8 Popular SEO Myths

Noted SEO expert Jill Whalen recently listed eight of the most widely believed myths about Search Engine Optimization that she’s heard and seen bandied about in SEO articles, at SEO conferences, in SEO blogs and on SEO forums. Below are the quick answers to these myths; Jill’s article expands on these and I recommend you read her comments for the full explanations.

1. You need special search engine landing pages.
Nope! Landing pages make sense for PPC campaigns, but not for SEO.
2. You need to optimize for just one keyword phrase per page.
That’s a waste of a good page. Why optimize for only one keyword when you can optimize for three? Or perhaps as many as five?
3. You can’t use tables in your HTML code.
This is just wrong. It’s always been wrong.
4. You must use text links, not image links.
Not necessary. Just use the keyword-rich text you would have used in text links in the alt tags of your link images.
5. You can’t use Flash on your website.
Not true. Avoid an all-flash website where links to your content pages are part of the flash, and don’t put important content in the flash. But flash elements on a normal web site are fine.
6. Google’s link: operator tells you all the links that Google knows about.
No, no, and double no. Google shows very few of the links it knows about, and often shows none at all. Google itself suggests using Yahoo Site Explorer to get a reasonably comprehensive list of links.
7. Toolbar PageRank = Real PageRank.
The PageRank displayed in the Google Toolbar may be as much as nine months out of date, and it’s a gross approximation at best.
8. Google or other organizations can certify SEO companies or declare them the Best or Top SEO in the world.
Despite what some SEO companies would like you to believe, there is no such thing as an SEO certification.

I hear 3-4 of these myths each day at the office. I think the hardest part is finding the right combination of writing for the public and writing for search engines. If I talk about 4 pages on the outskirts of Kansas City real estate, but I'm number 500 on google for Kansas City real estate, nobody will ever read my stuff. It seems to me to write for hyper-local, the subdivision is easier. Subdivisions big names like Lionsgate in Overland Park has some competition, but smaller, like Arlington Park in Olathe can have two to three people who have never written anything picked up by search engines.
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R4 DS