Fact or Fiction? SEO Tell-All: Myth Busters Edition
Fact: SEO has changed over the years. Indeed, fresh search engine algorithms roll out so frequently it’s obvious that Google programmers are recession-proof employees.
Along with those algorithm changes come SEO changes and strategy evolutions. What worked five years ago may not work today, depending on which article you read. This month we’re here to bust our favorite SEO myths and set the record straight once and for all.
Without meta keyword data, search engines won’t be able to understand what your website is promoting, and you’ll be lost among the rankings. MYTH! This is a perfect example of how SEO tactics have matured over the years. When meta keyword tags were popular, black hat SEOers spammed the tags and search engines compensated by figuring out ways around the data. Businesses may still want to enter the most relevant keywords about their business in meta tags, but search engine spiders usually ignore whatever has been entered.
Duplicate Content = Duplicate Listings. BUSTED! One popular SEO trick used to be to post an article or blog on your website, then post it on another website, and so on. The theory was that as users searched for keywords your article prompted, they would be shown your listing three times. Now search engines are especially sophisticated and easily catch duplicate content. Although site rankings aren’t penalized when duplicates are discovered, the search engine will pick only one listing and display that one. We wouldn’t take our chances on this one.
Update your site as much as humanly possible! SO BUSTED! We are all for blog posts, press releases, and industry-related articles that serve to educate your customer. However, you may have heard that search engines love new website content, and you may have been advised to update your site as frequently as you can. Search engines have changed their way of thinking where site content update is concerned: unless you have something important to say, don’t waste their time with creative word re-arrangement because it won’t boost your listings at all.
Write lots of content; search engines love to read. FICTION! Research has shown that you have mere seconds to capture the attention of your target audience and many people today get annoyed by long-winded content. Clearly stated, concise content that reinforces your best keywords and perfectly describes your business, services, and products will seal the deal and get you higher rankings than drafting a novel. Do your customer’s eyes a favor and save the flowery words for politician’s speeches.
Never, ever use Flash on your website! FICTION…and FACT. Let us explain. Flash is one of our favorite ways to showcase our customer’s products or services. When used like a rotating picture gallery we are able to help our clients demonstrate their product line and how they stand out among competitors. We don’t use Flash as website intro’s or create an entire site made from Flash since search engines still can’t read content within Flash.
There are more myths circulating out there among the Internet and blogosphere written by people that appear to be “in the know” when it comes to SEO. We recommend that you perform your due diligence before putting all of your efforts into a SEO tactic only to our Myth Busters uncover the truth!
