4 Costly Search Engine Mistakes You Must Avoid To ensure website Visibility & Ranking
Well its “Ask Julie” Motivational Friday again and I’ve been asked this Question several times. Fortunately I tackled it earlier and so am on a roll with search engine traffic…
As a Home Business Entrepreneur, I know it’s the pain most marketers need medicine to! Just recently a friend asked me whether if he used the right keywords in his blog and web pages; he would become a search engine rock-star! Would his website/content immediately rank on Google Page 1 and other major search engines? The answer is Not so fast brother…read on for more!
Of course, we all want traffic and in the beginning any type and amount of website traffic is better than no traffic at all…right! Well Wrong!
Even with the best of intentions and grand looking website, success could be so far it’s not even funny. If your site visitors are not targeted, and aren’t really looking to buy your products, service or info on offer, they will simply click & bounce…ouch! WHY?
You may ask…Well if you are a web-master i.e. own your website and create your content read on… If you are planning on using free web services, read on…If you simply want to use a company provided webpage and never want to brand You…this may not be for you!
We all want free quality Website Traffic and some of us want it so bad we commit some search engine mistakes that could be website hara-kiri.
If like we were in the beginning you are committing the following acts below, you need to Stop Today! Consider this your ole auntie Jules friendly word of caution to help your website rank better on search engines. Which in turn helps you to receive better site visitors…Sweet ole targeted organic traffic 
Below are some Search Engine mistakes you Must Avoid at all costs!
1. Keep a look out for missing web page elements – Double check every page on your website to ensure it is complete, makes sense, and the links are related and work properly. You don’t want links that lead to “404 land” missing links do the same. Graphics should work properly and be well tagged to maximize your search engine optimization aka SEO not downgrade it! Find people or websites that can do this for you for free, they are out there!
2. If you can afford it, Purchase a domain, as opposed to using free web hosting – it’s almost impossible to have control of your website if you use free hosting services like Weebly, Wix , WP.com, blogger, or even generic company hosted webpages!
Although some are absolutely amazing, you are not the only user, you have no control of your content or how it might rank in future! You can’t manage your keywords, tags, etc. and well the search engine ranking is determined by the web host, which may not be a bad thing!
All the above depend on the Host of the website and their agenda! Many times your content doesn’t rank at all. Typing your name or blog post topic in its entirety and see only your articles on Google or other search engine Page 1 is self delusion…Sorry!
So please if you can afford it, do not use free web hosting esp. if you are committed to building your personal Brand. And increasing your site traffic via search engine ranking and visibility. Most search engines simply ignore or eliminate content from free hosts, sad but true!
Like we’ve said before, purchase a domain for pennies from GoDaddy. I Recommend using another hosting service. We use And Recommend HostGator, you could try Bluehost…GoDady has a very slow server and could slow your site down, affecting your search engine ranking. Pick the one that most suits your wallet!
3. Keyword stuffing – a total search engine optimization no no. I must say we were guilty of this in the beginning; after all we believed the more keywords and related words we could stuff in one article the faster we would rank! NOPE…the opposite could happen!
Jamie Talentino wrote an article packed with more technical common search engine Mistakes to avoid! If you know about keyword stacking, stuffing has the same effect i.e. when you use the same keywords over and over again the search engines just might downgrade and/or skip the page or site.
If you know html code, it’s like assigning multiple keywords to a description of a graphic or layer that appears on your website by using the “alt=” HTML parameter. If any search engine finds that the text doesn’t describe the graphic or layer they consider that spam!
So be vigilant and integral, you want to last long and enjoy some great organic traffic, under uncle Google’s benevolent eye! Keyword research for your niche market to optimize your content is a must but don’t go overboard by stuffing!
4. Why would one Use keywords Un-related to your content Or website? – Well some people do! This is similar to #3 above, but different in that, a lot of either new and ignorant or simply unethical website owners try to gain search engine ranking by using keywords that have nothing whatsoever to do with their content or website.
For instance use of keywords that are “trending” in the hope of gaining fast visibility, or “Hot” words Or even known trending Celebrities names by placing them in a page, inside a meta tag of a page. Usually such keywords have nothing to do with the subject or brand!
But because it’s a popular keyword, some people mistakenly think it will help boost their website popularity as well! Tut tut…! Be warned that this is considered unsavoury and spamming by Google and any other search engine and Could lead to your website being unlisted!
And there lies the danger, No listing, no traffic, No customers, No sales…death knell to your website and brand. Like scrunching up a work of art and throwing it in the bin! Do you want to start from scratch again…all the hard work down the drain? Same with using back-link farms… a No No that could lead to long term website death. You cant fool search engines for long! Don’t do it!
The Takeaway here is – One of the most critical parts of content creation and website design is Choice of the right Keywords for search engine optimization. The right keywords = increasing site visitors to your content and the wrong ones mean NO Traffic…simples. 
Okay we know there are lots and lots of things to keep in mind as a blogger, webmaster, content marketer etc. The above are just a word of caution to help you keep on the straight and narrow!
You could have the best looking website with bells and whistles, the above mistakes could cost you weeks/months/years of hard work! So do it properly, hire a good SEO professional to do it for you from the get go, if you really aren’t techie savvy. This could cost but you will see an increase in hungry, targeted, interested visitors and fans to your site i.e. search engine Site Visibility and Ranking! That’s the sauce of organic traffic= Sales!
So did you get value from this post on “Costly Mistakes for Search Engine Optimization?” If you did, do me a favour, Like, Share and drop some comment love below. God things a coming 🙂
Lets Go build the Best Brands ever:
P.S. The Secret Affiliate Roadmap is perfect for you if you’re New to network Marketing and are looking for a system to focus your energies, generate leads and build a List AND make sales. If you have a new bricks and mortar business and are ready to take it online. OR if you’ve been in business for awhile and need a “list-building checkup”. It’s always a smart idea to make sure you are getting the right training you need, to keep that list growing.
You of course deserve more
Julie Syl Kalungi
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This is something that I have trouble with so thank you for all the great tips. I’m going to work on some of the costly mistakes I have made and I’ll be following your blog for more help. Thanks again
you are most welcome Linda 🙂
Julie and Paul,
It was an outstanding article on Seo and always get great content with the videos and how to rank in blog. It’s thr keywords and the outgoing links are important as well. Thanks for the Great Article.
Lori English
Hi Lori,
We are so glad you got value and We do our very best to Make sure we put out Actionable value too. No fluff.
Keep rocking too 🙂
~Paul
Great tips Julie. I am really absorbing information from yours and other blog posts as I am new to blogging and right out of the gate want to do this properly. I get something from your site everytime I visit and that I thank you for!
Have a great day
Sharon
Hi Sharon,
Welcome to the pro-blogging for profit world.
Its a journey, simply enjoy it and have systems in place to get you over the speed bumps.
And I am so glad to be of service in any way.
Keep rocking!
Julie
Great tips for anyone starting out and creating a website on their own.
Glad you find our tips on SEO great Anna.
Thanks for stopping by.
Good tips thanks Julie. I must say, I am pretty half hearted about SEO: like Emily said, just writing for people, but trying not to make the mistakes you talk about! It can get so complicated, and you clarified things for me.
Hello Liz,
Glad you got some clarity from our Post. Trust Me SEO is a Journey and one that is continuous.
Become Friends with Google by playing by he simple rules. SHare great content regularly and hit that 100 published posts
Sweet spot to start being taken seriously. Thats why people go on a 365 days Blog Posts…
Allow me to let you in on a secret. If those posts are set on a generic server, they don’t really count unless you pack yours with so much value
You stand out from the noise.
So Keep Blogging and Keep creating unique content. Dont subscribe to sharing regurgitated stuff. Its okay to curate content as long as you refresh it and put your slant on it, share personal experience and expertise with it.
Hope all this helps Liz. Yes you can! Keep rocking.
You are so right with this post Julie! I find that I get better results by simply adding my “one” keyword phrase that I researched in my title, H2 heading and videos/photos. I figure as I’m writing the post that is related to my phrase other related keywords will fall into place.
Have a great day! 😀
For sure Carol,
Can I Just say that there is a very deliberate way to add related keywords into your blog and make it natural thus improving your keyword count and percentage and thus make it easier for the SE bots to place your article in the categories. And also to rank higher on the page. Its all about practice and knowing which other long tailed keywords resonate with your chosen one. So dont be afraid to add them, make it sound natural and flowing. User experience top of the agenda.
Thanks for your contribution
Julie
Such an informative article Julie! I’m a culprit of point 4 – I didn’t know it negatively affected my blog. Will change that habit from today onwards 🙂
Thanks for sharing this!
Hey Alex,
It takes a Man of integrity to admit a wrong and Fix it.
NO harm done hopefully just fix it and go forward using the right ways to build your brand.
You have spent so much time and effort building it. its worth doing it right.
We want to have “youdeservefreedom.com” around for a long time to come!
Thanks for your comment
Pauli
This SEO is interesting. It’s a pain in the neck but can make such a difference. Good warnings. Thanks for posting Julie.
SEO is like everything worth having along term plan.
Lots of people fall foul of Blackhat SEO vendors who do all kinds of illegal stuff aggressively
promoting a site and bringing Google Panda and Penguin on their tail plus all other Google soljas 🙂
Keep it clean and you will be just fine.
Only thing is if you dont control your Site you dont know whats going on behind scenes!
Thanks for stopping by!
Julie
Thanks Julie, Excellent information about search engines, it is very important not to use Key Word stuffing and to only use Key Words that are relevant to your niche or your blog post. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
My pleasure Elizabeth,
And yes we have to be integral in our on page and website optimisation otherwise all our hard work could go down the plug hole. Using the right keywords is one of the pillars plus other stuff we must do to keep a clean site.
Thanks for your comment.
Pauli
Great tips thanks for sharing especially agree with getting your own domain no matter what…thanks
You are most welcome LuAnn,
Yes its an absolute must to have ones own Domain to Brand You!
Its the first step to having your own Online Prime real estate!
Without one, you simply dont stand out. Simple!
Thanks for your time
Julie
Great tips. The right keywords are so important.
Absolutely Jo.
Keywords are definitely part of the bigger picture for web ranking and visibility!
If one competes for the big ones they have to deliver the value in their content to even come close.
So go for the low hanging fruit, long tailed and related keywords.
Glad you found our post on Costly mistakes for SEO Great 🙂 thanks for stopping by!
Pauli
These are great tips Julie and I agree with you if you can get your own domain and find your own target group you will be on the path to attract more traffic to your website. Thanks for sharing.
Not only is having your own domain great for traffic, it’s also a gat start at branding you if your brand is not already known and attracting great customer out ther Pedro. So I truly advocate for that. Thanks for your comment.
Back in the days, before WordPress and other CMS software, we, the webmasters, would design a 404 page. We considered the 404 real estate because it’s always possible that a page gets deleted or somebody types in the wrong address. Thus we were able to do a CTA on there. Not sure if that is still possible with WP. Great post, Julie!
Hi Xarah,
It is absolutely still possible, in fact it’s advised that you create your own 404 page and there are plugins to help you do that. So yes WP still rocking that. Good to hear from you ?
this is awesome, glad i saw this cus i think i made these mistakes
And it’s good to accept what mistakes we make and that we have moved away from them and created a better brand. Good on you Sheena. Thanks for your comment.
SEO is such a monster and most of us wish we wouldn’t have to deal with it. But we must! Thank you for pointing out some of the don’ts. I think I am guilty of some of them but know better now. Great article, Julie.
Hello Mary,
Good to hear from you. Hope all is well. See I disagree my love.
SEO isnt a Monster You are its Master and Its hat you think you can achieve that matters.
Keep affirming your mastery over it and find the tools you need to get it just so.
Having your own Domain is such an important part of it!
Knowing what you need to do is a great start and I know you are on a wonderful journey.
Rock on!
Thank you so much for this post Julie.
Not many people are talking about the don’t s of SEO and this was a refreshing change.
I have been using a blog platform and you are so correct, I am limited to what I can access.
Fortunately I now purchased my own domain. So awesome!
My Pleasure Wayne,
Its time we got these SEO mistakes out there and helped people. Glad you find it refreshing.
There are lots of things holding people back from getting to their winning game and some of
them are things we can do something about.
Practical things! So I am glad you have your own domain and If I may,
you might like to pick up our Cheatsheet to help you shorten your journey
to branding you! Here is the link https://juleskalpauli.com/csgift
Good luck
Jules
Superb tips Julie! A humungous pet peeve of mine is people saying that they are rocking the SEO and ranking on the top of Google when they searched their entire blog title. Er – nope!
I don’t worry too much about SEO, I write for people FIRST, make sure that my content is valuable to my niche and what I’ve found is that posts with videos rank super quick! More reason to use video 😀
Ha haaaa You and I ans so alike Emily, yup we even share pet peeves lol
I am the same and Paul as well, we write for our audience and worry more on how best to serve them and
help them bridge the gap between knowing and taking action. To help people out of the zone they are in now to a better place.
I have been a lil lax on the video side coz of various travel commitments, but I am back with a vengeance as I am settling down for a few weeks 🙂
Super cool!
This is some great advice on SEO mistakes. Another one would be junk backlinks where sometimes people buy a gig on fiverr for backlinks.
Most of the time they get expired domains and/or porn sites in the mix of the back-links.
So you could add that on as well.
Great post overall
For a long time I wouldn’t use fiverr at all.
It has its uses though I found out later, so I now use it veeeery sparingly for admin stuff!
That said, I know for sure that using such back-links can get your website shut down pretty sharpish by Google…
and that would be such costly SEO mistake and a foolhardy waste!
Plus who wants porn linked to their site unless their services bend that way huh!
Awesome contribution Greg. Thanks for that and for stopping by!
Great post! You know keyword stuffing actually worked in the ’90’s you could actually put all the keywords at the bottom of the article and make the font the same color as the background, usually white. Those were the days, right?
It’s a whole new ball game today… I can say that if you provide good quality content consistently, this helps with ranking, if you have Good “on page optimization” this is very crucial.
Did you know that if you blog daily, that you will be picked up by google news?
Really enjoyed your article today! Big Value!
Hey Rob,
Those were the days huh! And the savvy ones raked it in. Yet I like our times coz we get to change the industry, clean up the system and help more people create an income online. wow so people went to those extents…blimey!
Thanks for the contribution, for sure I used to blog daily but at the time I wasn’t aware that you also have to have at least 100+ published and engaging content for Google to even sniff you out and give you pride of place in their news.
Glad you got big value 🙂 and thanks fir your comment
Some really great advice on SEO, not an easy topic to understand for beginners 🙂 And there are so many things you can’t do if you don’t have your own site, thanks for this post Julie.
Hello Cathy,
I am glad you agree and believe me SEO in itself is an easy area. Its the Search engine algorithms esp.
Google’s that keep changing and thus make it complicated for those that want to play the system instead of following the rules!
Thanks for your comment
Julie
Great post Julie. SEO is a long term strategy and if you try to game the system you will get punished. Learn the game and follow the rules. Thanks for sharing.
Exactly, its best to play by the rules and enjoy long term increase and prosperity from the organic
traffic that will naturally flow to a well presented site David. Its good to hear from you!
Pauli
These are great tips, Julie! Thanks for the value!
You are most welcome Mike glad you like em and thanks for stopping by!
Oh, absolutely have a self-hosted site. It’s not expensive, and if you can’t afford it, maybe you can’t afford to be in business.
Great tips, these should be helpful to those struggling for rankings!
It sure is true Louise.
Lots of people think using a generic resource or company resource is the way to go.
I know for sure it isnt. Too many people loosing their precious content when there are problems with a company…!
And as you say if one cant afford a website, they really shouldnt be in the business!
Thanks for your comment!
Pauli
Helpful information on search engine mistakes.
Fortunately I discovered your site by chance, and I’m
shocked why this accident did not happened earlier! Glad it did though 🙂
I bookmarked it.
Hey SEO in St Albans,
Glad you stumbled upon us, and hope we keep you well served.
~Pauli~
Tip #4, catching people cheating LOL
more people than not should have that plastered on their walls
awesome
True Steve. Its so simple to simply give credit where its
due and include the original source link.
We must all do this, more respectful!
After all no need to reinvent the wheel 🙂
Great concepts here Julie! I must admit, I have tried in the past to insert trending words and always wondered WHY zero traffic showed up. Now I know. As always, great content and thanks for the tips.
Hi Robert, it is bit f a pain when one clicks on your Article and its got nothing to do with the Trending word you used…so you get a high bounce rate and no opt ins let alone sales…! Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Glad to be of help :)Feel free to check out my blog. I’m a part time mechanic for a British bike shop and voulnteer at the local dirt track races. -Emmet
Hi Arthur, Are you sure you visited the right blog?
I Imagine everything happens for a reason so welcome and hope you found value in our Blog. 🙂
~Julie~
Great info Julie! I know I’ve been guilty of keyword stuffing in the past…and probably not using the “right” keywords…I’m still a newbie so this info helps in a big way!
Thanks So Much!
Namaste…Cate
Oh how I hate those Bait & Switch guys – you search for something, it all looks great then when you get there its way way off topic! i find it especially bad on Youtube.
Thanks for these tips Julie – again I learned so much
Tell me about it Alex. Its unethical and just not good!
Thanks Julie. Excellent information to be aware of, especially the importance of tagging graphics. Cheers, Ron
You are most welcome Ron. I appreciate your comments too!