Can every incoming link hurt my ranking?

The answer is simple: Inbound links can't hurt your search ranking. How can you know for sure? If inbound links were hurting your ranking, your competitors would be constantly linking to your website from link farms. Such a scenario is beyond your control. That's why Google can't penalize your website for inbound links.

On the other hand, you can be penalized for unauthorized external links. Linking to websites or groups of websites that may be involved in dubious or unethical search practices is strongly discouraged. This could lead to a Google blacklisting and ultimately derail your SEO strategy. Avoid this situation at all costs and ensure that all external links point to trustworthy and reliable sources.

Having spent a large portion of my professional life in the internet industry, I've spent a lot of time researching, browsing, and reading websites, primarily for my clients' design research, but also occasionally for personal use. What disappoints me most is the apparent lack of thought in the creation of websites and their purpose, which in turn causes many e-businesses to miss their opportunities for success.

My personal view on e-commerce companies and their websites is this: If they don't take pride in their websites and show their customers that they're passionate about what they do, they probably won't take pride in their products either. They'll also lack a passion for good customer service.

Remember that your website is a direct reflection of your personality and your business. Your website's appearance is the most important factor in your potential success. In short, if your website doesn't appear professional or appealing at first glance, most people will assume your products and/or services are of equally poor quality.

On the other hand, there's a danger of overdoing the design and overcomplicating things with expensive, flashy graphics. While you'll get an attractive and aesthetically pleasing website, there's a risk that your site will be unreliable and sometimes take too long to load. There's nothing worse for customers than visiting a slow-loading website, and most will close the browser window in frustration. I'm sure you can get this under control, but it will ultimately cost you revenue.

The other important aspect (if not the most important) of website design is your content. Not just links, but content with passion, relevance, and customer insight. When someone is looking for something specific and visits your website, they have a reason. Your website offers something they're looking for—be it your product, service, and/or information. If they don't find what they're looking for, they move on to the next website, and so on. To keep your visitors browsing and staying on your site, you need to give them a reason to do so. High-quality content helps achieve this.

There are countless lists and articles on website design mistakes, but I've compiled my own list from a designer's perspective of things to look out for when creating a website or purchasing a template. Remember: The most successful websites are simple, uncluttered, informative, and well-designed. If you already run an e-business and your sales aren't meeting your expectations, consider the points above and take the time to take an open and honest look at your website. Investing money in improving your website is a much better investment than spending money marketing a site that simply isn't good enough to sell your products or services.

If you're looking for a template or a custom-designed website, consider the points above and ask questions of your chosen designer or template provider to ensure your hard-earned money isn't wasted on a substandard design with the features mentioned above. Asking questions costs you nothing and can actually save you a lot of money in the long run. To save money and time, it's important to design your website right the first time. The faster your website is functioning properly, the sooner you can reap the rewards of your successful e-business.

The biggest mistake newbies make is using the website name in the anchor text. Unless your website contains your keywords, this is a waste of a good link. Remember, Google places great value on these anchor texts and should always use your keywords.

The second mistake is to include every single keyword in the anchor text and then pass it on to everyone. This technique has two disadvantages: 1.) Google gives weight to each word in the anchor text. So, if there are a lot of filler words (often in long sentences), your text will be "watered down."