Tuesday, March 20, 2012<\/p>\n
\n To help you avoid common mistakes webmasters face with regard to search engine optimization (SEO), If you’re short on time, here’s the gist:<\/p>\n Good luck to everyone!<\/p>\n
\n I filmed a video outlining five common mistakes I’ve noticed in the SEO industry. Almost four
\n years ago, we also gathered information from all of you (our readers) about
\n your SEO recommendations<\/a> and
\n updated our related Help Center article<\/a>
\n given your feedback. Much of the same advice from 2008 still holds true today—here’s to
\n more years ahead building a great site!\n<\/p>\nAvoid these common mistakes<\/h2>\n
\n
\n knowing why it’s helpful to searchers (and better than the competition).\n <\/li>\n
\n aligned with your company’s overall objectives and the goals of other departments. For
\n example, in tandem with your work optimizing product pages (and the full user experience once
\n they come to your site), also contribute your expertise to your marketing team’s upcoming
\n campaign. So if your marketing team is launching new videos or a more interactive site, be
\n sure that searchers can find their content, too.\n <\/li>\n
\n features or best practices that could simplify development (for example, changing the
\n timestamp on an updated URL so it’s crawled more quickly instead of easily submitting the URL
\n through
\n Fetch as Googlebot<\/a>).\n <\/li>\n
\n boost your rankings and instead focus on the fundamental tasks\/efforts that will bring lasting
\n visitors.\n <\/li>\n
\n infrastructure and\/or processes make improving your site, or even testing possible
\n improvements, difficult.\n <\/li>\n<\/ol>\nSix fundamental SEO tips<\/h2>\n
\n
\n good way!\n <\/li>\n
\n What would they query to find you? Your name\/business name, location, products, etc., are
\n important. It’s also helpful to use the same terms in your site that your users might type
\n (for example, you might be a trained “flower designer” but most searchers might type
\n “florist”), and to answer the questions they might have (for example, store hours, product
\n specs, reviews). It helps to know your customers.\n <\/li>\n
\n descriptions; include Rich Snippets markup from
\n schema.org<\/a> where appropriate. Have
\n intuitive navigation and
\n good internal links<\/a>.\n <\/li>\n
\n email forwarding in Webmaster Tools<\/a><\/b>:
\n Help us communicate with you, especially when we notice
\n something awry<\/a> with
\n your site.\n <\/li>\n
\n compelling, interesting, entertaining, or surprising that you can offer or share with your
\n users. Provide a helpful service, tell fun stories, paint a vivid picture and users will share
\n and reshare your content.\n <\/li>\n
\n a social media presence (if that’s where a potential audience exists) or creating an ideal
\n mobile experience if your users are often on-the-go.\n <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n