How Lousy SEO Smothers Good Practices
Michael Murray
Online marketers may have the best of intentions with their
natural search engine optimization programs. Yet, they drop the
ball with their impatience and eagerness to try the latest
tricks and fads.
For example, you may know that choosing the right keywords and
blending them with the visible text is a critical step. Even if
you do this well you may still squelch your effort by going
overboard in other ways. Here are five areas where you should
tread lightly with SEO:
1. Long Page Titles
Stick with one, two or three search terms with 70 or so
characters as your cap. Don't make the mistake of cramming in a
ton of words here.
2. META Descriptions
Strive for 12-15 words. If you go over, it won't hurt. You will
counteract your other optimization efforts by creating a META
description monstrosity loaded with too many keywords.
3. Image Alt Tags
Don't have a field day with alt tags. Often, a web site has many
graphics and each could feature an alt tag. Stay away from the
temptation to keep repeating your keywords and search phrases in
the image source code.
4. Link Title Attribute
Desperate for any edge they can get, some online marketers have
discovered ways to pack too many keywords in the source code.
Yes, you can identify a link (the words appear when you hover
over the link), but what can you really expect to achieve by
filling up the link title attribute tag?
5. Domain, Folder and Page Names
Yes, including a keyword in a domain, folder name and page name
can help. But it can also look like spam to the search engines
and leave the wrong impression on visitors. Do you really want a
hideous URL with three hyphens in the domain name, several more
in the folder name and three others in the page name?
Your best bet is to stick with the basics - effective page
titles and META descriptions (and maybe a few keywords in the
keyword META tag). Besides that, focus on good content with
search terms spread throughout the page (with some keywords
linked to related content on the site). Finally, support these
efforts with a robust link building program (getting links to
your site from quality web sites).
Slow down. Pace yourself. And be careful what you read in the
forums and hear from your friends. Before you do anything off
the normal SEO path, you need to be very confident about your
choices and their implications.
If you go at a steady pace and test your rankings as you try
proven techniques, you'll increase your odds of success.
About the author:
Michael Murray is vice president of Fathom SEO, an Ohio-based search engine marketing
firm. He recently presented "SEO Overkill" at the national
Search Engine Strategies conference. Fathom SEO is a member of
the Better Business Bureau in Cleveland, SEMPO, SEO Consultants
and OSEOP. Visit our site for our SEO white papers and recent
SEO studies on the manufacturing a
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