10 SEO myths debunked

Michael Estrin
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Search Posted on June 30, 2008

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Shimon Sandler, SEO consultant

Myth #3: Submitting your site to thousands of directories helps

Reality
I get countless spam emails promising to get me the top listings in Google by submitting my site to thousands of web directories. It's easy for anyone to start a web directory these days. Just buy some web directory software, and you're good to go. That's the danger! There is a proliferation of web directories from all the web entrepreneurs using web directory software, or some kind of PHP directory script.

Many web directories are brand new "out-of-the-box" and they don't have authority, aged domain, or a strong inbound link profile. So, submitting to these directories will not provide any substantial type of SEO lift you might hope for. The reality of the matter is that some of those submissions may actually put your site in a "bad neighborhood" and hurt your SEO efforts.

Here are some factors to look for in a quality web directory:
1) Quantity of inbound links
2) Quality of inbound links
3) Age of domain
4) Topical relevancy to your site
5) Human-edited is better than automated because editorial control tends to lend itself to quality
6) How frequently the directory gets crawled (check the Google cache)
7) The directory itself ranks in the search engines -- this can be a sign of authority and can drive clickthrough traffic
8) Are their links direct, static links or are they redirected to your site?

Bottom line: Web directory submissions do help. However, it's better to cherry pick a handful of the most reputable/authoritative web directories instead of taking the easy way and shooting yourself in the foot by using an automated process to submit your site to thousands of directories.

Myth #4: SEO is free

Reality
Just because it's not "paid search" (SEM), doesn't mean it's free.

The costs associated with SEO are:
1) SEO consultant
2) Programmer/graphic designer
3) Link development
4) Do-it-yourselfer's time (based on hourly rates)

Depending on the website and campaign objectives, an SEO campaign could cost a few thousand dollars per month to tens of thousands per month.

Metrics to measure SEO success are:

1) Keyword ranking
2) Website traffic
3) ROI
4) Brand awareness/brand engagement

Sandler's practice, which can be found at ShimonSandler.com, appears as the top result (behind a directory) on Google for the combined terms: "SEO Consultant."

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Adrienne Lewis January 7, 2009 at 8:35 AM

I'm very new to this site - but, I found this article really useful, and relevant even though I'm a online marketer in the UK,

mag ferraro January 3, 2009 at 4:37 PM

great site!

Kevin Trye January 1, 2009 at 8:58 PM

Great article, especially if you're seeing a diminishing number of leads coming via Google. For many sites today it's a lowly 5-20% of new traffic. The rest of course comes via a mix of online/offline referrals, direct mail, email, TV, Radio, magazines ads etc.
Google is but one of many traffic sources and just one link in a long chain, if we accept that the website we've built is there to actually sell or market something and get an ROI.
Time spent on optimizing the website and processes for sales leads and high sales conversions is far more important than SEO alone which too many are fixated with.
Studies have repeatedly found that over 90% of those coming to a business website today, (by whatever channel) will click away within seconds and never return. This is the bigger problem I think...

Bruce McDermott December 29, 2008 at 10:54 AM

I'd agree with everything but myth #1.

Just as Adam Lasnik states (in Myth #10) "We (Google) are, of course, a bit constrained in what we can disclose about the subtleties of our ranking algorithms and such...", a good SEO is continually perfecting his craft through techniques he develops over time. To openly talk about these techniques to other SEOs is counterproductive to an SEO's client base. This is a competitive business after all.

Do these "secret" SEO techniques have to be "Blackhat?" Of course not! They simply are better ways to address the goals of the clients and the requirements of ranking in the search engines.

By the way, the goals of the clients are usually misstated. Generally, they follow the same wording used in myth#1, ie, "We want more traffic." In reality, what they want is more sales, and "more traffic" has very little to do with more sales.

That's an old Google Adwords myth, commonly applicable to the spammy Adsense websites you see in the listings. (Those are the guys that equate traffic with sales by making money off of PPC clickthroughs). That has nothing to do with bringing a relevant buyer to the threshold of your client's website to sell him a product.

At any particular point in time, you would be horrified to learn, that there are only a finite number of buyers interested in buying a client's goods and services. Targeting those buyers is your job, not pushing useless traffic at a website.

Aparup Saikia December 28, 2008 at 10:05 PM

so how should one go about SEO. I am very keen on the matter and is coming to a dead. Seeking professional help ismy last resort that i might take if i can't find any solutions myself.

Cecilia Pineda Feret July 24, 2008 at 10:05 AM

Thank you for this article. It confirms my doubts about some of my colleagues' strategies and now I can reference the advice from these experts. Accessibility has been a particular point of contention since all the fanciful work in the world is for nought if some of your audience can't see it, whether on the mobile screen or on the computer screen.