Search engine optimization (SEO) is extremely important to e-commerce. The Internet is flooded with choices for users to pick from, meaning you have to work harder to get your Web site noticed. Regardless of what you are offering, if you can’t generate traffic to your Web site, you won’t generate income. It is very important for your Web site to have a high ranking on search engines because most users use search engines to find information on the Web.  While the search engine may come up with thousands of Web sites with links, most users only click on the Web sites that are listed on the first page.

Most people use the Internet and enjoy finding what they are looking for quickly and efficiently. However, for those working behind the scenes and those who own Web sites, there is a large amount of back-end work that is involved. The quest for having a high search engine ranking is one that should be taken seriously, but there are some pitfalls you need to avoid, as they only hurt your site’s ranking in the long run.

The first pitfall is to avoid scams that claim to improve your ranking by keyword stuffing, spamming or cloaking. A common ploy is to add invisible text; though this tricky tactic is easily detected by search engines and can result in the search engine imposing a fine or refusing to list you on its site.  This is a poor way to get your Web site recognized, and consumers look negatively on sites that use such tactics because they want search engines information to be accurate.

The second pitfall to avoid is paying for search engine submissions. Because you can submit your Web site to multiple search engines with very little effort, do not waste money paying someone to do it for you. The average cost of such a service is $5 per submission, and there is no way to verify that the work was actually completed.  Do not pay for automatic directory submissions; you can submit to them for free if you are patient and give the search engine just a few weeks to update its information.

Next, avoid using frames because the link takes the person to a page outside of the parent frameset, thus the navigational links will not be there.  This, in turn, makes your Web site hard to find on various search engines. Rather than try to find a particular Web site, most Internet users go back to the search engine and click on a different link. Only use a web browser detection system if absolutely necessary, as they often break and the search engine spider cannot access your Web site or data.

The next thing to avoid is using Meta tags, as this is a popular vise for spam. The search engines often confuse legitimate Web sites with those that are spam because of the similarities involving the Meta tags.  Research shows that while many search engines day that they no longer look at Meta tags when cataloging sites, some web hosting service providers continue to promote the use of Meta tags. It can be confusing with conflicting information, though both Google and Yahoo maintain that Meta tags are popular with spam.

With so much competition on the Internet it is always good to make your site different, unique and interesting. This will get users excited and keep them coming back. Be careful of going too far out of the box, because that can result in your Web site not being picked up by search engines. Be sure to keep the titles and descriptions full of keywords while still staying original. This is not an easy project. Swallow your pride and hire a professional to help you. It is a worthy investment. You can still have a say in the material by giving them an idea of what you are want.

Graphics are a common attraction for Web sites. They add color and appeal, but did you know that the search engines don’t pick up on text that is displayed graphically? This can really affect your ratings. Instead, use colors and maybe a logo but avoid putting important text into the graphic.

The quest for getting your Web site high rankings on the search engines is important. You will have a better chance of succeeding if you know what to avoid when it comes to planning your attack. Most web developers don’t understand how many of these things can negatively affect your search engine rating. Therefore, they invest time and money in methods that are actually going to move them in the wrong direction. Removing all the obstacles and roadblocks will leave path for your plans to be successful.