FAQ: What are the ten major mistakes of SEO?

1. Not seeing the search from the user's perspective.
   In selling product A, the SEO often uses A as the keyword. Unless the product is branded well, however, the user knows nothing of A. As a general rule, you should use keyword phrases that relate to the problem, not the solution.
   
2. Not planning an objective SEO strategy.
   Static web sites are a thing of the past. Successful web sites take on-going work and are dynamic. They involve blogs, social networking, and are often built as content management systems so that they can adapt, grow, and be dynamic. This takes good conceptual design work from the start.
   
3. Not using the right keywords.
   This means using the keyword phrases you expect the user to use to find your site. They should have a minimum of competition and are phrases used often in searching to meet their need.
   
4. Not using link text correctly.
   On your text links, this means using a keyword phrase when you want them to link from your page instead of "click here".
   
5. Ignoring accessibility issues for physically challenged.
   A blind person, for example, might using a voicing device that speaks the words of the ALT tag of an image when you link from the page using the image. You need to use a good ALT tag for the image so that the user knows where he or she will be taken. Same thing on text links.
   
6. Designing for a high number of links to the site instead of looking for link-in quality.
   Design for a very minimum of out-going links and look for incoming links from quality sites. Quality sites often have high PageRank.
   
7. Building menu structures with JavaScript or Flash and not providing an alternative.
   Google cannot spider links well using JavaScript or Flash links. If you are choosing to use these, provide an alternative menu (perhaps at the bottom of the page) that has text or CSS links. A site map is another alternative, as it uses text links. Also avoid linking using dynamic links, which are often used with sites where the pages are served up from a database.
   
8. Not creating a site map.
   Use third-party tools to create a site map quickly and link to it from your home page with a text link. This helps the search engine find everything in your site and gives deep indexing.
   
9. Not creating strong content.
   The content should describe the benefits and call for action. It should also tell how your product or service differs from competitors.
   
10. Not tracking site statistics.
    You need constant feedback on how well the site is working: hit rates, visitor stats, which pages are active, etc. Be sure you can get this for your site.
    

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