Don’t think, just answer: Where are you most likely to get information about how to improve your website’s listing in search engines? Answer quick, the first thing that pops into your head.
Chances are, you didn’t think “my professional SEO consultant”. You might have thought of your coworker or a web savvy friend. Maybe you read a good book on the subject. Perhaps you get your search engine knowledge through search engines themselves – by searching for answers and information.
This next myth is for the do-it-yourselfers among us who tend to look it up and try it out. Consider yourself warned.
Myth #4: The “I Read This On A Blog” Myth
Search Engines are constantly changing. Some go out of business, some purchase others, and all are on a constant quest to refine and perfect the search process.
As search technologies change and search engines get smarter, the “rules” for getting your site listed on search engines change, too. If you’re relying on information published in 2002… 2006… even 2010 to tell you how to get your site listed in search engines, then you may be missing out on valuable opportunities to really get the search results you want.
Worse, you could be violating current search engine guidelines, and that could get your site dropped from the listings completely.
One day you stuff five hundred invisible keywords onto your page because you heard it was a good way to improve your ranking, and the next thing you know you’re begging Google’s forgiveness and promising to reform if only they will let you appear in their results… even on page two hundred and twenty five.
Before you decide to use a particular strategy, make sure you know that it’s an effective – and not a potentially harmful – one. You should also make sure that it’s not a waste of time. There are plenty of articles out there that promise amazing results if only you’d make one small change to your website. But rocketing to the top of search results because you renamed an HTML file is about as effective as losing 20 pounds in 2 days by drinking cabbage juice.
Believe it or not, not everything you read on the internet is true (gasp!). There’s plenty of misinformation, whether it’s deliberate or simply outdated. Be careful not to fall into the “I read somewhere that…” trap.
A reputable search engine marketing company will know and follow the rules and will know and use strategies for obtaining the coveted “free” listings that won’t inadvertently send your site to the bottom of the pile. And they won’t waste your money with seemingly simple but outdated methods.
Have you been told to try a “quick fix” to boost search rankings? What was the end result?
Read more in the “Search Engine Marketing Myths” series
- Myth #1: Myth #1: The 7500 Search Engine Myth
- Myth #2: The $29.99 Myth
- Myth #3: The Automated Submission Myth
- Myth #4: The “I Read This On A Blog” Myth
- Myth #5: The Free Listing Myth
- Myth #6: The “Number One” Myth
