Search engine optimization is a strategy that is necessary for any startup or established business. You want to get your site to rank high in the search engines so you’ll be able to reap the benefits of free traffic headed directly to your website. If you don’t pay attention to this strategy, it will cost you.

Mistakes can be made at any time but knowing in advance is half the battle won. There will be lots of time for trial and error to see what is working and what isn’t but there are certain common mistakes we all can make that will ruin our SEO strategy. Here is a list of what you should avoid:

Stuffing Keywords

Going back years ago the more keywords you had on a site, the better the search rankings would be. In today’s times, Google’s formula is much more complex due to people trying to find the easy way around the formula. Stuffing keywords into a supposed article used to be the thing to do but it generally let visitors with mumbo jumbo that made no sense. Point blank – the only way to create strategic material is to provide readers with quality content that is valuable and relevant to the information that is being sought.

Faux Keywords

You might have found some keywords that have little competition and can drive substantial traffic to your site but have not much relevance to what you site is really about. For example, any trending topic that is huge at the moment can be worked into your website content but if it doesn’t directly relate, it will not increase your chance of sales. The only increase you will see is the amount of people leaving and not coming back.

Valueless Content

In addition to avoiding fake keywords in your content, you also want to be sure you are not providing low-quality content of any kind on your site. If you are just writing words to add content, you are going to lose out. You need to create quality articles that prove your credibility and improve your reputation. People come to websites to learn solutions to their problems so you need to provide the information they are seeking out. Consistent writing and content will bring return visitors and increase sales.

Not Using Your Title Tag Correctly

Your title tag is what tells the search engine what your webpage is about and it will appear in the search engine results for your website and in the top of the browser of each visitor once they reach your site. You want to be sure you include title tag and include your best keywords. Resist the urge to put a welcome-type message as the title tag. Your goal is to define the best keywords and use them in your title tag in 70 characters or less.

Ditch the Redirects

When a search engine has indexed a page they want to ensure the visitors who have been referred there will see the same thing they saw upon first visit. But many sites will create two versions of one site. The first will have all of the stuff search engines want to see. The second one is for visitors and have a lot of flash but nothing of relevance for visitors. Using a bait-and-switch tactic will only hurt your site and subsequently your profits. Plus, you risk the occurrence of complaints being filed against your site. Fraudulent activity as this can get your site permanently booted from the search engines. What good would that do for your business? Absolutely nothing good can come of it so keep your site on the up-and-up.