However, what about the SEO pitfalls you should avoid?



I'm not talking about the various underhanded so called black hat SEO techniques but rather an innocent web development mistake that results in your website not getting indexed properly by the search engines.

Tale a look at many of the SEO forums and you will see many posts from frustrated website owners who can't understand why their site isn't being indexed.

It's easy to feel victimized and believe that the search engines have something against you and your site. Of course the truth is usually less sinister. They really want to index your site but they can't. It's usually something you've done that is stopping the spiders getting around your site and picking up all your pages. Chances are you don't realize that you've causes this problem.

The good news is that it's fixable. Your problem is most likely one of the ones listed below. So take heart and get ready to fix those SEO blunders.

SEO Blunder One: Using Frames

Frames were very popular at one time and they allowed different parts of your web page to be independently scrollable

Unfortunately the spiders really struggle to find there way around a website that is using frames. There are ways you can fix a frame website to allow them to crawl but my personal advice is to redesign your site without frames.

SEO Blunder Two: Using Flash

This is a very common question. Should I use Flash or not. Flash is popular because it looks really good. It gives a good impression to your visitors. It can look quite professional and can certainly have a "wow" factor.

However the problem with Flash is that the search engine spiders don't see it so none of your Flash content will get indexed. If you are using Flash for your menus then you have a real problem because the spiders can't follow the menus to the other pages.

I would suggest the following approach to Flash. Use it sparingly across your site where you really want to impress your visitors but make sure the pages you use it on are also rich in text content if you want them to get indexed and NEVER use Flash to build your menus.

SEO Blunder Three: Java Script

Java Script cannot be seen by the spiders so you have the same issues as you have with Flash. I actually use Java on my own site for the horizontal menu across the top of the page. That's for you, the human visitor. However to help the search engines crawl my site, I have a menu down the left of the page that is just plain hyperlink text.

So use Java if you want to but make sure you have a good text link structure that the search engine spiders can follow.

SEO Blunder Four: Broken Links

You would be amazed at how many sites have broken links and parts of the site are completely cut off from the spiders. It's important to check your site regularly for broken links. I have a few ways to check my site. One of my favorites is Xenu Link Sleuth. The software is free and does a great job at checking your site.