Tripping SEO Traps
Author: Scott Lindsay

The contract arrived and read in part, "A keyword density of 10
percent in required." The writer who had originally agreed to
craft an article based on a keyword let out a low whistle as a
mental image of the finished product assaulted his good sense.

In a five hundred word article this would mean the keyword
would be used fifty times. That's not bad if the keyword is
'the', but for a product keyword or phrase this is called
'keyword stuffing'. The practice is not limited to online
content.

In the end, an article with a keyword density that high does
not connect well with readers. You may ask yourself why someone
would request an article like this. The answer is simple - the
belief that this approach helps them achieve higher rankings in
search engines. The truth is this article will eventually be
detected as spamming and will cause the overall site to be
penalized for the 'get rich quick' mentality that requested the
article.

Keyword stuffing is also a problem in Meta title information
and other descriptions. When you compromise the message of your
website to get visitors to your site, it is possible that your
site will not have anything relevant to say to your visitor
because it reads like a foreign language or broken record.

Perhaps it is a lack of patience, but there are many online
businesses that can't seem to wait for legitimate SEO
strategies to take effect. Many of these individuals will spend
hundreds of dollars with SEO firms that promise top ten
listings. What many of these 'businesses' do is find a search
term nobody is using (and may not even be related to your
product or service) and optimize your website through Meta
titles and other html language to ensure that an often bizarre
term comes up first in the search engines when that exact term
is used. If you're asking yourself how this helps, you have
just asked a very good question.

The old adage that there is "no such thing as a free lunch" is
true in site optimization strategies. The proper strengthening
of your site position takes time, instruction and a deference
to honorable SEO techniques that result in positive long-term
rankings. By taking this approach you will also find that your
site visitors will have the best opportunity to take your site,
products and services seriously.

Techniques like 'keyword stuffing' are generally a turn-off to
both search engines as well as visitors. In the end what use is
increased site traffic if you have little substance to sustain
the visit and maintain the long-term connection with potential
clients.


About The Author: Scott Lindsay is a web developer and
entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many
other web projects. HighPowerSites is the easiest
do-it-yourself website builder on the web. Get your own website
online in just 5 minutes with http://HighPowerSites.com at:
http://www.highpowersites.com