Cloaking:
Cloaking is a black hat search engine optimization technique in which the content presented to the search engine spider is different from that presented to the user’s browser. This is done by delivering content based on the IP address or the User-Agent HTTP header of the user requesting the page. When a user is identified as a search engine spider, a server-side script delivers a different version of the web page, one that contains content not present on the visible page. The purpose of cloaking is to deceive search engines so they display the page when it would not otherwise be displayed.
Broken Links/404 Errors:
From a search engine spider standpoint, when a broken link is found, that equates to a dead end. If the missing page returns a 404 error, the search engine will identify the page as non-existent and catalog the pages linking to it. If the page linking to the 404 error remains on this list for too long or has too many links to 404 errors, in all likelihood this would have a negative effect on the “Quality Score” of that page.
Keyword Stuffing:
Keyword stuffing is considered to be an unethical search engine optimization technique. Keyword stuffing occurs when a web page is loaded with keywords in the meta tags or the content. The repetition of words in meta tags may explain why many search engines no longer use these tags. Keyword stuffing had been used in the past to obtain maximum search engine ranking and visibility for particular phrases. This method is completely outdated and adds no value to rankings today.
Buying Links:
Paid links can land you in a lot of hot water with the search engines, so be smart about how you handle them. The types of link buys that Google has a distaste for are the links that are exchanged directly for cash. Modify your way of thinking just a little and there are a wide array of easy to obtain, high value links out there for you to get. The key to having a low risk profile is to make the link appear indirect.
Hidden Text:
Hiding text from the visitor is done in many different ways. Common techniques include creating text colored to blend with the background, CSS “Z” positioning that places text “behind” an image — and therefore out of view of the visitor — and CSS absolute positioning that positions text far from the page center. By 2005, many invisible text techniques were easily detected by major search engines. “Noscript” tags are another way to place hidden content within a page. Although this is a valid optimization method for displaying an alternative representation of scripted content, these tags may be abused, since search engines may index content that is invisible to most visitors.
Frequent Server Downtime:
When a website is offline the impact that it has on your SEO can be bigger than you think. If Google accesses your website while your website is down, Google could classify your site as being untrustworthy. The more often your site is offline, the more Google will think your site is not to be trusted, thus Google will position you lower in the listings.
Link Farms:
A link farm is any group of web sites that all link to every other site in the group. Although some link farms can be created by hand, most are created through automated programs and services. A link farm is a form of spamming the index of a search engine. Search engines recommend that webmasters request relevant links to their sites (conduct a link campaign), but avoid participating in link farms. According to Google, a site that participates in a link farm may have its search rankings penalized. Links from related sites carry more weight than those from irrelevant sites.
Excessive URL Parameters:
In truth, search engines don’t wish to crawl websites with too many parameters in the URL. Search engine software engineers have a considerable amount of search data. They recognize URL patterns that are potentially problematic, and content management systems often generate problematic URLs. Additionally, search engines limit the number of characters they’ll crawl in a URL. This is partially due to known problems in URL structures and partially to Web site usability.
Bad Linking Neighborhood:
Bad link neighborhoods, to search engines, are typically identified by spammy on-page ‘SEO‘ techniques and dubious backlink and interlink profiles. They also refer to the dreaded PPC sites: porn, pills and casinos. You do not want to link to these neighborhoods, because who you link to matters. By linking to them, your site can be grouped along with these less than desirable sites, which can in turn lower your rankings.
Optimizing for Too Many Keywords:
Keyword dilution is a very common SEO mistake. Each page of a website should target 1-3 keyword phrases max, and even less if the keyword phrases are extremely competitive. Targeting too many keywords on a page detracts from the overall topical relevance and reduces the importance of your REALLY important keywords.
Tags: broken links, Halloween, Hiddent Text, keywords, Search Engine Optimization, SEO Mistakes
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 12th, 2010 at 4:43 am and is filed under Search Engine Optimization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 12th, 2010 at 6:03 am
[...] Vertical Measures (blog) [...]
October 12th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Interesting link bait. What do these mistakes have to do with halloween?
October 12th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Thank you Michael for this great roundup of common mistakes. I would love to see a couple of these expanded into posts of their own to answer these questions:
1) What URL parameters are problematic? Do commonly used tracking parameters that contain ? or & fall into that category?
2) Re: bad neighborhoods: what about poker tips sites (no actual play), sites where you can play poker, apparently legitimate online pharmacies or sites that offer herbs or medicines but not prescription drugs? Which of those are acceptable and which are bad neighborhoods? (I ask this primarily in relation to approving comments in DoFollow, CommentLuv and KeywordLuv enabled blogs.)
3) If a site has PageRank is that any indication that it is or is not a ‘bad neighborhood”? Some sites are in a gray area such as John Sullivan’s blog named PotPolitics or sites that hae what I consider adult content (which even though it is now mainstream is still objectionable to those of us who remember when the types of behavior shown regularly during Prime Time Television would have once only been in a peep show).
I have this blog in my TwitterFeed to make sure I don’t miss reading and sharing your posts. Thanks for the tips and the answers you provide.
October 13th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Great questions! I will go ahead and respond to these for Michael…
1) I would have to refer you to the following post from Google Webmaster Central about URL Structure, but the short answer is yes. Even tracking/referral parameters can cause problems with indexing:
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=76329
2) The topic of a website doesn’t dictate whether or not it’s in a bad link neighborhood, the sites that it links out to does. If an instructional poker site (for example) doesn’t link out to any websites that engage in spammy techniques, I would say they’re fine, but do you really have time to analyze the backlinks for each site? Also, keep in mind that just because they don’t currently link to web spam doesn’t mean that they won’t in the future. My advice would be to avoid linking to sites related to gambling or drugs just to stay on the safe side due to their bad reputation. It’s better to stay away from situations of inferred guilt-by-association.
3) PageRank is not a reliable indicator of site quality, only a mathematical formula that assigns a numerical weight. PR is a litmus test at best, it’s always a good idea to actually view a site’s external links before making a determination about the company it keeps.
Thanks for the feedback!
October 13th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Great questions! I will go ahead and respond to these for Michael…
1) I would have to refer you to the following post from Google Webmaster Central about URL Structure, but the short answer is yes. Even tracking/referral parameters can cause problems with indexing:
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=76329
2) The topic of a website doesn’t dictate whether or not it’s in a bad link neighborhood, the sites that it links out to does. If an instructional poker site (for example) doesn’t link out to any websites that engage in spammy techniques, I would say they’re fine, but do you really have time to analyze the backlinks for each site? Also, keep in mind that just because they don’t currently link to web spam doesn’t mean that they won’t in the future. My advice would be to avoid linking to sites related to gambling or drugs just to stay on the safe side due to their bad reputation. It’s better to stay away from situations of inferred guilt-by-association.
3) PageRank is not a reliable indicator of site quality, only a mathematical formula that assigns a numerical weight. PR is a litmus test at best, it’s always a good idea to actually view a site’s external links before making a determination about the company it keeps.
Thanks for the feedback!
-Jason Hendricks
October 13th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
Top 10 Most Frightening Mistakes SEOs Will Make This Halloween | Vertical Measures…
Halloween is the time of year when people dress up as ghosts, ghouls, goblins and other malevolent creatures that patrol the streets in search of candy and a good scare or two. In the SEO world, terro……
October 14th, 2010 at 5:07 am
[...] on Thursday, 14 October 2010 02:05 Written by admin Thursday, 14 October 2010 02:05 Top 10 Most Frightening Mistakes SEOs Will Make This Halloween – Vertical Measures (blog) – verticalmeasures.com 10/12/2010 Impact Media (blog)Top 10 Most Frightening Mistakes SEOs [...]
October 16th, 2010 at 9:54 am
good information thanks.
October 17th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Thanks for telling us about SEO mistakes that are common. Buying links is going mainstream now. Hey, even the big guys are getting in.
October 6th, 2011 at 9:22 am
Valuable stuff. Someone in the string called for more detail. I got into keyword stuffing in a blog post earlier this week (also with a Halloween theme). http://feldmancreative.com/2011/10/copywriting-for-spiders-can-be-awfully-frightening/