Search Engine Optimization Fact Amp Fiction

Writen by Adrian Mullan

Search engine optimization is one area of the Internet that has become clouded in a lot of hype, myths and rumors. While common sense comes in handy, we wanted to help clear up some of the confusion.

Here's a list of the most common search engine myths...

FICTION: Catering for search engines is a waste of time.

FACT: Research shows that 85-95% of users start at a search engine to find what they're looking for. As a website owner, it's worth spending a little time to understand how search engines work. While competition for top positions can be intense, a high ranking on a major search engine can drive substantial amounts of traffic to your site.

FICTION: Submitting your website to hundreds of search engines will bring you thousands of visitors.

FACT: While it sounds like a tempting offer, the reality is that these offers are bogus. What they are failing to mention is:

a) While there ARE hundreds of search engines - the Top 3 (Google, Yahoo! and MSN) account for almost 90% of all search traffic.

The rest of the search engines are so small that you've probably never heard of them. In other words, there's no point getting listed in a search engine that nobody uses - so concentrate on the big players.

b) You need to do more than just 'submit' your website

Submitting your website and getting a top ranking in a search engine are two very different things. Just because your site has been submitted doesn't mean you'll get any traffic.

Research shows that the majority of people who use search engines only look at the first two pages of results.

So while you may be 'listed' in a search engine, you'll get zero traffic if you're located on page 17 or 40 of the search results. Nobody ever gets that far down the list - you need to be on page one or two to get any real traffic to your site.

FICTION: If I submit my website today, I'll see instant results.

FACT: It takes time to get good rankings. Your site may appear in search engines within six to eight weeks, but it takes months of continuous work to achieve top rankings.

FICTION: 'Meta Tags' are the secret to getting top search engine rankings.

FACT: 'Meta Tags' are keywords that are hidden within the source code of web pages.

Meta Tags are virtually irrelevant in the ranking algorithms of the top engines today.

In the early days of the Internet, search engines paid close attention to the Meta Tags contained within a website - but those days are gone.

Once people worked out that Meta Tags were part of the search engine formula, they started abusing the system by placing irrelevant keywords in their Meta Tags.

As a result, search engines have become a lot smarter and many (including Google) pay very little attention to the Meta Tags included on your web pages.

However there are other areas that search engines pay close attention to, which are covered later in the course.

FICTION: I should cram as many keywords as possible into my site.

FACT: Although you do need keywords on your site, you only need keywords that are directly related to the theme of your site. Your keywords should be naturally incorporated within the content of your website. Simply repeating the same keyword over and over again will do nothing to improve your search engine rankings.

FICTION: Joining a link exchange or 'free-for-all' link program will boost your search engine rankings.

FACT: Free-for-all (FFA) linking schemes do not improve your search engine rankings. In many cases they will often do a site more harm than good.

While search engines do take into account the amount of incoming links to your website, quality is more important than quantity.

Where possible, you should aim to collect links from websites that are related to the theme of your website.

For example, if you run a roof repair business, getting hundreds of links from sites selling Viagra is not going to improve your search engine results.

On the other hand, links from builders, tradespeople and roof tile companies will help direct the right type of traffic to your site.

FICTION: To get good search engine rankings, I have to pay thousands of dollars to outside search engine consultants.

FACT: Reputable search engine consultants can be helpful in specific scenarios, but for the most part there's not much an outside consultant can do that you can't do yourself.

Getting good rankings is simply a case of old fashioned elbow grease. It's a three step formula:

1) You need to build a website that is search engine friendly.
2) Your website needs to have plenty of relevant content.
3) You need lots of incoming links from good quality websites.

Adrian Mullan is the author of 'The Internet Demystified' and founder of WebDummy.com, which is a popular search engine optimization resource for small business owners.