Myth #1: Meta tags are the most important factor in search engine rankings

 

Fact: This is one of the most common and harmful myths of all. Meta tags are not the most important factor in getting higher rankings for your web site. People tend to think that all they have to do is put in the appropriate code and keywords, submit it to search engines and they will be #1 the next day. This notion is completely false. Most meta tags are not all that important, or aren't used by the search engines at all.

 

Myth #2: Keywords are King

 

Fact: Keywords are important, however they have to be used properly in order to get your search engine rankings accomplished. Having your keywords listed over and over again within the meta tags of your site is not going to improve your rankings. A vast majority of web site owners and web developers will create a web site without knowing what keywords are important. Most of the time it is the site owners that will guess at their keywords, the ones they believe that people are looking for, whereas this is better than not paying attention at all, you may be leaving out some of the very important keywords by not thinking of them. The best way to avoid this is to do a proper keyword analysis. By doing this two things will happen:

• You will find that some of your keyword guesses were wrong – people aren't often using some of the phrases you thought would be common.
• You'll also discover very important phrases you had no idea about.

Myth #3: Guaranteed placement – what could be better?

 

Fact: The spam you get in your email that claims to guarantee high rankings by submitting your site to over 5,000 search engines is exactly that – spam. First there aren’t that many search engines, in fact there are only about 500 search engines and there are only about 10 engines that account for the majority of all search related traffic. Unless they are the owner of the search engine there is no way that your site can be guaranteed to be #1. There is no canned solution to sky rocket your site to the top. Submittal software is usually related to “link farms” that will not only get you tons of free spam, but will actually not do your site any good. It is best to stick with organic practices that are both ethical and realistic. Now that you know a few of the most common search engine myths, want to learn how to improve your ranking the right way? Check back each month for new information.

 

Have a question? Send me an email and I will get your search engine question answered!