There are hundreds of different SEO myths floating around out there. The problem is that for webmasters and small business owners looking to do things the right way, it can be hard to find factual information that can really pay dividends. When you want to be successful with SEO, you first have to become aware of these SEO myths so you can rid yourselves of them. Here are the 12 most common SEO myths that are still getting passed around.
#1- All Links are Equal- The person who believes he/she can go out and purchase thousands of backlinks and will be successful is sadly mistaken. It’s important to understand that some links are better than others, and poor quality links can have a negative effective on your overall rankings. This is why some people can have 50 backlinks that are of high quality and do better than someone with 2,000 backlinks.
2. Keyword Density is Important: Another one of the most common SEO myths is the myth of keyword density. There is no set keyword density that is guaranteed to provide you with success in the search engines. It’s about incorporating your targeted keywords and phrases in the right places, in the right ways while not overdoing it and making your content or website seem like spam.
#3- Meta Keywords Still Work- Okay, if you’ve been reading up on meta keywords you can stop wasting your time. Yes, they used to be extremely valuable, but after Google and Yahoo publicly announced they no longer use them in their algorithm calculations, it’s pointless. Just remember to stick with the meta descriptions and tiles because these still play a major role.
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: Another one of the most common SEO myths that people believe in is that SEO success happens instantaneously. It just doesn’t happen overnight. SEO is a process that works over a period of time, and the results gradually improve. It requires long term dedication and not a quick fix strategy.
#7- Google is All that Matters- Once upon a time businesses could just focus on Google and make all kinds of money. However, those days are long gone and these SEO myths now revolve around utilize several search engines. You have to remember that the smaller ones like Yahoo and Bing still have people using theirs. Yes, Google makes up about 34% of all the searches online, but that leaves you without the other 66%. Plus, you can’t forget about other ways to market like Facebook, Youtube, and a plethora of other options.
#8- PageRank is Everything- Page ranking was extremely important when there was only one way to decipher the ranks. However, when the algorithms began to change in hopes of providing more relevant information, thinking they were everything turned into one of the SEO myths. It definitely still helps, but with the constant algorithm fluctuation it’s not as big.
#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: Receiving a lot of traffic is generally great, but if all of your traffic is untargeted you won’t be producing any results. Additionally, sites with high bounce rates can end up suffering in the search engines as a result because your site is viewed as having something wrong with it or being a match. Therefore, first strive for highly targeted traffic and then work to increase and expand 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, You’re Done- SEO myths are all over the place and they usually start with thinking you’re done when you finally get that ranking. However, you will find that SEO is an ongoing process that takes constant work. So if you just wrote 10 articles, submitted them to directories and added a few backlinks here and there, it’s only the beginning. In the end, if your competition is constantly working on their SEO strategies; why should you stop?
These SEO myths are why so many people fail in the marketing world. It’s a combination of stubbornness and just finding the wrong information when searching how to successfully market your website. If you can stay up to date with the latest trends, you will end up staying away from those schemes and pitfalls that cause others to fail.
Learn more about SEO. Stop by David Baxters’s site www.SmartMediaInnovations.com where you can find out all the latest data and information about increasing your wesbite’s search engine rankings and what it can do for you.
