10 Scary SEO Myths - Search Engine Legends

June 23rd 2009 5:39 PM Categories: SEO

10 SEO Myths The fact that the inner workings of search engine algorithms are secret and constantly evolving creates a lot of conflicting advice, tips, and recommendations in the SEO industry. The enormous uncertainty in the search engine market has created an ideal breeding ground for SEO myths. Bear in mind some of these myths were truth before, but have become myths due to the change in the search engine algorithms.

There are many myths and conflicting advice out there, my recommendation would be to learn from as many sources and qualified individuals as possible in coming to your own conclusions.

Here are my 10 SEO Myths to be aware of, that I like to call Search Engine Legends:

Article Submissions Services are Great for Link Building

So you pay a small fee, get your article submitted to thousands of publishers, and within seconds you have thousands of backlinks! Wow, sounds great you say.

There are some serious problems with this link building approach. For one, having duplicate content on hundreds or thousands of websites can have a very harmful impact on the rank of your original article’s web page. Secondly, link building is about quality not just quantity. Having thousands of links from websites that are not relevant to yours may actually harm your link building efforts and you may well be better off without them.

Anchor Text Keyword Stuffing Works

No it doesn’t, it can piss search engines off. The anchor text of inbound links to your website is very important and should be looked after. This doesn’t mean that you should stuff the exact same keywords into all the anchor text you create. Search engines are increasingly favoring ‘natural’ approaches to link building.

Use variations of keywords and phrases to avoid looking spammy to search engines. For example if your target keyword phrase for a webpage is ‘online marketing’ don’t place ‘online marketing’ into the anchor text of every blog post or inbound link you request. Vary it up with combinations such as ‘internet marketing’ ’seo marketing’ ‘online advice’ for a more natural looking profile.

You Need to Submit Your Site to Search Engines

Once upon a time there were hundreds of popular search engines, before Google grew into an 8000 pound elephant. These days, only three search engines dominate the market, and their algorithms are smart enough to find your website without having to submit it to them.

Directory Submissions Are Awesome

Yeah, they used to be pretty good but not anymore. Once again this is related to the quality of inbound links. There is nothing wrong with submitting to several highly relevant and trusted directories on the web. But using a service to submit your website to hundreds or even thousands of directories will harm your link quality, and your rankings in the long run.

Outsourcing Link Building is Good Value

So you go on GetAFreelancer.com, you enter a bid for link building, and you get all these bids for people who will build you 25 quality PR5+ links for only $150, sounds good? It shouldn’t. A successful link building strategy is very unique to your own website. Having the lowest bidder or someone you don’t know well manage your link building strategy is asking for trouble.

If you insist on outsourcing your link building, talk to a reputable organization that will take the time to understanding your specific needs and formulate a tailored strategy for you. Don’t just outsource your link building to anyone, it’s far too important.

Link Exchanges / Buying Links Work Well

There has been a recent crackdown by Google on paid links. This is because it compromises the effectiveness of their search engine algorithm, and is a great way to to eliminate their competition (after all, they sell links themselves in the form of PPC advertisements).

That is not to say link buying still doesn’t work, but that you should be careful about it. Don’t buy from known ‘bad neighborhoods’ or websites recognized or exposed at selling links. If it seems natural, and indeed it can be (emailing someone offering them $50 for a permanent link), Google and other search engines have no way of tracking it. Just make sure you don’t buy from the wrong dealer!

Keyword Density Is Important

BS I say. At one time, keyword density was a buzz word in the industry. Understanding and talking about it showed sophistication and innovation. Now it represents borderline stupidity. There is no single magic bullet in terms of ideal keyword density. There are many examples of webpages with both very low, and very high keyword density ranking at the top of their targeted keyword phrases.

You Must Have An XML Sitemap To Get Indexed

If you built an easily indexed and navigational website, you don’t need an XML sitemap to become recognized by the search engines. That being said, they don’t hurt to have, and can help you getting content indexed faster. But they are not required for indexing.

PageRank Sculpting Works

This myth was blown out of the water fairly recently by Matt Cutts of Google. With recent changes in the way link juice from nofollow and dofollow links is directed, manipulating nofollow to direct more juice to certain pages or links simply does not work anymore. It’s been announced recently that this change was introduced about a year ago, so pity those who’ve spent lots of time trying to do it, and don’t waste yours.

Flash Is Bad

It used to be, but that is changing. Google keeps improving its Flash Indexing Capabilities, and I suspect within several years Flash will not be an SEO issue at all.

That being said, a page purely written in Flash is still detrimental. It’s not that Flash is bad, it’s that heavily relying on it in your website is. Using flash in various sections of your website can be very beneficial, just make sure your website structure and content does not depend on it, rather use it to complement your site.

What do you think of these myths? What are the biggest SEO myths you’ve heard of? Please share your knowledge below.