10 SEO MYTHS Every Small Business Should Know The Truth About

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Naomi Collins
8 years ago
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2 In the world of online marketing, misinformation abounds -- and it gets compounded exponentially by an incredibly dynamic and rapidly evolving world. Most of the things you think you know (but don t) about Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, may have been true a few years ago but have changed. This whitepaper details 10 common SEO myths every small business owner needs to forget about in order to become smarter at Search Engine Optimization. 1. Meta Descriptions Help Your Rankings 6. Flash Is A No-No For SEO 2. The More Inbound Links The Better 7. If You Have Great SEO, You Don t Need PPC 3. PageRank Still Matters 8. Using Google Analytics Can Affect Your Rankings 4. Google Prefers Keyword-Rich Domains 9. You Will Be Penalized For Having Duplicate Content Websites Must Be Submitted To The Search Engines 10. Good SEO Is About Tricking The Search Engines MYTH 1: Meta Descriptions Help Your Rankings Not anymore; in fact, meta descriptions are no longer even indexed by Google and Bing. But don t ignore them altogether. Your meta descriptions form the text that is displayed along with your link in the search results. A more compelling description will persuade more users to click on your listing instead of on others and this consequential increased clickthrough rate demonstrates your site s value to the search engines. Here s an example of ours: Page Title Meta Description PPC Management 378% Average ROI Increase for PPC Wpromote Need To Run An Ultra-Successful PPC Campaign? Wpromote s Expert Marketers Will Make Sure That Happens. Learn Why Our Pay-Per-Click Is Superior. 2.

MYTH 2: The More Inbound Links, The Better False. In all the recent updates to Google s algorithm, the search giant has made it a priority to have quality links trump quantity.

3 MYTH 2: The More Inbound Links, The Better False. In all the recent updates to Google s algorithm, the search giant has made it a priority to have quality links trump quantity. Gone are the days of having thousands of super low-quality links driving up rankings; in fact, creating those links can look spammy and get your site penalized. Link Power + + Focus on obtaining links from sites that are relevant to your products, services, or industry -- and on having those links be surrounded by relevant text. An informative blog review about your blue widget that links to your site is far more valuable than a rogue link for blue widget stuck in the footer or sidebar of some site -- even a highly ranked one. One Quality Link Several Low Quality Links Obtaining One Quality Link Will Reap More Benefit Than Obtaining Numerous Low Quality Links MYTH 3: PageRank Still Matters Google s infamous PageRank (named after Google co-founder and now-ceo Larry Page, mind you) is a 1-to-10 ranking of the overall authority of every website. The bigger the number, the better the rank. In years past, this seemingly all-powerful number dominated the attention of SEO experts. But today, Google s algorithm has evolved well beyond any single indicator. The PageRank still exists, and if all things are equal, a higher PageRank trumps a lower one -- but factors such as relevance and context matter far more. As with inbound links, if you run a dental practice in Los Angeles, it s better to have a link from a site that reviews doctors and dentists in L.A., even if it has a PageRank of 4, than to have a paid link with no context. MYTH 4: Google Prefers Keyword-Rich Domains In years past, Google seemed to put a disproportionate amount of emphasis on keywords in the domain name (what you may think of as the URL). For example, AluminumSiding.com would almost certainly be ranked first in a search for Aluminum Siding. Not anymore, says Google. If AluminumSiding.com is in fact the more relevant, authoritative site on the topic, it will probably still rank first -- but not because of its domain name alone Three Sites Are More Relevant To Aluminum Siding Than The Domain Containing The Keyword 3.

MYTH 5: Websites Must Be Submitted To Search Engines In 2001, yes this was the case -- in fact, this was the first service that Wpromote ever provided. But in 2012? Not at all.

4 MYTH 5: Websites Must Be Submitted To Search Engines In 2001, yes this was the case -- in fact, this was the first service that Wpromote ever provided. But in 2012? Not at all. At this point, if there is any connection from any site to yours, your site will be quickly discovered by Google. Not that it isn t necessary to be indexed in order to achieve high rankings (or any level of rankings for this matter) -but that first step of submissions is no longer needed or helpful. MYTH 6: Flash Is A No-No for SEO Rather, often misinterpreted. It s actually not the Flash itself that causes poor rankings, but rather the total reliance on Flash, which deprives the page of content necessary to achieve good rankings. VS. While engines gottentomuch betterengines at crawling Flash pages, if you search Websites Must Behave Submitted the Search have the choice between a Flash site and a non-flash site, you d want to go with the latter -- it s still an obstacle. This is a redundant point -- necessary since it is the basis of all good long-term rankings -- but pages should be full of unique, highly relevant text. Don t be scared of Flash; just be cautious of its over-usage. A nice piece of Flash imagery on a page with relevant text will actually perform well for SEO. However, new technologies like HTML5 are the Opt For The Site That Contains A Good Ratio Of Content To Flash superior choice since flash doesn t work on iphones and ipads. MYTH 7: If You Have Great SEO You Don t Need PPC For many, it s hard to swallow paying for clicks on #1 SEO CTR keywords you are already receiving free organic traffic from. What many don t know of is the mysterious lift that is seen when you run PPC and SEO campaigns simultaneously. When users see the same website multiple times in the search results (organic and paid listings) there is an added value of brand authority, persuading users to click on that company s ad. This in turn increases the total CTR to be higher than the expected combined CTRs. #1 PPC CTR Total CTR Only SEO Listings 18% 0% 18% Only PPC Listings 0% 10% 10% Both SEO + PPC 20% 12% 32% The Organic/Paid Double-Listing Produced 4% More Total Clicks Based On Average Of Recent Wpromote Client Results 4.

5 MYTH 8: Using Google Analytics Can Affect Your Rankings False. Silly, but yes there are many speculators who are weary of using Google Analytics in fear that the data collected will be used in determining their site s rankings. According to members of Google, this is absolutely false. You can only benefit from the knowledge of useful data you can extract about your website through analytics. MYTH 9: You Will Be Penalized For Having Duplicate Content Not True. Google doesn't actually give out penalties for having duplicate content. However, from an SEO perspective you might as VS. well not even have that page on your site, as pages on your site that consist mainly of duplicate content don't stand a very good chance of performing highly. Online retailers definitely beware here. Having duplicate content can also be a waste of prime real estate. One great way to outrank competitors who are selling the same product as you, is Standard Duplicate Copy Unique Copy Creating A Unique Product Description Will Help You Stand Out From Your Competitors In The Eyes Of The Search Engines to optimize your product descriptions by making them unique. If you can't create unique descriptions for these products, then be sure to tag (paginate and canonical) the pages accordingly so you can extract some value out of the pages rather than none. MYTH 10: Good SEO Is About Tricking The Search Engines False, false, false. Although there are still some SEO analysts out there who go about their business trying to trick Google, this is absolutely not the way to provide good, lasting SEO. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, comments or feedback! Good SEO is about creating a relevant, informative website that has unique content. The site should also have a great user experience and encourage the sharing and distribution of the content to drive organic publicity, in turn garnering facebook.com/wpromote links back to the site In the end, Google explicitly wants to reward websites with good SEO with high rankings -- so it is anything but "tricking" the search engines that will produce results. + find us on Google+

The SEO Myths Report. Are you wasting your time and money on stupid SEO? (Read on and see if you agree )

The SEO Myths Report. Are you wasting your time and money on stupid SEO? (Read on and see if you agree ) The SEO Myths Report Are you wasting your time and money on stupid SEO? (Read on and see if you agree ) The SEO Myths Report How to make your websites far more valuable to users and search engines by discovering