Top 5 SEO Myths

Debunking some common myths about Search Engine Optimization.

As a web consultant, I interact with business owners every day. The questions I am asked most are usually about SEO, with some very widely (and wildly) misunderstood concepts. Here are my top 5 SEO myths:

5) SEO is some sort of black magic or voodoo

SEO is not black magic or voodoo, though it can sometimes seem like it. The reason is because Google and other major search engines do not fully disclose their complex search ranking algorithms. In addition, sometimes they update their algorithms, and you can see an unexpected shift in rankings. This is obviously not black magic, and you can keep up on all of Google’s algorithm updates by subscribing to the blog over at Search Engine Roundtable.

4) You have to submit your website to 100′s of search engines to get ranked

In the old days of search, it was recommended to submit your site to hundreds or even thousands of search engines. However, things have changed, and sometimes it is not necessary at all (and it definitely wont have any effect on rankings). To get crawled and (hopefully) indexed by the search engines, you simply need a popular site linking to you. I say popular because if your link is on an unpopular site, it takes Google and the other engines longer to find your link, as they visit more popular sites more often. You can still add your URL at Google, however there is no guarantee that it will ever get crawled.

3) The more domain names you own, the better you will rank

Somewhere, someone started a rumor that by creating mass amounts of mini-sites or having multiple forwarded domains will help your rankings. The concept makes sense, but in reality I feel that your efforts are better spent building one large, authoritative, content rich site than spreading your resources over multiple smaller sites. What about building a great site and copying it over and over? It’s spam, and Google has a rule against it called Duplicate Content. Regarding forwarded domains, Google will only index the final domain where the forwarding finally resolves. Nice try!

2) Solely participating on social media sites will get you ranked

Don’t get me wrong, social media is great for SEO. However, it is not simply the act of participating in social media that helps you rank. It takes a bit of creativity, building of trust and know-how to truly boost rankings using social media. The concept is that through social media, you have the opportunity to network and acquire inbound links from other sites, which will definitely improve your rankings. It is usually not the profile links on the social networks that achieve this (as most profiles, walls and time-lines are either not indexed or use no-follow), but it is the individual site owners you build relationships with and kindly help your bottom line by linking to you.

and finally, my number one SEO myth is:

1) Meta keyword tags will get you ranking at the top

Ahhh, finally, my arch-nemesis, the ol’ meta keywords tag. This actually did work for awhile! It is a hidden tag in the HEAD section of every web page (in your browser click: View > Source to see it) that lists all of the keywords that you would like to rank for. Simple, right? Wrong! It was abused time and time again, so the engines dropped it completely. What? You just viewed the source on this page and you can see that I’m still using it? Well, you’ll still see some of the smaller engines and site search functions use the tag for indexing. In addition, some people believe that since it does not necessarily hurt your rankings, its a good idea to include them for good measure. I find that it is best not to stuff the tag though. Stick with, perhaps, 5-6 of your most relevant keywords for that page.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed my top 5 SEO myths. If you did not understand some of the concepts, I recommend reading up on Search Engine Optimization over at Arron Wall’s SEOBook. Also, be sure to subscribe to our feed to receive my upcoming SEO Crash Course.

What are some of the most outrageous SEO myths you have heard? Comment below.