10 Tips to Avoid the Biggest SEO Mistake

Keywords are the word or phrase that someone types into a search engine to find something they are looking for — like "buttermilk pancakes" or "cannon digital camera".When a searcher types in one of these phrases, a "search engine results page" (aka SERP) is returned with a list of Web sites that the search engine has decided best fits that phrase.So let's say you own a diner in Phoenix, AZ and you'd like anyone who searches for "buttermilk pancakes" to see your diner at the top of the results page.That sounds pretty good, right?In fact, choosing "buttermilk pancakes" as your keyword phrase could not only waste a lot of your resources, it could also cause problems for your business.Here's why.First — there is such a thing as too much traffic. How many phone calls do you need from someone in another state trying to place a delivery order or asking you'll mail them your pancake recipe? If your staff time get's maxed out by inquiries from people who won't ever do business with you, your staff won't have time or energy for the people who will.Second — you will have devoted valuable time and money on a top position for a keyword that may hurt your business rather than help it. Those resources could have been spent far more productively elsewhere.Unfortunately, many small businesses fall into the trap of choosing the keywords based on volume — thinking the ones that provide the most traffic will be the best investment. But what you really want is to focus on the keywords that will bring you the most business, even if they bring a small amount of traffic.So how do you do that?:

• Focus on "Buying" Phrases — as shoppers get more serious keywords get more specific like "buttermilk pancakes phoenix az ". Think of what people are searching for when they're ready to buy.
  
  Skip Generic Phrases - tire kickers love generic keywords. As in the example above, try to make your keyword phrases 3 words or longer.
  
  Iterations - try using what I call "iterations" like locations. "phoenix az" "arizona" etc.
  
  Is it soda or pop? — there may be more than one way to say the same thing. Webdesign Arizona uses Google's keyword suggestion tool to choose the most popular term and maximize your reach.
  
  Do a Search - for each keyword you're considering, make sure you actually look it up in the various engines. You'll glean really helpful data from this.
  
  Know your neighbors - know what kinds of results you'd be surrounded by. Ranking on some keywords can hurt your brand by association.
  
  Know your competition — your search competition — who is at the top of the list for the keywords you want, how big is their site and how well optimized is their site?
  
  
• List Length - for SEO the size of your list should depend on how much content you have to work with and how fierce your competition is. Start by looking at the keyword density of your competition as a target. For example 5% density means 5 repetitions for every 100 words. You can then figure out the potential size of your list by taking the keyword density you're aiming for vs. the number of words you have available per page and the number of pages on your site
• Product & Brand names — these can be highly valuable. If your customers know them, don't forget to optimize for them.
  
  
• Don't forget Misspellings — of brand names, product names, location names, your company name, names of prominent staff etc.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing a website to rank on your desired and relevant keywords and phrases. In addition to website content, there are many other practices that can enhance your websites ranking in the search engines. Be wary of any company that offers a guarantee about any particular ranking, as ultimately, the exact ranking is out of their control.

Webdesign Arizona offers a Search Engine Optimization package that includes a detailed report and expert web developers to address the following: