With so much misinformation
about SEO having been dispensed over the years, which always creating confusion
among SEOs– making it all the more difficult to separate the proverbial wheat
from the chaff, as it were. Concerned about the potential harm misinformation about
SEO can ultimately cause. Here is to compile an alphabetical listing of the
most popular and persistent SEO myths, to either debunk or confirm their
factuality.
1).
Adwords:
Since the arrival of Google
Adwords, there has been an ongoing debate over whether or not running an
Adwords campaign can improve search engine rankings. Ultimately, only Google
knows the answer to that question for sure. However, to my knowledge, there is
no credible evidence to support the notion that Adwords can improve your search
engine ranking. If there were indeed concrete evidence to the contrary, it
stands to reason, everyone would just start an Adwords campaign to boost their
rankings.
2).
Anchor Text
Although it can be other
colors, anchor text is typically the blue, hyperlinked text you see on a web
page – the words that you click onto take you to another page.
Okay, but is anchor text
important? Yes, it is because it’s a crucial element in the search engines
complex algorithmic formula that helps determine the rankings of websites.
For example, suppose you
have a blog that reviews digital camera’s; the more links you have with the
words “digital camera reviews” in your anchor text, the greater your chances of
increasing your ranking for the keywords digital camera reviews.
3).
Alt Tags
Alt tags are used to
display a short text description of an image. It gets displayed when you hover
your mouse over the graphic. But are Alt tags an important part of SEO?
It depends on whom you ask.
Some experts dismiss the importance of Alt tags altogether, while others tout
its importance. Personally, I used to lean in the direction of “not important,”
until I read a couple of outstanding articles that made me rethink my position.
SEO expert Bill Hartzer
makes a strong argument for the use of Alt tags. In his article, Search Engine
Optimization: Why Image Alt Tags are Important.
“There is strong evidence
that the search engines are now giving more weight to Alt Tags than they are
the Title Tag or even an H1 Tag on the page. What?!? Yes, that’s right. You do need
to make sure you use proper Title Tags and H1 Tags, but more SEO value for
organic search engine rankings can be gained by using proper Alt Tags than
using proper Title Tags or H1 Tags.”
And in his article, Why You
Need to Stop Ignoring Image Alt Attributes, AJ Wilcox of OrangeSoda.com makes a
compelling common sense argument:
“Keyword usage in image alt
text is classified as having minimal importance by a consortium of SEO experts,
but that doesn’t mean it’s worthless. It is yet another opportunity to declare
your relevance to your given keyword. The little things add up to big things
together, so don’t ignore them.”
I agree with AJ. A lot of
little things in combination do indeed add up to big things.
4).
FFA Pages
FFA is an acronym for
“Free-For All.” Here’s an example of an FFA page:
In a nutshell, FFAs are
basically web pages of worthless links where anyone can submit their website’s
URL for free (hence the term Free-For-All). One of the biggest and oldest SEO
myths is, if you post your website’s URL on FFA pages, you will get massive
traffic, as well increase your link popularity and search engine ranking.
Here’s the truth: People who visit FFA pages do so only to post their own ads –
not look at someone else’s. And any traffic you do get will be completely
worthless!
In addition, FFA pages are
considered both spammy and scammy, and posting on them could adversely affect
your website’s reputation with the search engines – which could in fact hurt
your ranking – or even get you banned. Why? Because in essence, FFA pages are
nothing but link farms – and you know what Google thinks of link farms.
My advice: RUN, DON’T WALK
away from FFA pages!
5).
Header Tags
Header tags, for example
H1, H2 are standard HTML elements used to define headings and subheadings on a
web page.
Are they important? To my
knowledge, there is no credible evidence to suggest that header tags have an
effect on search engine rankings one way or the other. My advice: If you’re
currently using header tags, continue using them if you wish. If you’re not
using them, don’t worry about it.
6).
Keyword Density
Question: What is the correct density of
keywords on a web page?
Answer: There isn’t one.
Yes, I know this topic has
been debated back and forth, but personally, I don’t think keyword density even
exists as a calculable numeric constant. In other words, don’t worry about the
correct keyword density. And don’t worry about counting keywords. Just create
your web pages naturally, without trying to force or stuff keywords where they
don’t belong. Then, let the proverbial chips fall where they may.
7).
Keywords in Domain Name
Do keywords in a domain
name help your ranking?
Based on my own experience
of having your primary keywords in your domain name will help with your
ranking. To what degree, however, only Google knows the answer to that. But
since Google uses over 200 signals to determine the ranking of websites, I
can’t imagine keywords in your domain name not carrying some amount of weight.
8).
Meta-Tags
A meta-tag is the HTML
coding that describes the contents of a web page.
Opinions vary on the
importance of meta-tags, but in my opinion, they’re not nearly as important as
they once were. They don’t have a significant impact on your rankings one way
or the other. That being said, if you want to use them, it certainly won’t hurt
anything – provided you don’t abuse them (i.e., keyword stuffing).
9).
No follow Links
As you already know, Google
doesn’t count “No follow” links, right? Wrong. Google looks suspiciously at
sites that have an unbalanced ratio of Do follow links to No follow. Why?
Because it’s an unnatural linking pattern that’s why. It’s also a huge red
flag! Google prefers a healthy combination of both Do follow and No follow
links. So contrary to popular belief, No follow links do add to a site’s
overall link profile, and has the ability to rank for keyword phrases. And
while No follow doesn’t influence Page Rank or pass link juice, it does
contribute to your overall search engine ranking.
10).
Page Rank (PR)
Is Page Rank important? One
of the most controversial misunderstood, confusing and debated topics in the
SEO universe is the importance of Page Rank.
However, in my
not-so-humble opinion, Google’s 0-10 logarithmic toolbar Page Rank is nothing
more than a “superficial beauty contest” vanity tool – very much out-of-date,
and does NOT have a direct impact on a site’s ranking. That fact was
established long ago.
I’m going to say this as
succinctly as I possibly can: Toolbar Page rank is Not an Accurate
Representation of a Website’s True Reputation with Google. In fact, if you do a
little research, you’ll discover lower-PR URL’s consistently rank higher than
higher-PR URL’s in Google’s SERPs (search engine results pages). Therefore, the
only page rank you should be concerned about that has any significant importance
is where your web pages rank in Google’s SERPs.
Does toolbar Page Rank have
any importance at all? Yes, it has some…just not as much as many perceive it to
have.
11).
Reciprocal Links
Yes, reciprocal linking is
an important part of SEO, but all links are not created equal. Achieving a high
search engine ranking depends not only on the number, but also the quality of
inbound links you have pointing to your site. For example, if your website does
movie reviews, exchanging links with Betty’s Homemade Fudge won’t do you nearly
as much good as exchanging links with a site that is thematically related to
yours. So if you exchange links with other sites, be sure to keep relevancy in
mind.
12).
Site Maps
A sitemap is a collection
of hyperlinks that outlines a websites structure. These links make it easier
for visitors to navigate their way around your site, as well as make it easier
for search engine spiders to crawl your site.
But do they have any SEO
importance? Not really. A few years back, I thought they did. But recent
experience has taught me sitemaps have no direct impact on search engine
rankings.
13).
The Open Directory Project (DMOZ)
Is getting a backlink from
DMOZ still important? With the arrival of mega-popular social media sites, as
well other types of high quality websites and blogs, DMOZ is not nearly as
important or respected as it once was. Personally, I think your time would be
better served trying to acquire high-quality backlinks from other sources.
Does that mean you
shouldn’t waste your time submitting to DMOZ? No, it doesn’t. Since it only
takes a few minutes to submit your site, I see no harm in submitting to DMOZ.
But be advised, it can take up to a year or more to get your site approved –
and it might not get approved at all. So I wouldn’t lose any sleep worrying
about getting your site listed in DMOZ.
My advice: Simply submit
your site and forget it!
14).
Title Tag
The title tag is a
critically important factor in achieving high search engine rankings. For those
of you who don’t know what a title tag is, it’s the words displayed at the very
top of your browser. It is also used as the title of your website in the SERPs.
Therefore, you should put plenty of thought into writing your title tag – to
make sure it’s as effective as possible. Your title-tag should also contain
specific keyword phrases, in addition to the name of your company.
