Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been the rave in the internet world. Every SEO company is looking for ways to beat the search engine algorithm and be on its first page for a particular term (or keyword). 
For someone with not much experience, Search Engine Optimization refers to the use of certain methods to “optimize” a particular webpage/website for a certain search term. Being optimized for a particular term (or keyword) means being placed at the top of the search engine results once that particular term is searched on the search engine. Kind of confusing, isn’t it?
As there are certain methods to follow in order to perfect your search engine rankings through search engine optimization efforts, there are also certain mistakes you should avoid. The following part of this article will give you tips and advice on some of the most common mistakes you should avoid.
1. Avoid buying links.
Purchasing links is still very popular nowadays. However, doing so can be counterproductive to your SEO efforts. Why is this so? Search engines are doing their very best to defeat this practice. The search engine giant, Google, has its own team in Asia whose main job is to detect purchased links and flag them. Buying links can be useful on the short term; however, due to the search engine’s efforts to counter this practice, it will likely prove to be harmful in the long run.
2. Avoid depending too much on keyword metatags.
Keyword metatags are no longer considered by Google when determining where to rank a website (some other search engines still use them). However, take note that a title metatag can be useful to your SEO efforts. In addition, you should still provide a description metatag because some search engines show it as a description of your website on search results.
3. Avoid placing keywords in invisible text.
Every SEO company should be wary of this. Stuffing keywords in invisible text can and will definitely get your site banned. It includes text that are obviously away from the user visible page and text that are in the same color as the website’s background. Search engines have a way of detecting these practices and will recognize you as a spammer.
4. Do not place too much importance on page rank.
Be knowledgeable of the fact that page rank is given decreased significance nowadays. Linking to a site with a high page rank with hopes of “leaking” the former’s page rank to your site is not a good SEO strategy. However, linking to pages with good quality relevant content will be of big help in optimizing your site.
5. Creating a Flash-based website
Implementing your website in Flash can be very pleasing to the eye. However, it is not of importance to the search engines. This is due to the fact that search engines love text and recognize websites through their “text” content. Flash based websites are difficult for search engines to index and thus hurt your chances at ranking well.
There you go! These tips will help you and your SEO company in your optimization efforts. Please keep these in mind in order to enhance your SEO strategy.
