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SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION)ARTICLES
Wading Through The Search Engine Myths
by Scott Buresh
There is an abundance of search engine information
available on the web- some of it valuable, much
of it contradictory. Throughout the years, some
prevailing search engine myths have developed. Some
of these myths are actively encouraged by companies
with a financial interest in their continued existence.
Others are based upon techniques that were effective
years ago but no longer work. Still other myths
come from simple misunderstandings that inevitably
come with a relatively new medium. What follows
is a few of the most prevalent.
Myth: Using a program or service to "Submit
your site to 10,000 Search Engines" is a good idea.
Fact: There aren't 10,000 search engines.
There aren't even 500. In fact, the top 10 search
engines account for the vast majority of search
traffic (studies vary from between 85 and 98 percent).
Most of the sites that these programs or services
list as "search engines" are called FFA (Free For
All) sites. These sites will agree to place a link
to your site on their site, which is usually just
a collection of links. Your link will usually only
appear for a short time, since as new links are
added, the older ones are pushed off the page. Almost
no traffic can be expected from such links- but
you can expect a lot of unsolicited mail to the
email address that you provide them. In fact, these
pages are set up largely to collect email addresses
to which spam can be sent (and you can get spam
for free!). In addition, engines do not like submissions
done by computer programs (because of the excessive
use of resources and the general low quality of
the pages they usually receive in this manner),
and many of the most popular have taken steps to
make automated submission impossible. This means
that these programs or services will not even get
you listed in many of the top engines.
Myth: Using a program or service to "Submit
your site to 10,000 Search Engines" or listing your
site on FFA pages can get your site penalized.
Fact: Search engines are very careful
not to penalize sites for issues that are outside
of the webmaster's control. For example, if
it were possible for a site to be penalized for
using one of these scam submission services, it
would then be fairly easy to get your competition
penalized for a nominal fee by simply submitting
their site. If a link to a site from an FFA page
were all that it took for penalization, it would
not cost anything to get your competition penalized,
save for the time it took to submit their link.
Your site will not be penalized for incoming links,
period, even if they come from less than desirable
sources. You can, however, be heavily penalized
if you choose to link OUT to bad pages. The difference,
of course, is that you have full control over the
sites you wish to link to, whereas you have very
little control over who decides to link to you.
Myth: Using software to check your search
engine positions will get your site penalized.
Fact: This belief is still widespread today,
even among many respected industry professionals.
Since Google states in their terms of service that
ranking software should not be used to check rankings,
many people interpret this to mean that Google will
penalize the sites that are being checked. However,
for largely the same reasons described in the previous
myth, this just wouldn't make sense. The ability
to get your competitors penalized by repeatedly
running software to check their search engine positions
would be a very powerful (and unfair) weapon, and
Google realizes this. What they will do, however,
is penalize the IP address of the machine that is
running the software. This can make for uncomfortable
moments when you have to explain why everybody sharing
your office T1 line is denied access to Google,
but won't get your site penalized.
Myth: Meta tags are the most important factor
in search engine rankings.
Fact: Many search engines (most notably Google)
largely ignore meta tags due to constant abuse by
webmasters. The only importance placed on meta
tags these days is actually the meta description
tag, which will appear as the description for the
corresponding page on engines that use inktomi data
(such as MSN). Meta tags are virtually irrelevant
in the ranking algorithms of the top engines- but
many people continue to believe that they are the
only optimization strategy that they need.
Myth: It's impossible to do search engine optimization
in-house.
Fact: It often is done in house, and done effectively.
This is typically when a large corporation hires
in-house talent that is devoted exclusively to promoting
the website. However, it is unrealistic to expect
someone with many other job functions to do a credible
job of SEO. Much of the skills are acquired through
experience- and it isn't usually desirable to have
someone "experimenting" with the company website
(especially considering that certain techniques
can get sites penalized on engines or banned outright).
SEO isn't rocket science, but it also isn't something
that can be learned overnight. When deciding whether
to outsource SEO or do it in house, it is important
to consider the actual costs involved. Often, when
the necessary hours it takes to pay someone to learn
on the job are taken into account, it is cheaper
to outsource (and, if you've chosen your vendor
wisely, the results are almost always better). Only
a careful evaluation of your goals and resources
can determine the best course of action for your
company.
Myth: Sites must be constantly resubmitted
to retain rankings.
Fact: This is a scare tactic popularized by various
submission services and software companies.
In fact, it is a waste of money to pay to have your
site resubmitted once it is already listed in an
engine's database. It will not hurt your rankings
to resubmit (or else people would constantly submit
their competitor's sites to get them penalized),
but it will not help, either.
Myth: Search engine optimization is not
as effective as "traditional" marketing.
Fact: In many ways, it is more effective.
Companies often spend countless dollars on direct
mail, television and radio advertising, and bulk
email without a second thought. The common thread
with each of these strategies is that the prospect
is "approached" by the company, and that the company
must reach a great number of people to find a few
motivated prospects. On the other hand, search engines
can deliver highly motivated prospects directly
to your website- people who have already demonstrated,
through their use of particular keyphrases, an interest
in your products or services.
Conclusion:
These are only a handful of the numerous search
engine myths currently in existence. Even if these
particular myths were to be universally dispelled
tomorrow, a new batch would surely arise to take
their place- and the motivations behind some of
them would be just as dubious. With search engine
marketing, as with anything else, it is important
to treat everything with a healthy dose of skepticism
(including this article!).
Scott Buresh is Co-founder and Principal of Medium Blue Internet Marketing
. For monthly tips on how to get the most out of
your internet presence, sign up for our Internet Marketing Newsletter .
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