With all of the methods of web site promotion and web page marketing available, it is wise to know what not to do. There are tricks that many beginners may be tempted to try but shouldn't. Search engines and directories have gotten very smart with detection techniques these days and will severely penalize those who perpetrate fraud.

In the ?old days? it was easy to use these techniques. They still can be used but it is not recommended.

Invisible text, small text and unrelated Meta tags/keywords

Placing hundreds of keywords formatted in the color as the background. While visitors will not see it, search engines and directories will due to the fact that they don't ?see? background colors. This causes them to read the ?invisible text? as keywords which place the site higher in the rankings and results.

Yes, this is still possible to do, but if you are caught, your site or even you as a person, may be banned from that particular directory/engine. It just isn't worth the risk.

Another version of this is to use extremely small text that blends in with the background graphics of the page. It really isn't ?invisible? but is simply indistinguishable from the background. This carries the same penalty as invisible text; so again, it is not worth the risk.

One other common mistake made is the use of Meta tags or keywords that do not relate to the material on the site. As example, you know that adult related keywords are searched literally thousands of times each day. In the hopes of getting tons of visitors, you add these to your Meta tags or actually into the text of the page.

What really happens here is the visitors you receive from this are looking for something else unrelated to what you are trying to sell or promote. This is not a good thing to do since it correlates negatively to your visitor/click/conversion ratios.

The importance of a paid domain name:

When a visitor comes to your site, they are assessing you right from the start. As they browse through your products or services, they are looking at how the site is set up, the design and professionalism. One of the most important things is to use a paid domain name for your web site. Having http://www.xxxxxxx.freehostforever.com isn't as good as http://www.xxxxxx.com. The shorter address looks better, more professional and builds trust in your company.

Having a paid domain has other benefits as well. Paid hosting is cheap these days and is faster and more reliable than free hosting. It also lends some authority to your site and shows visitors that you are serious. This can be a deciding factor in whether or not they send their money to you. Another reason is that it is easier to get a domain name into a registry, directory or search engine. Getting listed is already a tough task to accomplish, so why make it any harder? It makes good business sense to use a paid host as a way to make that all important first impression on your visitors.

These are all small things that can mean a lot to you in terms of traffic, visitors and sales.