CaffeineMarketing.com I compiled a short list of pretty obvious things that could be hurting your web site in major search engines if not properly optimized. Web Site Development Methods That May Count Against You: 1) Domain Age: This is when your web site is less than 6 months old. No matter what you do chances are that you will be buried in the Google Sandbox. A site is sandboxed when it is brand new and does not rank well for highly competitive keyword phrases on the search engines. Some people might be confused that the term 'sandbox' means that Google will not list your web site. This is unture. Google has a complex method of determing what to list and what not to. 2) Hidden Content: If you have text on your web site that is the same color as the background, Google will be able to detect this and quite possibly block it or lower its' page rank. 3) Cross Linking: Using the same network to inter-link your web sites. 4) Link Spam - If you join a group such as 123counters or any other Link Exchange program your in trouble. The best way to optimize your web site for the search engines is to exchange links with other sites that are in relation to the content that your site provides... only! 5) Copyright Infringement: Yes, this one is true and can hurt your ranking. You can be held liable and punished by Google for copy + pasting someone else's work. Moreover, the web site you take the information from might be punished too! 6) Re-Directs: If you have a javascript re-direct on old pages you should replace it with a text based link instead. 7) Cloaking: Cloaking is when you have two different versions of your web site. One that is used for visitors to see and another version for the search engines to see based on the IP address of the user. This is used to identify a 'search engine robot' working to index the site. 8) Javascript: Any sort of javascript content when published on your web site could result in 'online punishment.' In a nutshell, your site will be harder to read by the robots and some users might even have trouble seeing your site. 9) Keep It Content Rich: That does not mean that 90% of your web site has pictures , flash, or too much dynamic content. If you feel over 35% of your web site is graphically rich then you should consider properly configuring your site. This starts with keyword and competitor research in addition to professional copywriting to capture those keywords. Author: Matthew Peschong Site: http://www.CaffeineMarketing.com/