Can somebody tell me here what is the most common SEO mistakes? [Archive]

Harold Mansfield

03-17-2011, 01:17 PM

Hi Guys! Can somebody tell me here what is the most common SEO mistakes?

Thanks.

Keyword Stuffing- Over use of multiple keywords in an effort to cover every possible search querie. It doesn't work and Google penalizes you for the effort.
Too broad, general keywords- Some people think it is better to throw a general net and see what you come up with. It isn't. It's better to use the correct bait to attract the specific fish that you are trying to catch.
Doing nothing - Pretty self explanatory.
Link building services- Can get your URL banned from Google and other search engines. Can cost you your affiliate or ad account. And link building services are nothing but spammers that attack comment sections, forums, and multi user sites to place your link.
Using the same keywords and description for every page in your site.- Every page isn't exactly alike, so they shouldn't have the same SEO information.
Misspellings, bad diction- You can't rank for anything if you can't spell or create proper sentence structure.

That's all I have for now.

greenoak

03-17-2011, 02:09 PM

thanks....thats very understandable....i think i could work on the different words for different pages....

vangogh

03-17-2011, 03:40 PM

Here's one. Posting overly generic questions on forums so you can get a signature link. Something you seem to be doing all over the web.

Steve B

03-17-2011, 04:33 PM

Thanks for leaving that in VG! It made me laugh.

I pretty much ignore a post that is someone's first and doesn't contain a genuine introduction with at least a few details.

greenoak

03-17-2011, 05:22 PM

good one vg!!! but it got a good post from eborg...nice and basic info...

billbenson

03-17-2011, 05:35 PM

Here's one. Posting overly generic questions on forums so you can get a signature link. Something you seem to be doing all over the web.

got a laugh out of that to.

And good post Harold

Harold Mansfield

03-17-2011, 05:55 PM

I wasn't even paying attention. Nice catch.

jamesray50

03-17-2011, 09:07 PM

Here's one. Posting overly generic questions on forums so you can get a signature link. Something you seem to be doing all over the web.

How did you know he was doing that all over the web?

vangogh

03-17-2011, 11:38 PM

I recognized the generic question as a typical ploy to get signature links so I did some searching. If you search on the username you'll see a variety of unrelating forums each with a single generic question posted by the same user.

CloptonCapital

03-24-2011, 11:48 PM

Well regardless of the poster not being legitimate its a good question. Linkbuilding services aren't necessarily bogus. I've used services to submit my sites to directories on my behalf, thats just outsourcing simple labor, and there are tried and true ways to build links. By the way, google is pretty much done with banning people, its all about penalizing now. About the only way to get deindexed is to distribute viruses.

vangogh

03-25-2011, 11:55 AM

Unfortunately many link building services aren't worth the cost of the service. They go after the lowest quality links which don't do as much to help as the services claim. Trying to get as many low quality links as possible is not the way to seo success for several reasons.

1. All search engines are working to improve their algorithms to reduce the effects of these kind of manipulative links. They've all clearly indicated the future is not in these kind of links.

2. Anything your competition can reproduce easily is not likely to help you much. If you can outsource to a link builder and generate thousands of links easily then so can I and everyone else. Whatever you might have gained no longer exists as the rest of us use the same service.

I'm not saying you should never hire someone to build links for you or that links aren't important. Just beware who you hire. Hiring cheap labor to build links usually results in cheap low quality links. Every so often an algorithm update comes around to reduce to 0 the benefit of those links. Google's recent Big Panda update is a recent example that removed link value for lots of sites, including article directories, which had been and probably still are a popular source for link building services.

Capitalist

03-30-2011, 09:36 AM

I'll add a mistake: giving up.

It's easy to put out a page and post 5 or 10 links. It's much more difficult to continue to follow through for the weeks it takes to get your page ranked where it needs to be to see consistent traffic.

vangogh

03-30-2011, 11:23 AM

That's a good one and also probably the single most common mistake people make. I think a lot of people see seo as a set it and forget it kind of thing or think if they haven't risen to #1 in their favored search result after a few weeks that seo is useless. It's just a subset of marketing. You don't place an ad in a local paper and become an instant millionaire.

SEO is ongoing. It never really ends, the same way marketing never really ends.

FidelityAccounting

04-30-2011, 01:04 PM

Take a look at stompernet.com they have a lot of info about this topic.

bmarcus

05-24-2011, 02:11 PM

Absolutely hysterical!! I should post some of the stuff I get on my blog and you guys will get a laugh. VG, you are one smart cookie!

I recognized the generic question as a typical ploy to get signature links so I did some searching. If you search on the username you'll see a variety of unrelating forums each with a single generic question posted by the same user.

vangogh

05-24-2011, 02:15 PM

After moderating forums for so many years you get a 6th sense about what is and isn't spam. I'm an admin for a webmaster forum in addition to running this place and that forum used to get so much spam. It gave me a lot of experience catching it here. Once you have a feeling someone might be spamming it's amazing what you can find with a little searching.

I've done a number of creative things to catch spammers. :)

tylerhutchinson

05-24-2011, 07:34 PM

Nice catch VG! I noticed this with a couple people in another forum I use.

vangogh

05-24-2011, 10:32 PM

I used to think they were just newbie questions, but after awhile you notice the person never responds to the post after others reply, but continues to create other threads with equally generic questions. A lot of catching spammers is simply learning to recognize their patterns. Once you start seeing them it becomes pretty easy to recognize new ones.

facility

06-09-2011, 11:30 AM

But it's not really a seo mistake I'd say. Maybe a mistake in forum behaviour but that won't hurt his seo.

vangogh

06-10-2011, 12:23 PM

I think it is for these reasons.

1. Wastes time on things that won't really help seo so it's an opportunity cost

2. Negatively affects branding. Google is certainly showing a preference for strong brands. Beyond that a poor brand means less people paying attention to your site leading to less links, etc.

3. Building links only to have them consistently removed is a signal to search engines that can carry beyond the individual link being removed.

4. Anger enough forum owners and some will probably start reporting your site to search engines as spam.

5. Spam enough forums and your profile information ends up being submitted to spam databases that could keep future legitimate links from appearing.

Did losing the one link here damage this person's seo? Probably not. But a consistent pattern of spamming forums could certainly impact seo in a negative way.

bizmultiplier

06-10-2011, 04:15 PM

LOL...that is too funny...lol..

Hulbert Lee

07-08-2011, 05:24 PM

Hi Guys! Can somebody tell me here what is the most common SEO mistakes?

Thanks.

A common SEO mistake is going into a market where there are not a lot of searches per month; this can be due to bad keyword research. Another common SEO mistake is waiting to craft a perfect plan before taking action. More often than not, the plan you set out from the beginning will be different from the one that will help you succeed in SEO.

vangogh

07-10-2011, 10:05 PM

Both good points about common mistakes people make.

waiting to craft a perfect plan before taking action.

The key word being perfect. A little planning is good. That's part of what keyword research is for after all. However trying to plan perfection is a waste of time. Like you said your plan will change over time. You simply aren't going to know everything before you start and quite honestly you never will. Things change including the plans for your business. It's definitely important to take action.

J from Michigan

07-11-2011, 08:10 PM

Once you start seeing them it becomes pretty easy to recognize new ones.

Definitely. And when you, as moderator, see an IP from Pakistan posing as someone from Kansas, talking like this...

Thank for very informative post. I agree the best way to create SEO is quality backlinks create.
It's time to hit the 'delete account' button. :D

vangogh

07-12-2011, 11:10 AM

Yep. That's one of the obvious signs and something I always check. :)

wildarm

07-20-2011, 11:02 PM

Double Post really hurt your site from seo, google will ban you from searches. Dont add iframe, web crawlers doesn't like iframes. Increase your text content at least 15% every page. Don't forget to assign headings ( H1 H2 H3 ). Add one picture every post with atrribute alt="title or keyword". Add keyword in the beginning your paragraph and in the end. Your Keyword must be 3% density every post. Bold/underline/italize your keywords etc.. then i forgot the rest :)

Doing Nothing is the biggest mistake. Act now!!! :cool:
Backlinks (inbound links is the foundation in SEO)

vangogh

07-21-2011, 02:09 AM

So much of what you just said is untrue.

1. Google won't ban you for duplicate content

2. There is no perfect amount of content on a page so increasing it by 15% makes no sense. Your content should always be written to provide the highest quality for the people who will consume it.

3. Add a picture to a page because it makes sense to add the picture, not for search engines. The alt text should describe the picture since that's what's read aloud to people who can't see the picture. Stuffing keywords into them is called spam. In fact the best thing for many images is to add the alt attribute, but leave the text blank.

4. There is no specific keyword density you should use. People who talk about keyword density only show they know little to nothing about seo.

Business Attorney

07-21-2011, 10:15 AM

Steve, I'm going to disagree on #3. I have a website for a hobby that gets a reasonable number of visitors from image searches. For some searches, particularly for tangible objects and celebrities, Google almost always shows the results of image searches on the first page of the results for a general search.

Let's say you have a golf blog and you write a post about a new Ping driver and include a photo of the new club. If you have no alt attribute or leave it blank, you are missing another opportunity to get found in the search. In fact, just like long tail keywords on pages, your website is more likely to turn up relatively high in a search if your alt text is something like "Ping G15 titanium driver" rather than "golf club" or "driver".

Leaving the text in the alt attribute blank may be fine if the image is just there to make the page visually more appealing to the reader and adds nothing of substance to the article. That is often the case when you are writing about concepts and ideas, such as design or SEO issues (or legal topics). But when the subject matter of the image is closely related to the article, I think ignoring the traffic that the image might bring to the page is short-sighted.

vangogh

07-21-2011, 10:59 AM

I disagreed with the post above mine, because I think the recommendation was to stuff keywords in the alt text. I don't think there's anything wrong with using keywords in the alt text however the point of the alt attribute is to provide text for anyone who can't see the images. First and foremost that should be the consideration for any text placed there.

You can definitely write something that describes the image and also uses a keyword. However first you should ask yourself does the image really need a description. Lots of images are background things like a gradient behind navigation. Those images should include the alt attribute, because it allows people with screen readers to skip past them and they should also be blank since describing it adds nothing to the content. Keep in mind who that text is for. It's not for search engines. It's mainly for people using screen readers and other assistive devices.

As far as the traffic how useful is it? Most people searching for images seem to be interested in the image only. They grab your image and leave. Is that everyone? No. And naturally it depends on the specifics of your page, site, the image, etc. However most indications point to that traffic not being so useful the majority of the time. I wouldn't discount it by default, but I also wouldn't assume it's useful traffic by default either.

My objection above is mainly about stuffing the alt text with keywords. That's spam. Use keywords if it makes sense in describing the image. More often than not you can easily describe with a keyword. Most importantly consider who the alt attribute is for. It's for real people who for whatever reason can't see your image.

I'm not disagreeing with anything you said. Just don't want to see people suddenly think the new seo magic formula is keyword stuffing alt text.

Business Attorney

07-21-2011, 12:46 PM

Steve, I agree with everything in your last post. I just thought that the previous post responding to the keyword stuffer didn't seem to leave room for the legitimate use of alt text in seo.

Also, your comment that most people searching for images seem to be interested only in grabbing the image is probably correct, but my point was that Google often shows a few results of an image search (and/or a video search) on the first page of the general search results. It is possible that an appropriate image with the right description may land on page 1 of the Google results for a general search, not just an image search. Someone who is not searching for images may find your page because of the image.

vangogh

07-21-2011, 01:15 PM

Fair point. Like I said I do agree with what you said. I'm pretty sure the post I responded to was just spam and so I probably leaned a little too far to combat that in my reply. There's definitely legitimate use of alt text in seo as long as you remember what that text is primarily meant for and use it appropriately.

With images and search what you're saying is also true. I think those would be examples of where the image and site topic are a good match. There are certainly times when someone clicking through on an image will be interested in your non image content. My fear is people see images, alt text, and seo in a sentence and they rush to stuff as many keywords as possible into the text and start filling up all pages with meaningless images just to please a search engine.

My bad if I implied you should never use images (or video) and having used them that you shouldn't optimize them for search engines. Both can be great additions to content for real people and for search engines. I just don't want people thinking this is the new magic formula since there are no magic formulas where seo is concerned. The irony of seo is that when you create content and build web pages the best way possible for real people your seo takes care of itself. Ultimately search engines are looking for quality content on an accessible site.

xuxuio

08-31-2011, 08:00 PM

I am wanting to start up a used auto parts website and wanted to learn about SEO, ranking, blogging, social media, back links or whatever else that I need to learn for google ranking etc...Can anybody recommend any books, classes or training? Although I feel i get the basic ideas..I would like to learn of any good resources to speed up my learning curve. Instead of hiring out I would rather learn it myself. Any ideas, suggestions, or direction would be most appreciated. I tried to read this thread but everyone is speaking so technical that it is hard to keep up. Thanks for anyone that cared to listen or help!

johnysumner

08-31-2011, 09:41 PM

Hi xuxuio. I don't have any particular books or website to point you to.
I would suggest you learn about the basics of Internet Marketing first. You can go to Ezine. There are a lot of articles there about internet marketing.
It's quite complicated specially when you are just starting everything from scratch.
You have to create your website first, a blog or e-commerce site. Then you have to market it using internet marketing techniques.

vangogh

09-01-2011, 01:16 AM

xuxuio I would start with the Beginner's Guide to SEO (http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo) from SEOmoz. I'd also subscribe to their blog and then start following links they point to. There really isn't any shortcut to learning seo. The best thing you can do is understand that there are no magic formulas and no perfect place to add a word or two on a web page. See it holistically as a subset of marketing.

If you continue to create new content, develop a site that makes it easy for search engines to find and understand your content, and promote your content you'll do ok. Mix in some keyword research so you know what people are searching for and set up some analytics to track what's happening you'll do even better.

Your understanding isn't going to come overnight, but keep at the learning. Visit SEO by the Sea (http://www.seobythesea.com), which is a great blog covering search patents and look in the right sidebar for the blogroll. It'll point to many great seo blogs. Pick a few and start reading some. Over time the technical stuff will make more sense and your knowledge will increase.

ThirdSEO

02-09-2012, 05:01 PM

Top 4 Mistakes:
1. Writing content for search engines, not the user making the search.
2. Believing SEO is a passive activity.
3. Giving up before you get started.
4. Making way too much money, I don't even know how to spend it.

One of these I totally lied about.

vangogh

02-10-2012, 01:07 AM

Hmm? Which one is the lie? Let me think. :)

I hope everyone pays attention to the other three.

I recently came across what I think is a good definition of seo. It's usability and accessibility as viewed through the eyes of a search engine spider. I'm probably paraphrasing a bit, but the general idea is the same.

Overflow Cafe

07-19-2019, 01:25 PM

A great amount of our clients believe that backlinks are the only thing to SEO when they are arguably not! Though they do play an important factor, having a million backlinks shouldn't be your main concern with SEO. Another thing that a countless amount of our clients try and rank for key words that don't even exist on their website.

mgandy

07-29-2019, 08:22 PM

Well the biggest mistake would not actually knowing how to do SEO and trying it on site that is your income maker. Many people read a couple of articles and watch a couple of youtube videos and all the sudden think they are digital marketing processionals. If you have the means to do so you should always do testing before implementing changes that could change search rankings.