10 SEO Myths Busted

When dealing with Search Engine Optimization, it is important to avoid working with false misconceptions, and to separate the myths from the facts.

We often get asked a lot of the same questions so we’ve collected the 10 most common myths that we’ve run across and put them to bed.

SEO Myth: Flash is bad, avoid it at all costs.

Fact: It’s the complete reliance on Flash and absence of text that is bad.

Google and other search engines now have the ability to discover and index text content in .swf files.  They can also follow URL’s embedded in Flash files.  Google does, however, say that they don’t guarantee to index all the content and that’s part of the problem that still exists.  Depending on the structure of the website, you could build an alternative HTML version or provide proper Flash coding with text availability and text links to follow.

SEO Myth number two: Keywords Meta Tag matters and you should include many keywords there to help with page rank.

Fact: Using the Keywords Meta Tag can actually HURT YOU.

Due to reasons such as keyword stuffing, search engines stopped using this Meta Tag as a ranking factor.  Placing important keywords in your HTML Tags has no impact on your website’s ranking and allows your competitors to ‘steal’ them by simply viewing your source code through the browser.  Don’t share your keywords and the hard work you’ve put into researching them.

SEO Myth: Only build niche links from your related industry.

Fact: Link diversification is healthy and recommended.

First of all, we have to understand that the quality of backlinks is far more important than the quantity.  Second of all, a diversity of link across different industries, instead of only industry-related links, is healthy for your SEO and website because:

• Influence – links from a variety of sites tells Google your site is trusted across the Web
• Traffic & visibility – links across a range of websites brings in an array of audience traffic and a broad audience exposure

To prove the point: consider any successful company; wouldn’t non-industry-related companies naturally want to link to its website too?

Email us at info@bbexmarketing.com for a tip sheet on how to create link diversity

SEO Myth: It is good practice to include a robots.txt file if you want your entire site indexed.

Fact: Having a robots.txt file is unnecessary if you want to allow the search engines to index your site in its entirety.

“You need a robots.txt file only if your site includes content that you don’t want search engines to index. If you want search engines to index everything in your site, you don’t need a robots.txt file (not even an empty one).”

-Google

https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=156449&from=35237&rd=1

SEO Myth: Automated services that build hundreds or thousands of backlinks are good for your site’s rankings.

Fact: Manually link building is the best way to increase rankings.

Google’s goal when organically ranking websites is to determine which website is going to be the most relevant website that searchers are looking for.  Google’s theory is that if a website is of high quality, it will be linked to and optimized naturally.  That’s why Google and other search engines regard these automated link building services as spam and don’t reward them as much as naturally linked techniques.

SEO Myth: Using picture links instead of text link is bad SEO

Fact: Pictures don’t have to be bad.

It’s not mandatory to transform your website from picture links into text links. Search engines may reward you just the same if the website makes good practice of the ALT attributes to properly include keywords for links.  Or you could add the word “image” or “picture” to the ALT attribute and caption to optimize the picture itself, if you think that’s what the search will be for.

Email us at info@bbexmarketing.com for more information on how to optimize pictures for Google Images and others.

SEO Myth: Multiple websites/domain names will help my primary website.

Fact: Multiple websites/domains must be implemented correctly.

This dangerous practice is often abused by people who think that publishing their content on more websites will help them rank better.  Search engines penalize duplicate content as it’s considered spam.  That said, there are solutions for having multiple domains pointing to your website.  For example, have unique and interesting content on the pointing websites.  Hosting it on a different server may also help if the quantity of domains grow.  And there are other recommendations for the proper implementation.

SEO Myth: You have to submit your website URL to the search engines to get indexed.

Fact: Your website may naturally be picked up by the search engines.

First thing you should do with your website for SEO is sign up for Google Webmaster Tools.  This is a fantastic free tool that will easily allow you to configure and analyze the website for your objective.  It will help you determine how the website is crawled, indexed and ranked.  Furthermore, implement or hire for an effective SEO campaign.  The search engines will pick your website up in no time.

SEO Myth: SEO starts AFTER the website is built

Fact: SEO begins BEFORE the website is built.

Making a website search engine-friendly works best if it’s considered before the website’s creation.  The creation of the text, optimization of the Title and Header Tags, implementation of Flash/Java/Scripts, link correctness, and essentially everything that involves your website should have a correct design prior to implementation rather than going in after, for a renovation process.

SEO Myth: SEO is a one-time action and you can kick back once you’re site is optimized.

Fact: SEO is an ongoing process that continuously requires work.

The most effective SEO campaigns are ones that continue for a long period of time.  Be careful of neglecting your website’s SEO project after it reaches your desired ranking, as it will very likely lose its ranking with time unless maintained.

Please feel free to email us at info@bbexmarketing with any questions, suggestions or topics that you want to discuss.

*Photo “connecting search to social networks” courtesy of Flickr user, Search Engine People Blog under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License