Are you using search engine optimization tactics that lead
to SEO overkill? You may not think so, but according to several
SEO experts at the Search Engine Strategies conference held
recently in Chicago, Illinois, you might be using what is
called “SEO Overkill”. Michael Murray from Fathom
SEO, Matt Bailey from the Karcher Group, and Heather Lloyd-Martin
from SearchEngineWriting.com all discussed SEO Overkill.
According to Mark Murray Fathom SEO (www.fathomseo.com),
SEO is not a shopping spree. You need website traffic, but
you need to pace yourself—even sound practices may
fail if they’re rushed. When picking a domain name,
short domain names are easy to read—if you use multiple
hyphens or forced capitalization, it looks like spam and
visitors are immediately suspicious of your website. And
when it comes to search engine optimization, you need to
pick your priorities—don’t manage too many keywords
at once.
Mr. Murray goes on to say that it’s easy to have folder
and page name “excess”. Using too many keywords
or repeated keywords in your domain name, folder name, and
page name (or file name) can lead to disaster. A good rule
of thumb is to make sure that they match the content—but
don’t go overboard with it. Limit you repetition of
keywords in the domain name, folder names, and page names.
Although having those keywords in the URL can help rankings,
don’t overdo it.
Title tags are important, according to Mr. Murray. It’s
important to tame your title tag, especially because long
title tags are useless. “It’s important to pick
one or two search terms and call it a day” when you’re
writing title tags. Meta description tags are needed as well,
but “don’t have meta description overload”,
says Mr. Murray. “The description tag still counts…but
you need to avoid long descriptions.” The meta description
tag still shows up in the search engine results, so optimize
your meta description not only for the search engines but
for your website visitors—you need a good description
to lure people to click on your web site’s listing
so they visit your site. The meta keywords tag is a hard
tag not to include, but some search engines downplay this
tag due to past abuses. It’s good to limit your meta
keywords tag to a few keywords – again, don’t
overload your meta keywords tag with a lot of useless keywords.
When it comes to other meta tags (other than the meta description
and keywords tag), you can go ahead and skip them—according
to Mr. Murray, “they do little for search engines…why
spend the time and potentially mess with density issues?”
Other issues that Mr. Murray talked about were issues such
as overdone visible text. “Massive keyword repetition
in a small space may annoy site visitors…it looks
blatant.” Heading tags are commonly misused, as well. “Don’t
overstuff and avoid misuse. Complement the design and don’t
ignore the overall look and feel of your site.”
According to Heather Lloyd-Martin from SearchEngineWriting.com,
SEO overkill is where good content can go bad. Title tags
can get overstuffed quickly. Remember that the SERPs (search
engine results) page is the first opportunity for conversion.
Your title should be hot and compelling. It’s important
to make your title clickable and reflect the content on the
page. Stuffed title tags are more than spammy--they provide
a bad first impression and inhibit click-throughs. Think
of your conversion and your customers first. Searchers won’t
click on your search engine listing if they see a spammy
or undesirable title. “It’s one thing to create
headlines that grab attention…it’s another when
it has nothing to do with the ad”, says Heather Lloyd-Martin. “Titles
and content can be creative, but please make the content
relevant – and hit the pain points of your client.”
“Don’t be a linkarama loser”, says Ms.
Lloyd-Martin. “Lots of links isn’t helpful for
seo or for customers – it’s confusing. Too many
links on a page will overwhelm your reader – and they
won’t know how to take action. Focus on your most important
page links, and promote those on the page. Think about the
rule of three and use those links to pre-qualify powerful
landing pages.” She goes on to say that you need to
avoid what she calls “conversion confusion”. “Many
pages include a lot of text on the page and have a lot of
good content and talk about the product a lot. But there’s
no conversion step or way for people to take action. People
need to be told what to do. If you do not ask for the sale,
they won’t take action.” What action do you want
your customers to take? How easy is it to take that action?
Don’t rely on a “contact us” button or “contact
us” in the footer navigation. When you create landing
pages, it’s important to give the visitor an action
they can take as well as an incentive for taking that action.
Bad misspellings are something you want to avoid. According
to Heather Lloyd-Martin, “misspellings are a myth…customers
will notice misspellings pretty easily…which makes
your company look unprofessional, like you can’t spell,
and like you don’t care.” She goes on to say
that “if they can’t get their site right, why
can they get my order right?” Don’t trash you
brand with misspellings.
Matt Bailey from the Karcher Group says that it’s
important to realize how readers scan a web page. According
to Jakob Nielsen, 79 percent of users scan a web page. 16
percent read the page’s copy word for word. When creating
a web page and trying to avoid SEO overkill, you need to
realize that screen reader users scan by listening. Mr. Bailey
explains that they “listen to the first few words on
the page”. It’s important to also be aware that “mobile
devices and cell phones ignore hidden text, stuffed alt attributes,
hidden z-layers—they’re all visible in PDAs and
to screen readers. Some people turn off images on their phones
when they’re browsing the web to save bandwidth.” If
you overstuff your web pages with useless content and stuff
your web pages with useless keywords the screen reader users,
as well as people using mobile devices will not be happy
with your web pages—they’ll leave right away.
Well-designed pages and content equal credibility. According
to Mr. Bailey, there was a study done by the Stanford University
Persuasive Technology Lab. “Participants made credibility-based
decisions…based upon the site’s overall visual
appeal.” They base the credibility on the site design.
Typically, consumers assess the credibility of web sites
based on the overall visual design of a site, specifically
noting layout, typography, font size, and color schemes.
Mr. Bailey says that when it comes to over optimization, “you
have two choices--write for search engines or write for conversions…there
is an over-optimization penalty. Do things in moderation.
You need to write for conversions, not the search engines.”
Bill Hartzer manages the Internet
Marketing division of MarketNet, Inc., a leading full-service
interactive design and development firm in Dallas, Texas.
Hartzer has infused MarketNet with his enthusiasm and vision
for search marketing. Bill Hartzer is focused on developing
results-oriented paid and organic search marketing programs
to help clients increase visibility, broaden reach and maximize
their return on investment.
