1. Targetting the wrong keywords
This is a mistake many people make and what is worse – even experienced SEO experts make it. People choose keywords that in their mind are descriptive of their website but the average users just may not search them. For instance, if you have a relationship site, you might discover that “relationship guide” does not work for you, even though it has the “relationship” keyword, while “dating advice” works like a charm. Choosing the right keywords can make or break your SEO campaign. Even if you are very resourceful, you can't think on your own of all the great keywords but a good keyword suggestion tool, for instance, the Website Keyword Suggestion tool will help you find keywords that are good for your site.

2. Ignoring the Title tag
Leaving the <title> tag empty is also very common. This is one of the most important places to have a keyword, because not only does it help you in optimization but the text in your <title> tag shows in the search results as your page title.

3. A Flash website without a html alternative
Flash might be attractive but not to search engines and users. If you really insist that your site is Flash-based and you want search engines to love it, provide an html version. Here are some more tips for optimizing Flash sites. Search engines don't like Flash sites for a reason – a spider can't read Flash content and therefore can't index it.

4. JavaScript Menus
Using JavaScript for navigation is not bad as long as you understand that search engines do not read JavaScript and build your web pages accordingly. So if you have JavaScript menus you can't do without, you should consider build a sitemap (or putting the links in a noscript tag) so that all your links will be crawlable.

5. Lack of consistency and maintenance
Our friend Rob from Blackwood Productions often encounters clients, who believe that once you optimize a site, it is done foreve. If you want to be successful, you need to permanently optimize your site, keep an eye on the competition and – changes in the ranking algorithms of search engines.

6. Concentrating too much on meta tags
A lot of people seem to think SEO is about getting your meta keywords and description correct! In fact, meta tags are becoming (if not already) a thing of the past. You can create your meta keywords and descriptions but don't except to rank well only because of this.

7. Using only Images for Headings
Many people think that an image looks better than text for headings and menus. Yes, an image can make your site look more distinctive but in terms of SEO images for headings and menus are a big mistake because h2, h2, etc. tags and menu links are important SEO items. If you are afraid that your h1 h2, etc. tags look horrible, try modifying them in a stylesheet or consider this approach: http://www.stopdesign.com/articles/replace_text.

8. Ignoring URLs
Many people underestimate how important a good URL is. Dynamic page names are still very frequent and no keywords in the URL is more a rule than an exception. Yes, it is possible to rank high even without keywords in the URL but all being equal, if you have keywords in the URL (the domain itself, or file names, which are part of the URL), this gives you additional advantage over your competitors. Keywords in URLs are more important for MSN and Yahoo! but even with Google their relative weight is high, so there is no excuse for having keywordless URLs.

9. Backlink spamming
It is a common delusion that it more backlinks are ALWAYS better and because of this web masters resort to link farms, forum/newgroup spam etc., which ultimately could lead to getting their site banned. In fact, what you need are quality backlinks. Here are some more information on The Importance of Backlinks

10. Lack of keywords in the content
Once you focus on your keywords, modify your content and put the keywords wherever it makes sense. It is even better to make them bold or highlight them.

From: http://www.webconfs.com/top-10-seo-mistakes-article-24.php

happyness WEB/Search Engine SEO

One of the most hotly debated topics in the search industry is the importance of a Web page's URL structure (the Web address) for ranking purposes. Some SEO (define) experts feel placing keywords in the URL is vitally important; a Web page simply won't rank well without keywords in the URL. This group often cites SERPs (define) with keywords highlighted as hard evidence for its viewpoint.

On the flip side, other SEO experts believe keywords in the URL don't make or break search engine positions. Yet this group recognizes how important keywords are from a usability perspective: both search engines' and site visitors'. This group doesn't give much emphasis to keyword-rich URLs for determining relevancy.

I wanted to explore this topic because how search engines handle the wide variety of URL structures is constantly evolving.

URL Structure as Interface

The people who least understand issues with URL structure and SEO are the very people who create them: Web developers, programmers, and software developers. It seems the most important item to them is getting the database to function without any consideration for the interface. Therein lies the problem. Too few IT and technical staff have any education, training, and experience in user-centered design (UCD).

After keyword research, the first component in creating a Web site is to come up with the site's information architecture. Remember, information architecture and interface are two different things. How information is grouped on a Web page and overall on a Web site is information architecture. One way to remember this is information architecture equals grouping and categorization.

In other words, information architecture is how a Web site's information is organized. Before anyone creates interface prototypes, information architecture must be determined. If interface designers (often IT staff, to the detriment of the Web site) are brought in too early in the Web development and SEO process, the information architecture might be compromised.

After Web site owners determine how information should be categorized or grouped on a site, the interface talent should work on initial prototypes. Keywords, general Web copy, graphic images, multimedia files, and URL structure are all part of this interface. An effective interface communicates keyword focus to both search engines and site visitors. For this reason I classify Web site usability as an intermediate-level SEO skill, one that few advanced SEO professionals possess.

Dynamic URLs and SEO

It's pointless to optimize a Web page without giving search engines easy access to that page's content. Navigation schemes and URL structures often act as a stop sign to search engine indexing.

URL structure can be a confusing topic. For example, people tend to assume a dynamic URL contains funky characters (e.g., "?," "=," "&"), as in "http://www.site.com/products.asp?product_no=25," as opposed to "http://www.site.com/hikingboots.html."

At first glance, it might seem the first URL is dynamic and the second one is static. However, a static-looking URL can be database-driven, and the dynamic-looking URL can actually be a static URL.

In truth, search engines don't wish to crawl Web sites 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. 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. Go to any SERP. Look at URL structures. Which is easiest for you, the searcher, to remember? Static-looking, shorter URLs are usually the easiest to remember.

Information Architecture of the URL

Perhaps the most striking observation I've made in my years of training companies is how IT staff and Web developers ignore URL structure as an important element of a Web page's interface. The typical statement I hear is, "Our site is database-driven. We don't have an information architecture."

But a database-driven Web site still communicates information architecture to both search engines and end users through the interface.

I performed a search usability analysis on a large commerce site recently. The main problem with the site's interface was product pages were only made available through a site search engine. Immediately, I knew the site had problems with search engine visibility because the commercial Web search engines don't want search results in their search results. It's a bad user experience for searchers. Additionally, the URL structure has too many parameters, resulting in a large number of characters in the URL.

The result? Because this database-driven site practically orphaned important product pages through the URL structure, search engine spiders didn't access this content easily.

Even database-driven sites have an information architecture. For example, what does the following URL communicate: "http://www.site.com/videos/flash/2006/running.swf"?

You can immediately see you're looking at a Flash video file about running that was either created or posted in 2006. It looks like the site might have a video repository, and maybe it has other video file formats than Flash. What I just described is how information is organized -- an information architecture.

Conclusion

What does this have to do with SEO? If related items are grouped together and cross-linked well, keyword focus is communicated to search engines and site visitors. If the interface uses important keyword phrases in navigation labels, headings, URLs, and so forth (in other words, if the interface supports a site's information architecture), the interface also communicates keyword focus. A page's linkage properties also become more keyword focused.

A long time ago, I read on some black-hat Web site that one of the authors made a bold statement about "poor" white-hat SEO professionals. I have no idea why the author made the assumption that white-hat practices (such as Web site usability and search-friendly interface design) aren't a growing and profitable industry. Don't discount interface design as a part of the SEO process. Personally, I find it delivers the highest ROI (define) over time.

Meet Shari at Search Engine Strategies in San Jose, August 7-10, 2006, at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

Source : http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3622997

happyness WEB/Search Engine SEO, URL Structure

한・미・일 3국 유저들의 검색 결과를 바라보는 시선의 움직임을 조사한 결과, 국가마다 제 각각 다른 양상의 결과가 나왔다.

네이버 검색결과를 바라보는 시선을 ‘추적’하라!

네 이버를 중심으로 한 검색사이트들의 통합검색에 익숙해져 있는 한국의 유저들은 검색을 통해 최상단에 일목요연하게 정리된 정보가 있음을 경험 학습을 통해 뇌에 각인이 되어 있어 최상단에서 원하는 정보가 없으면 하단에 원하는 정보가 있어도 관심을 안 갖는다는 의견을 보면서 습관의 무서움을 다시 한번 느꼈고 구글의 한국 진출에 대한 어려움도 이해할 수 있을것 같다는 생각이 든다.



検索ユーザーの目線はどう動く　Yahoo！とGoogleで違い
검색 유저의 시선은 어떻케 움직이나 야후와 구글의 차이

Yahoo！は「関連検索ワード」や「Yahoo！カテゴリ」が注目されており、Googleはサイトのタイトルを最初から最後までよく読まれているという傾向が見えた
야후재팬은 "관련 검색 키워드"와 "야후 카테고리"가 주목을 받고 있으며, 구글은 사이트의 타이틀을 처음부터 끝까지 읽어지고 있는 경향이 보였다.

Yahoo！検索で広告が表示されていない場合、目線は「逆L字型」に動く。検索結果の上に表示される「関連検索ワード」や「Yahoo！カテゴリ」を見るために目線が右に動き、その後目線が左に戻り、検索結果サイトのタイトル先頭部分を下まで流して見る、という動きだ
야후재팬의 검색에서 광고가 표시되지 않은 경우(좌측의 b 이미지) 시선은 "역L자형" 으로 움직인다. 검색 결과의 위에 표시되는 "관련 검색 키워드"와 "야후 카테고리"를 보기 위해서 시선이 우측으로 움직이고, 그후 시선이 좌측으로 옮겨와 검색 결과 사이트의 타이틀 앞부분을 하단까지 쭉 살펴본다. 라는 움직임이다.

広告が表示されている場合は、目線は上から下に「I字型」に動く。画面上部の広告から、その下にある検索結果まで、タイトルの先頭部分を上から下に見ていくという流れだ
광고가 표시되어 있는 경우(좌측의 a 이미지), 시선을 위에서 밑으로 "I자형"으로 움직인다. 화면 상부의 광고에서, 그 밑에 있는 검색 결과까지, 타이틀의 앞부분을 위에서 아래까지 쭉 살표 보는 흐름이다.

Google検索は、検索連動広告の表示・非表示に関わらず、サイトのタイトルが最後までじっくり読まれていた。検索結果のタイトルを追って目線が右側に動き、その下の説明は飛ばし読みし、次の検索結果サイトのタイトルを最後まで見る――という動きを繰り返していた
구글 검색은 검색 연동 광고의 표시(우측의 a 이미지) 비표시(우측의 b 이미지)에 관계 없이 사이트의 타이틀을 마지막까지 자세히 읽고 있다. 검색 결과의 타이틀를 따라서 시선이 우측으로 움직이고, 그 밑의 설명은 뛰어 읽고, 다음의 검색 결과 사이트의 타이틀을 끝까지 읽는다- 라는 움직임의 반복이 진행 된다.

著 名サイトの直下はクリック率が低くなる傾向にあり、例えばYahoo！検索で「パソコン」を検索した場合（昨年9～10月時点）、結果トップの大手比較サ イトのクリック率は51％、その直下は7％、次は9％だった。Googleで「液晶テレビ」を検索した場合も、トップの大手比較サイトは54％、その直下 は13％、その下は24％と、2位よりも3位のほうがクリック率が高かった
유명한 사이트의 바로 밑은 클릭율이 낮아지는 경향이 있다, 예를 들어 야후 검색에서 "컴퓨터"를 검색하였을 경우(작년 9월에서 10월 시점), 최상단의 거대 비교 사이트의 클릭율은 50%, 그 바로 밑은 7%, 다음은 9%였다. 구글에서 "액정TV"를 검색하였을 경우, 최상단의 거대 비교 사이트는 54%, 바로 밑은 13%, 그 다음은 24%로 2위보다 3위가 클릭율이 높다.

유 명 사이트 바로 밑에 위치한 사이트의 경우 클릭율이 낮다는 사실은 의외이다, 그렇다면 유명 사이트는 제처 놓고 경쟁 사이트와 순위 경쟁을 벌였을때 2위보다는 3위의 포지션을 노려야 하는데, 첫페이지 또는 상위 표시의 경우는 다양한 SEO(검색엔진 최적화)로 가능할지 모르겠지만, 2위 3위를 구분, 세분화하여 등위를 올리고 내릴수는 없는 것이므로 오히려 1위를 노리는 것 보다 더욱 힘든 고난도의 기술이 아닐까 생각된다.

나라마다 사이트마다, 그리고 광고가 있고 없고에 따라 유저의 시선은 각각 다른 움직임을 나타내고 있다.

나라마다 다른 유저 고유의 특성을 이해하고 유저인터페이스와 유저빌리티를 구성한다면 보다 만족스러운 결과를 얻을수 있을 것이다.

자료출처 : http://www.hatena.co.kr/255

happyness WEB/Search Engine Google, SEO