Since SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is fairly complex and has many different facets, it’s not surprising to find that misconceptions about SEO are somewhat common. Controversy over certain aspects of SEO has helped to spread them.

One of the relatively common misconceptions is that search engine optimization is all about manipulating search engines, or that the engines are opposed to SEO. Although it is true that a few SEO firms use manipulative “black hat” techniques, most SEO actually benefits both the engines and individual web sites. Many engines, including Google and Yahoo, have instructions on how sites can better optimize themselves. The Yahoo! page includes common SEO suggestions like focusing on search keywords and using ALT text with images. It is in each engine’s interest to index as many useful sites as possible; if a web site hasn’t been search engine optimized, search “spiders” (a.k.a. “robots”, “crawlers”) might not be able to access or index it. Basically, it is only manipulative techniques like “cloaking” and “Google bombing” that degrade search result quality and are rejected by the engines. However, some people generalize or lack in-depth understanding of the issue and fail to see the distinction.

Another of the fairly common misconceptions about SEO is that optimization can be achieved through some sort of “quick fix” or by “just writing good content”. Search engines are typically designed to resist any simple, quick technique that would drastically improve an individual site’s ranking in the results. Some of these techniques can even harm rankings. As for quality content, it makes optimization easier and should always be considered important, but it cannot replace SEO as some misconceptions suggest. An online article might have excellent information about a specific topic, but not include any of the keywords or phrases people use to search for that subject. It may also lack optimized META tags, be located on a page that is inaccessible to “spiders”, have no keywords in its URL, or be presented in a way that ruins its keyword density. Thus its lack of optimization could cause it to receive few or no visitors, despite offering good content material.

Other less common SEO misconceptions exist; some are the result of changing search engine policies and outdated information, while others are spread by individuals and companies trying to sell services which benefit from misconceptions of this type.

Chances are you have heard the phrase “information architecture” plenty of times in the past. But, if you haven’t given it a passing glance you may want to rethink your stance. Information architecture is the semantic structure and organization of digital inventories. Since SEO is concerned with giving the search engine spiders easily understood relevant content while making the website user-friendly, information architecture is a very important aspect.

A website’s architecture is composed of domains sections, categories, pages and media, among other items. Domains are the top level of the structure, potentially housing multiple sub-domains. Sections are the organizational hubs that hold categories, and occasionally other sections. Categories are reference points for pages and media. Pages are web documents in a variety of languages such as HTML, PHP or ASP. And media are images, videos, pdfs, sound files and so on.

So what are some things you should avoid for the best SEO results on a site? Well, first of all is duplicate content. Search engines only show one version of a page so if they crawl the same thing 5 times, the time spent doing that is wasted. The same goes for print pages. With either of these you should try to use a unique URL folder structure to modify those files so the robots don’t crawl them.

Another big issue is canonical problems. These allow users to find your site both with and without the “www” before the domain name. Crawlers think these are two different websites that have copied one another and this leads to an enormous problem with duplicate content.

So, what are some things you should do to enhance your information architecture for SEO? Definitely try to make your hierarchy as clean and simple as possible. Ensure that your navigation is consistent and that it’s always in the same place on your site. This makes it easier for crawlers and humans alike. Another helpful thing to do is to use cross-linking. This is when you are browsing a site and they have suggestions along the bottom for similar things on their site you may be interested in.

Knowing more about information architecture is crucial to SEO, but it also helps user interaction. And at the end of the day that’s just as, if not more, important to the success of a site.

With Web 2.0 and new media, many companies embraced blogging. But only a few are doing it right.

When executed correctly with a strategic and credible approach, blogging can build thought leadership online and foster dialog between customers and brands.

In this post, I’ll discuss some of the ways you can use blogging to reach these business goals. But first, what are most companies doing wrong?

The biggest mistakes I see are corporate blogs created merely for the sake of doing so. “Other companies are blogging, so we should too” (even if we have nothing to say). And then there are the blogs that function as thinly veiled undercover marketing tools, fake blogs or flogs.

In the blogosphere, there is nothing more important than credibility. What’s more, social media communities will turn quickly upon disingenuous and self-serving attempts at blogging. Worse, they won’t forgive and they won’t forget, so don’t shoot your blog in its digital foot.

So how should you blog if you want to create thought leadership? Corporate and executive blogs are communication platforms, and to get noticed and stand out writers need to share provocative ideas. Whether that means new perspectives on industry issues or discussing strategic concerns, thought leadership happens when you post original and relevant ideas.

Still, having great ideas is only half of the equation. With no attention or readers, your ideas will fall on deaf ears no matter how revolutionary they are.

In order to maximize your visibility and reach, start by researching the most popular bloggers in whatever vertical your going to be writing about. Then, comment on their posts and start a conversation. This helps you get your foot in the door and gain credibility by association. Chances are they’ll link to your blog too, which is a big help from a what marketers call an “influencer.”

As you write, make sure your posts utilize search-engine friendly titles, keywords, and links. A little SEO can go a long way propelling your blog to the top of the rankings, which lends further credibility to your words.

Add video and sound to your blog as well. Studies show that blogs with interactive media, especially video and podcasts, capture more returning visitors and offer a “stickier” user experience.

Don’t overlook social media channels either. By adding social bookmarking buttons, readers can digg, del.i.cio.us, Facebook, etc. your content and expose it to their networks. Again, being connected to these key “influencers” is a proven and effective method to build thought leadership.

None of this will happen overnight, however. It may take months of blogging before you start to build readership and gain recognition. Monitoring your blog with web analytics will provide further insight into your efforts while showing you what content is the most popular with readers.

Remember that a corporate or executive blog must create dialog between management, customers, and readers. Companies and brands can leverage blogs successfully to share information that otherwise would remain internal. Blogs humanize companies by giving a face to an organization, and well-written content can create loyal brand supporters. Always enable comments on your blog to foster conversation.

Allocate the resources for your blog before you start writing. If it’s a company blog, make sure you or whomever manages the blog has time to update it frequently, ideally posting new content every two or three days. Nothing looks worse than a blog that hasn’t been updated in three months.

Creating thought leadership online is tricky business. As you can see, many companies are prone to the mistakes and mishaps that arise when their blogs are used for the wrong reasons. In the blogosphere, credibility is paramount.

Developing thought leadership is about gaining credibility with readers and establishing yourself as the authority on whatever topic you write about. Do this and you’ll become one of the “influencers” I mentioned above. Key influencers are, by definition, thought leaders.

Nick Yorchak is a Search Engine Marketing Specialist at Fusionbox who is actively engaged in the art and science of blogging. Nick enjoys experimenting with social media and its many business applications. For more information, contact Nick at Fusionbox.

Many web sites use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to promote themselves to a national or worldwide audience. However, some sites really only need to target a local audience; examples include the web sites of a single hardware store, a local internet service provider, or a small book shop. In these situations, localizing SEO is a better option; this way, the site only needs to focus upon improving its rankings for locally-oriented searches.

Part of localizing SEO is to determine the different keywords and phrases people use to search for local businesses or content. For example, people looking up information about computer repair services in Portland, Oregon might search for “Computer repair Portland Oregon”, “computer repair portland OR”, or “PC repair Portland, Oregon”. Because there is another major city called Portland, searchers often put “Oregon” in their queries, whereas people in cities like Atlanta or Seattle are less likely to include the state name.

People also sometimes use zip codes when localizing their searches, particularly when looking for weather information and businesses in a specific area. The actual popularity of different search queries can be researched using online SEO tools like Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery, although such statistics are subject to change and do not cover all search engines. The web site should then use one or more of these phrases (or single SEO based keywords) in its text, META tags, URLs, and page titles.

Localizing SEO also includes the acquisition of links on other local web sites, preferably about related subjects. For example, a local TV antenna and satellite store would benefit from gaining a link on a site which offers TV listings for the same area. Obtaining links in local web directories is beneficial as well, particularly the business directories found on some city/town government sites. Many national and international web directories feature regional categories, including the major directory DMOZ.org.

It is also best if the inbound link titles (or “anchor text”) include words aimed at localizing the site’s promotion. For example, it would be better for SEO purposes if a movie rental business in Lincoln, Nebraska gained a link titled “Video Rental in Lincoln NE” than “Local Movie Rental Business”. It isn’t always possible to decide the titles of inbound links, and poorly-titled links still have value. However, localizing the site’s homepage title is esp. important to SEO, as these titles are often used by other sites when creating links.

We’ve all been to websites with mistakes in their design. Such mistakes can make a website difficult to use, inaccessible on some computers, and/or unprofessional looking. Here are the top 5 common mistakes that website designers should avoid:

1. Lines of text wider than the screen: Some websites require users with common lower-resolution displays to repeatedly scroll left and right across the screen while reading each line. A website should be designed so that it appears properly on any screen resolution. Worse still, a number of websites have design mistakes which cause part of the page (especially common within non-scrolling frames) to be completely obscured at some resolution levels.

2. Too much javascript, Flash, etc: When a website relies upon Flash, javascript, and IFRAMEs (especially those supplied by external sites) for most of its content, search engine “spiders” find very little intelligible material when they check the website, and users with browsers that aren’t javascript-enabled won’t see much either. Having some original content is generally better for search rankings.

3. Right-click blockers: It is relatively common to visit a website that shows error messages if you try to use the right mouse button. The reason for this is to discourage people from copying the page or its images. However, it prevents legitimate right-click functions like opening a link in a new browser window, and someone intent upon stealing the content can still do so in a different way. It also makes the page take longer to load.

4. Poor color combination: One of the top website mistakes is to use a color scheme that is hard to read (or look at). Be creative with the choice of colors, but make sure the lettering contrasts well with the background (which shouldn’t be unnecessarily bright). Even the best information or offers may be ignored if they are difficult to read or otherwise undesirable.

5. Internet Explorer based design: Because IE is the top web browser, some website designers only consider how a site will appear in it. However, when the 08/2008 market share (according to w3schools.com) of Firefox, Opera, and Safari are combined, it is about 48%. Also, search engine “spiders” see a website more like text-only browsers do. Keep in mind that Windows 95 users are limited to IE 5.5, and 98/2000/ME users to IE 6.x, so these versions remain common.

Avoiding these top website mistakes is to the benefit of both the site’s users and owner. Web designers working for someone else will find that they have to correct fewer mistakes and respond to less complaints if they avoid the above-mentioned design flaws.