5 Most Common Search Engine Optimization Mistakes

original photo by Chazwags

Every website owner’s dream is to get to the first page of Google's search results.

That’s neither easy nor fast, but the good news is that there are simple guidelines that will help you increase your chances.

Here are the common mistakes that most jewelry website owners make, but you won’t.

1. Not Using Page Titles Properly

Please, do not make it just 'My Home Page' or 'My Jewelry Store' or simply putting your company name there. Remember that the page title must have relevant keywords to the content of the page and at the same time should be human readable, because it will be shown in the search engine results. It really is worth your time. You need to make it a headline, a pitch, a shortest possible ad for that page. Every page should have its own title and it should clearly state what that page is about.

2. Trying To Cheat

There are many ways to cheat. For instance, you might add a hundred of terms into the “keywords meta tag”. I am sorry to disappoint you, but it will not do the magic. Yes, there was a 'loophole' long ago, but it is gone for good. When adding keywords, aim to be relevant to what you present on the page. Do not repeat the same terms several times - it won't help. Try not to use the same terms in the title and in the keywords, instead of that - use synonyms.

Another way to cheat on search engines is to use hidden (not visible) content which regular visitors do not see, but Google does. Well, again, it may have worked for some time, but it doesn’t any more.

Once and for all - don't cheat. If Google catch that - your site may be banned and you will lose all the time you have spent. There are many legitimate ways to win Google's favor.

3. Having Invalid HTML Code

Use free W3C Markup Validation Service to make sure that all your pages have valid code. If you have errors in your HTML, your site will have lower rank on search engines, will be slow to render and may appear incorrectly in some browsers. Double check even when your webmaster is sure that everything is fine and grade your website.

4. Link Trading

Every inbound link is a vote that your site is important. The rule seems to be simple: more links pointing to your site – the better your search engine rank will be. There are some complications though:

• Links should have your keywords. For example, I would use “How to Sell Jewelry Online” instead of http://howtoselljewelryonline.com
• You want to have links from relevant websites. There is no sense in having a link from autoparts.com. It is not about jewelry, nor does it have a good rank itself. Instead you would want a link from something like NationalJewelerNetwork.com which is a popular site with a strong search engine rank.
• Two-way linking does not work like it used to. Google seems to consider that as a link exchange and not as a real vote. That is why I do not require a link back when you submit your website to handcrafted jewelry directory. Most valuable links to your site are one-way links.

5. No Balance Between Text And Graphics

Yes, quality photos are critical to your success in selling jewelry online. At the same time search engines can’t see how wonderful your jewelry designs are. So, first you need to make sure that you have enough text, so that Google will be able to index your site properly. Secondarily, be aware that once Google sends you a visitor, you have about 10 seconds on average to get his/her interest and in that case it’s true that a good picture is worth a thousand words. Finding the right mix of both is the key to your jewelry website’s success.

Search engine optimization is an important step in every online marketing plan. You can get paid traffic using an online advertisement program, but if your site appears at the top of the first page of Google's search results that can bring you more customers that you can handle. Now imagine, how would you enjoy having that?