When it comes to SEO, the most mistakes are made by newcomers. This is because of the specialist nature of search engine optimisation. The world of SEO is constantly changing. Despite, or perhaps because of, the incredible amount of helpful information out there, the fundamentals of SEO can be hard for beginners to grasp.

The best way to avoid mistakes is, of course, to consult a professional. The value in an SEO firm’s service is just as much about experience as expertise. Most SEO pros have not only experienced the mistakes that newcomers make, but have also become attuned to the periodic changes in search engine behaviour. This ability to sense how a search engine will react to a site is of immense value when it comes to search engine optimisation. If you are interested in professional search engine optimisation, talk to our experts at SEO Consult. It is helpful, however, to have an idea of the areas you should avoid when optimising your site.

One of the tricky areas for big companies when it comes to optimising their website is due to a very little thing. We’re talking here about doorway pages. Doorway or gateway pages are definitely frowned on by the search engines when they’re used for SEO. When they’re used legitimately as a kind of foyer area to add distinction to a company’s site, they are okay. How do you tell the difference? It’s a fine line. As with many elements of SEO, the thing that matters is intent and if your doorway page is genuinely intended as an aesthetic touch you have a case to argue with the search engines. It is often easier, though, to leave gateway pages out.

There are a lot of misunderstandings about meta tags. They are a traditional element of SEO and yet many SEO experts seem to dismiss them. This is because meta tags have little direct impact on a site’s search engine ranking. They are still important, however. Users see the title and meta description tags in the search engine results pages. The search engines also make some use of these tags. As it takes very little time to add meta tags, most SEO companies still bother with them.

Another mistake most sites make on their first attempt at SEO is to do with keywords. No-one knows the magic keyword formula. This is because there isn’t one. Keywords are one of the many SEO elements that will be individual not only to your site, but to each page. Research is important when determining your keyword list, not just to draw up a list of keywords that you can use, but to determine the keywords you should use. In other words, you shouldn’t use every keyword possible. Many sites shove as many different keywords as they can onto their pages, in the hope that they’ll rank for at least one of them. Not only does this practice walk the line of keyword stuffing, it’s unattractive. Users will get swiftly bored of keyword-heavy content and go to another site.

Finally, while it’s a good idea to have control of domain names that are similar to your own, it is not a good idea to set up a site at each of them. Smart sites will redirect users from these similar domains, but it is a good idea to talk to your SEO consultant about how to use these domain names without creating mirror sites.

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