Entry

Top 10 SEO Myths

May 12th, 2008 03:55
ashish sharma, http://black-pearl7.blogspot.com

Ever wonder what the biggest SEO myths are? I have taken the most
prevalent myths that seem to be constantly resurfacing and examined them
for you. This is a must read for anyone looking to hire an SEO firm or
someone looking to do SEO for themselves.

Myth #1 All meta tags are of equal importance
Some meta tags are useful while others are not. I have stated this many
times. Search engines are relying more and more about what is on the
website than what the tags are telling them. The description tag is used
by some (but not all) search engines. The same goes for the keyword tag.
Keyword tags are used more by spammers and people using software to find
you as a link partner than the search engines. In my opinion, the only
tags you should concentrate your efforts on are the robot tag and the
description tags.

Myth # 2 You should submit your site to search engines weekly or
monthly.Honestly, I never submit any site more than 1 time and sometimes
I don't even do that. If you submit your site once, you're good. The
engines will come back on their own. You can sometimes speed up the
process of getting your site indexed by linking it to a high traffic or
high PR site. The search engines will find the URL to your site and
index it automatically.

Myth # 3 SEO is too expensive
Actually, SEO is probably the most cost effective form of online
marketing. Organic SEO is cheaper to set up and maintain than a PPC
campaign or banner advertising. With PPC and banner advertising, you pay
for clicks or impressions. With SEO, all clicks are FREE. You simply pay
for the set up and monitoring of your site's pages.

Myth # 4 PPC is more effective than natural SEO
In the short term...true. In the long term...false. Why, you ask?
Organic SEO is preferred by traffic over 5 to 1 to PPC. People trust
organic searches to return relevant results. People also know that the
ads to the right of the page are sponsored ads. They have long ago
figured out that anyone can bid on any term they want, as many often do,
without even a hint of relevance. So, long term SEO structuring can
indeed be more effective than PPC, especially when considering the
preferences of search traffic. A top 5 ranking may take some time to
get, but once you are there (and provided you can maintain it), you will
get better results than from a PPC ad.

Myth # 5 Hiring an SEO specialist "in house" is cheaper
The problem with hiring someone in house is, they are paid hourly or by
salary. Most SEO firms (Mr-SEO included), charge per item or project. It
doesn't matter how long it takes us, you pay a one time charge. When you
hire a firm, it's like having a team of SEO experts on your payroll.
Paying a flat rate saves you money and speeds up the time it takes to
complete a job. Additionally, most SEO firms (again, Mr-SEO Included)
have specialists who write, submit, redesign sites, post pages, etc...
Hiring one person who can do all these things competantly is highly
unlikely.

Myth # 6 I can only optimize my homepage for keyterms
You can and should optimize every page on your site. Each page should
have it's own keyterms, with no more than three phrases per page
(preferrably one).

Myth # 7 All I need to do is write content with the correct keyword
density and my site will rank well
Wrong...especially if you want to rank on Google. You will need off site
SEO as well as onsite SEO. Keyword density may work on MSN (for now),
but it will take more than that to rank well for all search engines.

Myth # 8 I shouldn't aim for the most competitive keywords and phrases
If the keywords you are competing for are very competitive, should you
optimize your site for them? Of Course! I would optimize for some high,
medium and low competitive keyterms. Cover all your bases. The worst
case is that you won't rank well for the high competitive keyterms and
that's ok. You can always work to improve them. Don't shy away from top
keyterms just because they are competitive. You may never know how close
you could rank for them unless you try.

Myth # 9 Only work with companies that give you a guarantee
Guarantees would be nice if they were worth the paper they are printed
on. In fact, most guarantees from SEO firms have the same stipulation in
them. This stipulation usually states that as long as they get one of
your keyphrases to the top of any major search engines, they have
fulfilled their end of the agreement. This is irrelevant to the
competition of the term. In other words...it's easy to be number one for
terms no one is competing for. Don't be deceived by high rankings listed
on SEO sites as they can be misleading.

Myth # 10 SEO requires a 1 year commitment on my part
It certainly shouldn't. Don't lock yourself into a year contract with
any company unless you already have an established, favorable business
relationship. SEO, in most cases, should be performed on a month to
month basis with a mutual understanding of the objectives and relative
timetable. Often, both the long and short term maintenance contracts
that many firms insist on including with each job are unnecessary. As an
example...If you have a new site optimized, especially right after an
update, you may not see results for three months. Why pay for
maintenance in the interim time? Additionally, you may not be happy with
the results of an SEO firm or even the level of service. A long term
contract may only ensure that you receive a full year of bad service.
So, don't lock yourself in with a year contract, at least until you are
comfortable with who you are dealing with.

Hopefully, I put a few common SEO myths to rest. Feel free to contact me
with questions you may have regarding these or other SEO myths you want
more information on. If you post this article on your site you must link
back!