Top 10 SEO Mistakes in 2013

Is Your SEO Company Competent?

Published on October 18, 2012 by: James H. Hobson

Search Engine Optimization, SEO, is as relevant and useful as ever. What you need to know is that the best SEO practices for 2013 will be substantially different than in 2012 or before. Search engine algorithms changed dramatically in 2012 and the older ways of SEO can now cause extreme ranking losses. It is vital for every business owner to know the Top 10 SEO Mistakes in 2013.

Who Does Your SEO Work?

The issue of who does your SEO work, and their level of expertise has never been more important than now. To cite an example, in 2012 Google sent almost 1,000,000 notices to website owners concerning bad SEO that was going to harm their rankings. These messages were sent to only website owners using Webmaster Tools, so obviously these types of problems are very widespread.

You need to learn how to evaluate your SEO provider to avoid search engine problems and confirm that only good, safe SEO work is being done on your website.

A Top 10 List of SEO Mistakes in 2013

There are far more than 10 items that can harm your SEO efforts. Many of these are very technical issues, and some have generally been out of practice for many years. Our top ten list includes issues that are common to do-it-yourself types and the average web design company or freelancer. Here are our Top 10 Bad SEO Practices:

• Ignoring Webmaster Tools: Google Webmaster Tools is a free product and an invaluable tool for helping you to manage your website in a Google friendly way. If your SEO company has failed to implement this for you they are not worth whatever you are paying them. Being able to affect page settings, verify your site on Google, and measure key performance metrics are very important. You need to be using Google Webmaster Tools.
• Chaotic Site Architecture: Many websites are created without adequate strategic site architecture planning. Your site should have a logical page flow (navigation). Top level pages should be more general with lower level pages providing more and specific details. Intrasite, page-to-page, linking should be limited to related content. A content silo methodology is often a very good strategy. In 2013 you should eliminate low quality pages (use 301's!) and add richer content.
• Using Low Quality Content: If your site has very little content, text that is more sales pitch than factual information, has spelling or grammar errors, or is poorly structured your site is going to suffer ranking losses. Your site should use well structured content that informs users. Use shorter statements and don't engage in keyword stuffing or blatant attempts to affect search engines.
• Using Duplicate Content: Under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act your site can be totally banned in search engines if you hav palgiarized content. Even innocent instances of duplicate content can cause multi-page ranking losses. An example of innocent duplicate content is very common on e-commerce sites. Iamgine every dealer of a product uses same product description provided by the manufacturer - this is duplicate content in the eyes of a search engine. Plagiarism was not committed but nonetheless the site gets penalized. You can visit Copyscape to see if your website pages have duplicate content issues.
• Keeping Sitewide Links: You should immediately eliminate sitewide links! Obviously this does not apply to your site navigation, although navigation link structure is another important aspect of SEO work. The types of sitewide links to drop are the redundant links often found in website footers or sidebars. Social media links may get a pass if you use them above the footer and the socail media pages are actively maintained.
• Long Page Load Times: Page load times have become another key factor in search engine algorithms. This matter is complicated by the need to load quickly on both desktop PC's and mobile devices. Eliminating Flash content, optimizing image files and streamlining code are easy ways to reduce page load times. Creating a mobile website design is strongly recommended because mobile use in many areas represents over 30% of searches.
• Bad Inbound Linking: Bad link building is perhaps the number one problem with ranking problems today. Link building needs to be very controlled and paced with an eye on domain diversity, link velocity and natural anchor text. Any SEO company using blog wheels, link farms, mass link building services and article spinning is on a path to extreme and perhaps permanent ranking losses. If your SEO provider is continuing to stress link building as a top tactic you need to drop them without delay!
• Too Many Outbound Links: Google looks at your outbound link quantity and evaluates the sites to which you link. You should not use Adsense on your site, link to affilliate programs or any type of spammy, low quality content sites. Any outbound links should go to only sites with definite value for your site visitor.
• Bad Page Titles and Descriptions: First, each page needs a unique page title and description. Your title tage should be 70 characters or less, and your description tag should be 150 characters or less. Keyword stuffing is an absolute no-no.
• Ignoring Social Media: Search engine algorithms now measure social signals when ranking websites. Social media has become a critical tool for brand development, content marketing and lead generation. Business owners who say "our customers are not on social media" are missing the big picture and lack proper understanding on SEO in 2013. At a minimum you need business pages on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. It is absolutely critical to create complete pages and integrate them into your online footprint.

The Benfefits of Better SEO

Improving on-page SEO will improve your search engine rankings. Higher rankings means more traffic. Improving your content improves user engagement and icrease on-page conversions. All of this means that applying new best SEO practices will improve your lead generation and branding. Inversely, allowing your website ranking to plummet will relegate your website to virtually an online brochure that few people will see.

SEO has changed and internet useage continues to climb. To improve your situation, make certain that you are not making mistakes in your SEO work, and get in touch with a SEO company to make your site ready for 2013.

SEO Trends Continue To Drive Professionalism

2013 SEO Best Practices Will Be Better Than Ever

Published on October 10, 2012 by: James H. Hobson

The 2012 algorithm changes have proven to be very effective in driving SEO best practices to more professinal levels. As we move into 2013 it is safe to say that effective SEO results will be the result of refined and more professional practices than ever before.

SEO 2012 vs SEO 2013

At the beginning of 2012 there was a plethora of websites that continued to hold high organic rankings that were achieved with spammy and black-hat techniques. By the end of the first quarter of 2012 Google implemented algorithm changes that forever obliterated vast areas of black-hat SEO. As Google continues to make algorithm changes it is important to rethink and rebuild your SEO structure.

2012 Google Algorithm Changes

In 2012 Google launched an initiative to improve search engine results pages by knocking out sites that have used black-hat SEO techniques. The 2012 algorithm changes included the bombshells known as Panda an Penguin, the DMCA penalty, link warnings and a number of lesser algorithm adjustments. These changes penalized sites that were deemd to be specifically involved in buying links, using link wheels, using plagiarized copy or content, and having low quality site content.

Transitioning To Better SEO

Sites that experienced profound ranking losses during 2012 will require significant hours to amend algorithm based problems and resolve manual actions taken by Google. For other sites, even those not affected by the 2012 changes, it is a good idea to make certain modifications as SEO preventative maintenance.

Changes we recommend are eliminating site-wide links, removing pages with low quality content, use htaccess 301 redirects for dead pages, create unique titles and descriptions for each page, minimize the number of outbound links, modify text content to avoid any signs of keyword stuffing, and update your XML sitemap. Pay attention to your link velocity, anchor text and diversity of domain sources.

Additional SEO tips are creating social media business pages and linking to them from your website, include some video content, and avoid using any "miracle SEO services". Certainly you should terminate any and all relationships with black-hat SEO people, and not use article spinning software or buy backlinks.

Vetting Your SEO Provider

To protect your site from algorithm driven ranking losses we recommend vetting your SEO provider. It is absolutely critical to know that your SEO company has a sound understanding of current best SEO practices, and knows how to make the changes that will keep your site in a competitive position. In all fairness, if your site has been negatively affected it may not be the fault of a prior SEO provider and not your current SEO provider. In this case, what matters is having an SEO company that can accurately assess the root causes and is capable of making the necessary corrective actions.

Branding Beats Spam

Google appreciates fair and legitimate marketing that builds branding and serves to inform potential customers. Spammy e-marketing techniques are the pathway to failure. Build your brand reputation with high quality content that informs buyers on features, benefits and factual data. Keep the sales pitch to a minumum.

As Google continues to improve their algorithms you will see significant improvements within the SEO industry. The poor SEO people may remain able to make a good sales pitch but their inability to achieve first page rankings for their clients will set them apart from the true SEO professionals.

SEO Company Baton Rouge

Local SEO and Organic SEO for Baton Rouge

Published on September 20, 2012 by: James H. Hobson

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the umbrella term for the various tasks and elements that can be leveraged to improve search engine rankings. SEO work can be done for organic rankings (main search results) and for local search listings. Unlike money spent on short life print advertising, SEO can have a lasting benefit that generates more sales.

While this article is written around Baton Rouge SEO, the information here is relevant to any city that has been experiencing rapid population growth.

Unique SEO Needs For Baton Rouge

Since the post-Katrina floods the population of Baton Rouge has skyrocketed. For a majority of businesses this means a substantial opportunity to serve more customers. This presents a combination of challenges and opportunities that Baton Rouge businesses have never experienced.

The geographical size of the city has greatly expanded. A majority of these potential customers are not necessarily close to your business. The new residents are not familiar with the established businesses in the area. The new residents outside of your immediate area are very likely to be searching online for what they need. If your business has strong, competitive search engine rankings you can engage these new potential customers all across the greater Baton Rouge area.

Local SEO

The term "local" refers to online listings such as a Google My Business, Bing Places for Business, and citation listings on local search oriented directory sites. Local listings are blended into the organic search results. If your business thrives on local customers then you need a strong local search presence.

Local SEO services are how to improve online visibility. To have high local search ranking you have to do much more than just "fill in your information". There are technical tricks and methodologies that are essential for improving the value and relevance of your local search business listings.

Organic SEO

The term "organic ranking" or "organic placement" refers to the websites shown in the main area of search engine results pages (SERP's). SEO best practices are continually evolving. Understanding how to rise in organic rankings and not get penalized by search engine algorithms requires knowing specific current requirements. Desperation can drive some to deliberately apply black-hat SEO to achieve high rankings, and some people innocently do harm to their site when attemping to optimize their site. SEO work, especially technical website optimization, must be done using only best practices.

SEO Best Practices

SEO best practices change often in order to compliment search engine algorithm changes. Buying books on SEO provide information that is probably at least one or more years old, thus outdated. Online forums and blogs may give poor quality information meaning that trusting advice online is not always a good idea. Because of the complexity of SEO in 2012 the best option is to hire a SEO company.

The on-page SEO items include:

• Create unique page titles, descriptions and keywords meta data. The use of a keywords tag is not necessarily used by all search engines but many high ranking sites still include this tag.

• Streamline your code and content to affect fast page load times. Ideally this would be under half a second.
• Do not use text copied from other online content. This will be viewed as "duplicate content" which is bad, and it is an illegal practice which can cause your site to be dropped from search results. You could be sued by the content owner under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).
• Always use "alt tags" and "title attributes" that contain accurate information, and do not use these for keyword stuffing.
• Remove site-wide links and utilize rel nofollow on outbound links.
• Use a logical heirarchy for structuring content, and strategically plan your linking.

The off-page SEO items include:

• Building backlinks from sites that are relevant to your business.
• Establish Google Authorship and use it.
• Create social media pages and link to them from your site.
• NOT using services that sell links,offer link wheels or blog networks.

SEO Prices and Timeframes

SEO prices vary depending upon the amount of work to be done. The level to which your competiton has optimized their site will largely influence the timeframe to get first page rankings can be a few months to several years. The good news is that if you hire a good SEO company you are almost assured of receiving a multifold ROI. It's important to implement SEO as quickly as possible to get the bottom line benefits and prevent losing business to competitors.