All businesses, large and small, need to keep up with the latest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), as things tend to change weekly if not daily. SEO is a powerful tool used to attract potential customers to your company's website, ultimately resulting in sales and profitability. Unless you have an SEO expert on staff, you may be at a loss as to what strategies you need to develop in order to keep up with your competitors. There are definite "dos" and "don'ts" when it comes to SEO. Of course, your goal is to keep your website ranked high in Google searches, preferably number one if possible. People tend to trust companies that appear at the top when searching for a particular product or service. What are some of the biggest mistakes to avoid? Ipsum Total Marketing has compiled a list of nine SEO mistakes for you to avoid. Our firm is the #1 ranked SEO Company in the Bay Area. We specialize in evaluating your website and optimizing it so you stand out amongst the competition. Becoming SEO savvy is important, and we want to help you by educating you on what some of the most common missteps are.

SEO Mistakes 4, 5, and 6

Take note of all nine of the mistakes we mention in this blog. If you take the time to learn about some of the biggest SEO pitfalls, you will be destined for success. It is critical to ensure you are not making these errors, which is why it pays to do your research. Ipsum Total Marketing has over 20 years of SEO experience, which is why it makes sense for us to gather this information for you so you can attract as many customers as possible. One careless SEO mistake can result in customers not being able to find your company quickly, and/or choosing a competitor due to a poorly positioned website.

Three more SEO mistakes to avoid

Believe it or not, there are more oversights to watch out for. If you don't pay attention and are lax when it comes to SEO, you may be unintentionally turning away future business. Here are three more mistakes you should avoid:

7) Guilty by association: Attaching your company to a non-credible source (organization or individual), via a link. If you associate with a source that is not legitimate (shady), you will be lumped into that category as well. If your firm is connected to a link that does not vet its associates or sponsors; contains a lot of spam or junk; or is unreliable and untrustworthy in general, it may be the kiss of death for you too. Don't do it!

8) Broken links: If you don't do your homework and make sure all of your internal and external links are totally functional, you will not be taken seriously as a business. Just as bad grammar, spelling, and punctuation are profit-killers, so are broken links. What is a broken link exactly? According to Dictionary.com, a broken link is "A connection in an HTML document to a URL that is not working properly." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/broken+link You must frequently visit your website and check all of the links and images to ensure they don't lead potential customers to a dead-end on the internet. If they aren't working properly, they will become frustrated and give up, leaving your site for good.

9) Overusing keywords. If you think you're being clever by using a keyword dozens of times in a blog or website, think again. First of all, customers are savvy and know when they are being treated as if they can't recognize it when a company inserts certain words over and over again, even if they don't make sense. Secondly, Google will pick up on this practice very quickly, jeopardizing your search engine ranking and damaging your site's credibility.

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