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What not to do in designing your website

By
Home Inspector with EZ Rider Home Inspections LLC.

In the last few weeks I have been discussing items that you should perform on your website to increase your search engine rankings. This week I'm going to list a few things you shouldn't do!

1. Don't copy content!! I've seen many of you who are using a few hosts that load your site with tons of content. The problem is that they load the other sites in the industry with the exact same content. These hosts are giving you a template to get started with, which is great. You are responsible for editing the pages and making them your own. If you don't you're hurting your rankings. If search engines see your exact content on other sites, then what makes you so special that you should be ranked highly? Start editing those pages!!

2. Do not hide text on your website. Sometimes when people hear that it's good to include your keywords on your page they load up the bottom of their page with the names of every city within 100 miles and make the text the same color as their page background color so that humans can't read the text. The problem is that search engines are much smarter now than they used to be. They check to make sure the color of the text is not similar to the background color. If it is, you get PENALIZED. They know you're hiding stuff. Don't do it.

3. Don't overload your pagewith the same keywords over and over. Having your target keywords on your page are extremely important to getting prospective client clients to your site. But if you go overboard and include the words 'Realtor in Los Angeles' 50 times on the same page you'll get dinged for keyword 'stuffing.' Your usage of keywords within your page needs to be realistic.

Don Rider

EZ Rider Home Inspections

Bossier Home Inspector

Bossier Home Inspections

Shreveport Bossier Inspections

Shreveport Bossier Inspectors

Shreveport Home Inspection

 

Cindy Bock
Bungalow Real Estate - Hendersonville, NC
Hendersonville, NC Real Estate
Getting up in the search engines is quite a feat - and most folks dont know what it takes to get to the top or even near the top.....Thanks for helping us understand.
Apr 14, 2008 10:39 AM
Sean Allen
International Financing Solutions - Fort Myers, FL
International Financing Solutions

Hey Don, Very good information. Thanks for sharing, I'll have to go back and check some of your previous posts.

Sean Allen

Apr 14, 2008 10:41 AM
Dave Klatch
The Reid Team @ Keller Williams Arizona Realty - Scottsdale, AZ
Yes, I agree with the other comment, thanks for helping us understand a little better. I am trying to get up near the top with my website.I have a ways to go but every little bit helps!
Apr 14, 2008 10:42 AM
Gary and Rebecca Bolda
Ark-La-Tex Virtual Media - Shreveport, LA

We have been working on this very thing over the last couple of weeks.  We are currently updating each page on our website to update content, keyword optimize, etc.  Thanks for sharing this info.  By the way, love the background! I may look into customizing our blog.

Apr 14, 2008 10:46 AM
Don Rider
EZ Rider Home Inspections LLC. - Bossier City, LA
Shreveport Bossier Home Inspector

Cindy, Sean, Dave, And Gary,

I am glad to be able to help a little bit. I had a lot of help and I am just trying to pass it along.

Apr 14, 2008 10:50 AM
Rosalinda Morgan
Brookville, NY
"The Rose Lady"
Don - Thanks for sharing the info.  I'll check my website and see how I can improve it.
Apr 14, 2008 11:13 AM
-- Casey Brischle
Columbia Bank - Spokane, WA
Spokane Home Loan Mortgage Professional
Getting up in the search engines is quite a feat  thanks for the heads up and for sharing some ideas!
Apr 14, 2008 11:51 AM
Karen Martin Real estate agent Safe Harbor Realty
Safe Harbor Realty - Westport, MA
Westport, MA Realtor Helping Home Sellers & Buyers
 LOL  I thought I was so smart hiding stuff  #2   gotta go erase now.
Apr 14, 2008 12:07 PM
Jimmy McCall
JimmyMcCall.com - Cunningham, TN
The Ex-Mortgage Consultant
Don,  Thank you for the tips.  I need all the help I can get to get my SEO up.
Apr 14, 2008 12:44 PM
Don Rider
EZ Rider Home Inspections LLC. - Bossier City, LA
Shreveport Bossier Home Inspector

Rosalinda, Casey, Ann and Jimmy,

glad i could help, thanks for responding. It tells me maybe there are people out there who need help like I did.

 

Apr 14, 2008 01:20 PM
JoEllen Stranger-Thorsen
Eustis, FL
Lake County, FL
Wow, I wouldn't have ever thought about hiding text. The lengths some will go to beat the system. Great tips and much appreciated.
Apr 14, 2008 02:24 PM
Don Rider
EZ Rider Home Inspections LLC. - Bossier City, LA
Shreveport Bossier Home Inspector

JoEllen,

Yes some people will try anything to get ahead.

Apr 15, 2008 01:56 AM
Anonymous
Anonymous
Hi Don - Thanks so much for those simple but obviously important tips.  I am going to customize my FAQ page today.
Apr 15, 2008 03:18 AM
#13
S J
Pittsburgh, PA
these are good basic tips
Apr 15, 2008 03:20 AM
Don Rider
EZ Rider Home Inspections LLC. - Bossier City, LA
Shreveport Bossier Home Inspector

Chadd,

Glad to help

Apr 15, 2008 02:54 PM
Greg Wilson
1st Cornerstone Realty - Schaumburg, IL

Such simple advice but its amazing at home many people don't follow it.  I've had people copy my web site and it really sucks.

Apr 15, 2008 03:14 PM
Alan Kirkpatrick
Austin Texas Homes - Round Rock, TX
Alan in Austin

Don:

Great advice on designing your webpage. Hope you have a great week.

Apr 15, 2008 03:29 PM
Don Rider
EZ Rider Home Inspections LLC. - Bossier City, LA
Shreveport Bossier Home Inspector

Greg,

One of the things you can do so that people will have a harder time copying your information, put the following css code in right after your </head>. Just copy and paste it.

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.1">
<!-- Begin
function right(e) {
if (navigator.appName == 'Netscape' &&
(e.which == 3 || e.which == 2))
return false;
else if (navigator.appName == 'Microsoft Internet Explorer' &&
(event.button == 2 || event.button == 3)) {
alert("Sorry, you do not have permission to right click.");
return false;
}
return true;
}
 
document.onmousedown=right;
document.onmouseup=right;
if (document.layers) window.captureEvents(Event.MOUSEDOWN);
if (document.layers) window.captureEvents(Event.MOUSEUP);
window.onmousedown=right;
window.onmouseup=right;
//  End -->
</script>

Apr 15, 2008 03:35 PM
Don Rider
EZ Rider Home Inspections LLC. - Bossier City, LA
Shreveport Bossier Home Inspector

Alan,

I am glad that I could help. Thanks for responding.

Apr 16, 2008 01:45 AM