An unfortunately common mistake is made in terms of SEO when a webmaster inadvertently creates a website that is doomed from the beginning. There are three major components that can cause one to have this kind of problem on a website, and we’ll get into those in just a second. The main problem here is that these websites contain no content whatsoever. Google needs content to be able to give your website a ranking. Without content, the inevitable outcome is no ranking.

What are some common content pitfalls when it comes to Google?

1. Flash websites – Remember those fancy websites that didn’t have a bunch of paragraphs, but instead, had all those graphics that swooshed around your screen like a movie? Ah, 2001; how we miss you. Who still uses these? A great many webmasters are still using the outdated ways of flash. Google can’t index a movie and give you a ranking for a keyword they can’t find on the page. Don’t use it.
2. Frames – Another method that was used “back in the day” was frames, a neat way to pull content into your website from somewhere else. One, if you’re just using frames to copy someone’s content and not actually get hit with plagiarism, that’s lame. Two, if you’re building frames and expecting Google will rank that page, think again. The words aren’t actually on the page, so Google is right to think there is no content.
3. Content in images – One of the most common mistakes made is by putting all kinds of time and effort into designing a beautiful graphic with all your content in it. Why is that a mistake? Just like Google can’t read content in a flash movie, they can’t read the content in a picture either.

Here’s an example of content hidden in an image:

The moral of the story is simple: write good content and make sure Google can read it!

Looking for help with your content? Contact Red Rocket today.