Seems like the last couple of weeks Brett and I have been getting hit with a lot of questions about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Let me WARN YOU right now, this post will either completely intrigue you or leave you yawning.
SEO is an acquired matter of interest. It’s become important to BoiseCribs.com and those who follow us as we’ll seen the efforts of our early SEO labor bearing some recent fruit.
When we talk to so-called authorirties on the subject of SEO, it’s surprising how the recommendations to improve SEO are “all over the board”, including many that are completetly outdated. I defer the expertise of SEO to local Boise resident, Russell Brunson, to teach the 101 class below:
Misconception #1 -Meta Tags Are No Longer Needed Or Relevant
Meta tags are not the biggest thing in SEO, but they do still matter. In fact, some search engines count on them just as much as they did five years ago. By including keyword rich meta title, descriptions and keywords, you have a chance to get better organic search rankings for those terms. If the content on the pages is optimized for those words as well, then you are well on your way to great search results. Meta tagging may not be as important as it used to be, but it still does matter when it comes to SEO.
Misconception #2 – Backlink Quantity Is More Important Than Backlink Quality
Not that I would ever turn away a backlink, but getting backlinks from recognized authorities is always preferable. Who are the recognized authorities? The sites showing up in the first pages of any search engine are the sites that particular search engine recognizes as the authority.
Misconception #3 – SEO Is A One Time Thing
One SEO misconception is that SEO is a one time thing, and then you are done. I talked to a client last night about this, and had to advise him that SEO requires effort and attention over the long term. In order to succeed with SEO, you must create a plan and realize that it is an ongoing process.
Misconception #4 – PPC Will Help Your Search Ranking
Some folks out there seem to believe that a PPC ad campaign can help their organic search results by simply running it. There is no evidence from Google to support this claim at all. I will suggest that you do look at the keywords bringing you conversions and work on ranking #1 on those search terms.
Misconception #5 – Submit Your Website To Engines/Directories
A few years ago, you used to have to submit your site URL to search engines and directories in order to get indexed. That is not the case any longer. Some argue that it is not needed at all, while I disagree slightly. It never hurts to submit your site URL to directories and search engines. In some cases, this creates a backlink to your site from high ranking sites, and either way it forces the spiders to show up faster than they might normally.
Misconception #6 – NoFollow Links Are Worthless
Acquiring links that are tagged as “NoFollow” are not a waste of time. A mix of both DoFollow and NoFollow links looks far more natural to the search engine algorithms than a website that has all DoFollow or all NoFollow links. Wouldn’t it look odd to only have one type? In a social evironment of today and how links are spread about by users – how would that be statistically possible?
Misconception #7 – The Only Search Engine Is Google
Yes, Google is the largest search engine, but it is not the only one out there. You can get traffic and make money with traffic from other search engines. I make thousands a month from from Yahoo .
Misconception #8 – If You Build It And They Will Come….
This is not “Field of Dreams”, and you need to make more noise than everyone else in your niche if you want the traffic. A long time ago (in dog years), this was not the case. In 1999 there were only 9,560,866 total websites online, as of December 2009 there are around 233,848,493.
Misconception #9 – SEO Is A Scam
Search engine optimization has been branded a scam by some that may have had bad experiences. This is quite false. SEO is quite effective when actually done correctly, and in many cases a site may have a very hard time ranking well, if at all, if it is not optimized properly.
Misconception #10 – SEO Is A Guarantee
Just because you optimize your site with better SEO, does not mean you will rank the highest. Nothing in this world is absolute. SEO has so many variables involved, it is impossible to guarantee number one rankings by just hiring a company that says they can do it. SEO takes work and close attention to many factors that can influence the ranking. Oh, and Google’s constant algorithim changes don’t help either.
Thanks, Russell. In short, start basing your SEO activites on fact, not fiction. Don’t be afraid to come up with a solid SEO plan, then execute. Oh, and then there’s always those frequent algorithim changes – everything changes – so learn to adapt and get your traffic before they go elsewhere!
If you’ve read this far and care to talk about SEO any further, Brett and I can be reached at 888-506-2234.