Being penalised is a reality when you SEO. Sometimes, you can overstep a line without knowing it. Often, you won’t realise what you’ve done wrong until well after the penalty has been imposed. Sometimes, however, a site gets penalised simply because the owner has been, frankly, dumb.

The most common reasons for penalties haven’t really changed in the last five years, yet people keep on being penalised. You would think that with all of the research that goes into what search engines like and dislike, sites would be able to avoid penalties fairly easily. This assumes that just because the average site can avoid a penalty, they will. A lot of site owners out there are simply making some very dumb mistakes.

Basic bad SEO is still a problem

One of the continuing problems faced by many sites is bad methods of search engine optimisation. Generally, if you’re using a reputable search engine optimisation company, you can avoid these mistakes. Many businesses run into error when they strike out on their own, and some run into a less than reputable SEO company.

When you first look into optimisation companies, it’s worthwhile spending time and researching. Find out what the industry opinion is of the company you’re considering, and ask some pertinent questions before you sign on. It’s also a good idea to check out any sites they have performed work on.

Hiding links is not a good idea

Despite it being a technique years out of date, link cloaking is still very much present on the net. Reputable search engine optimization companies haven’t tried this technique for years. Even disreputable companies have given it up. That doesn’t stop the odd site giving the technique a go.

The difficulty with this technique is that while it might make links invisible to internet users, it’s entirely obvious to a search engine. All of the details of your links, including size, are in your code. You will get caught.

Automatic redirects are bad news

Setting up a page so that it automatically redirects a user to an entirely different page is an old spam standby. Internet users don’t appreciate being hijacked in this way, and neither do the search engines.

If you need to redirect users to a new version of a page, use a 301 or 302 code, and make sure that the new page’s content isn’t too dissimilar from the old. Using meta refresh tags or other forms of automated redirect can result in penalties.

Made-for-AdSense pages

None of the search engines favour sites with low-quality content. Google seems to take particular issue with sites made specifically for AdSense. Even if AdSense revenue is the ultimate goal of your site, it pays to post quality, original content. Users are more likely to stay on site this way.

Pay attention to Google’s guidelines

It is vital that the search engine guidelines are followed, at least roughly, when you perform search engine optimization. The search engines publish a lot of material on how to optimise properly. Read it. If you have questions, ask your SEO consultant.