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No matter how much energy and money you invest in your website, it is worth nothing if it
doesn’t get the necessary amount of traffic. In a perfect world, search engine crawlers
would be all over your website, reporting back information that puts you at the top
of the search page for relevant terms. In reality, however, there are certain elements
that stop them dead in their tracks. Here are a few of the most common SEO barriers
along with helpful tips for dealing with them. Not Knowing Your Rank. You should always,
always, always know where you stand. The only way to determine whether the following errors
are indeed the cause of your SEO woes is to know where you stand in various rankings both
before and after you make the necessary corrections. If these tips don’t do a lot for your website
ranking, then you should immediately identify and rectify the factor that is holding you
back. Server Errors. Many websites modify their
information and structure regularly. This is important for maintaining good SEO and
for gaining return customers, but it can lead to a sizeable number of pages returning server
errors. These are disastrous, especially if the error is in the 4xx or 5xx range of status
codes. You need to find these pages and either replace them with new material or 301 redirect
them to the desired page. There are several link checkers that will help you identify
these server errors so you can decide how to handle each one.
Duplicate Content. Most website administrators are sensitive to duplicate content in the
actual text on their site, but duplicate content in other areas can get you in just as much
trouble when it comes to search engine optimization. Look at areas such as title tags, meta tags,
product descriptions, and even URLs. Having a “default” page that is essentially a
duplicate of your home or other landing page can come up as a duplicate as well. It can
be difficult to completely eliminate all duplication, but this will improve your site ranking and
avoid getting your site flagged as a keyword stuffer. There are several tools, such as
Yahoo Site Explorer, that can help you identify and thus reduce duplicate content.
Not Having the Right Links. Why are your competitors ranking ahead of you in search engine results?
Often, this is not caused by anything within your site itself, but instead by links from
external sources. Identifying the places that are linking to your competitors and not to
you can help you solve this problem. It may take a little footwork (there are also tools
out there that make this easier), but it will be more than worth the effort. Having too
few links from external sources or even links from the wrong sources is one of the most
common SEO barriers. Password Protected Areas. Some types of websites
demand having “members only” or similar pages that are protected from general view.
However, it’s important to remember that these pages are protected from search engine
bots as well. Any keywords that are being used in these pages are essentially useless.
One solution is to make information accessible and to limit certain rights and services to
members, but this won’t work for everyone. If your site demands a user-protected model,
be sure your keywords are used in public areas as well.
Flash, AJAX, and Other Non-HTML Formats. Flash and AJAX both have their place; AJAX makes
websites feel more fun and interactive, while Flash is often the best way to create a fast-loading,
user-friendly site. However, both formats, and indeed most non-HTML formats, are difficult
for search engine crawlers to navigate and read. CSS may be a style to consider if you
want a full-featured user experience but also want to be ‘seen’ by the search engines.
Whatever method you choose to use, make sure your pages have ample HTML content for search
engines to pore through. Changing URLs. There are many good reasons
to change your URL, most of them related to marketing and branding. However, changing
your URL effectively means that you are starting from scratch with an entirely new website
in the eyes of search engines. You lose all of your equity and link value. If you absolutely
must change any URL on your website, use a permanent redirect to ensure that you don’t
lose visitors and ranking. This usually will result in taking some (but not all) of your
previous value. Choosing Quantity over Quality. Many website
owners and administrators, especially those with relatively new sites, are overeager to
get links to their site. They will buy them, trade for them, steal them if possible…
anything to get a link. However, links from most websites will not do anything for your
SEO; if anything, they may actually harm it! Quality links come from websites that are
both relevant and highly visited. Paying for links and other ‘black hat’ behavior will
only cost you in the end. Doing It Yourself. SEO is a complicated topic,
one that takes years to perfect. Hiring an SEO consultant or a web designer experienced
in the field is a must. It’s good to know the basics so you can maintain your professionally
designed website on a daily basis, but designing a site with good SEO requires a lot of detailed
work that most amateurs simply wouldn’t think of. In many cases, hiring a reasonably
priced consultant will pay for itself almost immediately.
Losing Patience. Unfortunately, there are no overnight solutions to SEO problems. Instead,
you must work diligently at your website, eliminate barriers, and add fresh, keyword-rich
content on a regular basis. If you are using the right strategies and avoiding SEO mistakes,
you should see a gradual improvement in your rating. However, you will probably not see
a sharp increase. It will take a while for search engine crawlers to see your changes
and reward you for them, so be patient throughout the SEO process.