Friday, November 20, 2009

SEO Myths- 12 Common SEO Falsehoods

By David Baxter

Some people may call them SEO myths and others outdated information, but either way they can be detrimental to your online success with search engine optimization. Plus, you also have to consider that a lot of the information we find today is more opinionated than factual. So in order to combat the problem, today we're going to talk about the 12 most common SEO myths wandering around cyberspace today.

#1- All Links are Equal- Even though this was once a successful SEO strategy, you will find that are links are NOT equal today. There are several ways to build backlinks to your sites, but only a few of them today are helpful. This is due to the search engines becoming more aware of what is relevant and what is not. So when you find someone with 50 backlinks to their site and a higher ranking then you with 1000 links, this is why.

#2- Keyword Density is Important- This is on the SEO myths list because so many people are wrapped up in keyword density. Granted, you don't want to stuff keywords into your articles or web pages, but if you just provide highly searched uncompetitive keywords in these areas you will have more success and get indexed better.

#3- Meta Keywords Still Work- You have probably heard all the debates that go back and forth about meta keywords. Recently though it was discovered that this statement is simply one of the SEO myths. Google and Yahoo have announced publicly that they no longer use meta keywords for ranking purposes. So don't bother working on them. However, meta descriptions and tiles are still valuable.

4. Web Directories are Highly Valuable: It's been a very long time since web directories have been highly valuable. The proliferation of the insta-web directory and webmasters submitting their sites to them en masse has devalued the importance of these once powerful marketing strategies. Getting displayed in highly credible web directories can still be advantageous, but in general web directories have lost their mystique.

#5- Blackhat SEO Won't Get you Caught- The person who believes Blackhat SEO is nonpunishable is sadly mistaken. It doesn't matter if you're a huge company or have an individual platform, when the major search engines catch you they deny listing you in the search engines.

#6- SEO Success Happens Overnight- Even though we consider this one of the major SEO myths, most people are beginning to catch on to the longevity involved. The truth is SEO is an endless battle and mostly because of the fluctuation that takes place in the algorithms. If you or someone you know think this is a quick fix solution, you'll end up being disappointed.

7. Google is All That Matters: Obviously Google is the largest and most powerful search engine that's out there today. However, one of the most prevalent SEO myths is that it's all the matters for the success of your website. This can't be farther from the truth. With Yahoo!, Bing, other search engines, a slew of important social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and MySpace and various other tactics such as article marketing there are a variety of ways to drive traffic to your sites besides Google.

#8- PageRank is Everything- Again, back in the day everyone focused on their PageRank more than anything else. One of the SEO myths of today is that this is still the most important thing. Keep in mind it does help your website achieve higher rankings, but it's not the only factor. Since algorithms constantly change, your PR number will fluctuate throughout the year.

#9- Common Sense is More Important than Research- If you think something works online, it doesn't necessarily mean everyone else believes the same thing. A prime example of this is through keyword selection. There are hundreds of different ways to find keywords and in order to find them you need to do research. If you don't you can easily end up losing out in the long run.

#10- More Traffic is Always Better- If anyone throws these SEO myths at you, run the other way. The truth is you can have millions of visitors everyday, but without targeted traffic your sales will only be minimal. The idea is to have conversion rates that are off the charts, which means you need internet buyers not surfers. We recommend looking for targeted traffic first, then move on to expanding your base.

11. Buying Links and Link Farms Always Works: Google has long since sniffed out the practices of link farming, three way linking and buying links. You may be able to derive some benefits in certain situations, however in most cases many of these techniques fall into the blackhat realm and can see you penalized.

12. Once You Achieve a Ranking, Your Work is Done: One of the largest SEO myths of them all is that SEO is a one-shot deal. In other words, just because you achieve a ranking it doesn't mean your work is over. In truth, that's the easy part and the hard part is maintaining or improving on that ranking as time goes on. Your website has fierce competition from many sources, and you need to work hard to maintain your presence.

So learn from the mistakes of others and avoid these common SEO myths. Always remember, SEO is a dynamic and changing landscape, and what works today may not work tomorrow. Stay up to date with the latest trends and best practices and avoid falling into these and similar schemes and pitfalls.

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