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A good definition of search engine optimization is that SEO is a set of methods aimed at improving the ranking of a website in search engine listings.

This definition of SEO sounds simple, but be careful. Search engine optimization is difficult, even for professionals and should not be undertaken lightly. Here is a brief look at the top 10 mistakes and how to correct them.

1. Non-Relevant Linkage.

External links to your site play a large part in most of the major search engines and can be considered an endorsement of your site. But if you are being linked to from sites that have no relevance to your content, then that is now considered a negative endorsement and will not raise your ranking in the search engines. Ensure all links to your pages are from relevant sites.

2. Untargeted Keywords.

The people who use search engines are ‘normal’ people who are not likely to search for phrases or terms used in your advertising brochures. Get to know how your customers ask for your services/products and use these in your content. Often times, actual keyword research will surprise you.

3. Excessive Graphics and Flash Content.

This looks good on a web page, but to search engine crawlers it means little. Search engines are looking for content, keywords, and relevancy to the search terms. By all means have some graphics, but don’t forget the meat. This doesn’t mean Flash designed websites are bad necessarily. In fact, some big businesses do use it. For most webmasters though, Flash sites are best avoided. Unless your Flash designer does high-end websites and knows how to integrate the content and keywords within the Flash, hybrid sites combining Flash headers with HTML content will be a good option.

4. Believing all search engines are the same.

What pleases Yahoo might not necessarily please Bing or Google. Optimize your content, keywords, inbound links, and internal linking structure so that there is something for at least one of the three top search engines.

5. Multiple Search Engine Submissions.

In the very early days of search engines, this technique may have had some success, but now it can lead to slower indexing and rankings. A site with inbound links from other sites will get indexed naturally and search engine submission is not necessary. In fact, multiple submissions may be construed as an attempt to spam the search engines. The top 5 engines account for more than 90% of all activity so it is wise not to ruin your chances of ranking naturally in the search results.

6. Incorrect Use of Title Tags.

Most people consider the title to be for their company name or product. Nope. You must include your most important search phrases within your title tag and if you do want your company name there, keep it for the end. Keep the title tag to less than 65 characters long to avoid the appearance of title tag keyword-stuffing.

7. Use of ‘Black Hat’ techniques.

Techniques such as doorway pages, hidden text, and overstuffing keywords may have had success in the past but now they will earn you penalties and could even get you banned. Avoid them altogether if you are seeking long term success. Some black hat techniques can work on a short term basis, but in the long run prove very costly.

8. Expecting Immediate Results.

SEO is an ongoing process and should be treated as such by your SEO company. Good optimization will involve building good links with quality sites and this takes time.

9. Use of Unethical SEO Consultants.

Beware the consultant that guarantees rankings with no past clients to back it up, or claims of special relationships with search engines. Many such “consultants” or “experts” will probably take your money and run. Choose a reputable SEO consultant, one who will keep in regular contact with progress reports and updates.

10. Decide to do optimization in-house.

Probably possible in the past, but now with ever increasing sophistication of search engine algorithms, this is an area best left to an expert. Furthermore, the good SEO experts usually have other income streams from their online marketing activities and a regular paycheck to work full-time simply doesn’t justify their time invested.

It’s important to gain the trust of your visitors as soon as they arrive at your web site. Here are some ‘best practices’ you should make sure your web site follows in order to maximize visitor trust.

1. Have a contact phone number on your web site. Even though most visitors will never call, displaying your phone number gives them peace of mind knowing that if they ever do have a problem you’re only a phone call away.

2. Choose the right domain name. We all know you can register www.cheap-tennis-shoes.com to rank highly in search engines for the keywords “cheap tennis shoes”, but generic domain names don’t help when you’re trying to build a reputable online brand. If you want to gain your customers trust register a domain name that includes both keywords and your own unique identity, such as BensTennisShoes.com or Bens-Tennis-Shoes.com.

3. Have a detailed “About Us” page. Establish your credentials as a legitimate business! Site visitors will more easily trust your online brand if you let them know up front who they’re dealing with. Nobody in their right mind wants to send their credit card information to the Secret Website Ninjas. Tell your visitors about the history of your business, and provide information about the people behind the scenes. People ultimately want to do business with people - not just a web interface – and this is the section where you let them know who they’re dealing with.

4. Handle customer information securely. Plainly state your data handling policy on your web site – and then stick to it scrupulously. For best results, don’t sell or otherwise share your user data. Your customer data can be a gold mine, but only if you don’t dig into too often. Selling your customer info – or even e-mailing customers too frequently – can quickly result in an empty subscriber list.

5. Offer a refund guarantee. . Create and post a solid refund guarantee on your web site. Include your refund policy, and also explain your RMA or refund process. Include contact details so customers can contact you if they actually do need a refund.

6. Let customers know about your secure ordering process. Make sure you tell your customers that you take security seriously. Include the online “seal” provided by your SSL vendor and include text on the site that reinforces your secure order handling: “We take your privacy seriously and use SSL encryption to process all orders. Order securely 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year”.