can concentrate on the techniques that will help you achieve top search engine positioning without the risk of being penalized or banned.