There are some SEO problems we see all the time. Websites that display text in images instead of html, using language that doesn’t match the way people talk about what the site’s about, vague words used for headings and link text. These are missed opportunities to tell search engine crawlers what a site is about. A lot of the really key parts of SEO aren’t secret; Google Webmaster Central is foremost among many sources for free tools and information that can help make a search engine friendly site.

But still, people code, design and write for websites in ways that really hurt their chances of getting good search engine rankings and the site traffic that those rankings can bring. The other day, I thought of paintings by Mark Rothko as a fine art example of a common SEO problem. Some of Rothko’s famous works include Untitled, No. 18, and of course, Untitled.

Rothko believed that describing or explaining his work would interfere with the mind of the viewer, which is where the meaning of the work should emerge. If your website stores text in graphics, your website might as well look like 1949 (above), because search engines can’t read images. Don’t do this with your website!

Ok, subtlety is good for some things. Metaphysics too. But your site visitors shouldn’t have to be Michel Foucault to be able figure out what your site is about. Let’s say Magritte’s The Treachery of Images, below, represents your website copy. I get it. It isn’t really a pipe, it’s oil and pigment smeared around on canvas in thousands of small strokes etc., etc. But if you point at it and ask anyone what that is, they’ll tell you. It’s a pipe.

So if you have a website that sells shovels, don’t describe your product as a tool that is useful for creating holes in a variety of materials. Call a spade a spade, or in this case, a shovel, because people searching the term spade might be interested in the Humphrey Bogart, card playing or dog owners who can’t spell very well. Search engines need literal cues to tell what your site is about.

Ah, now that’s good search engine optimization! Thank you Mr. Warhol. What am I looking at? It’s a can of soup, made by Campbell’s. And it’s tomato-flavored! Hmm, I’m going to have to add liquid to it before eating it, because it’s condensed…

Too silly for you? Well, maybe it’s not the best of analogies, but seriously, say no to technologies and creative decisions that will prevent search engines from finding your site.