10 SEO myths debunked

Michael Estrin
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Search Posted on June 30, 2008

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Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief, Search Engine Land

Myth #1: SEO is all about secret tactics

Reality
I talk to a lot of people about SEO, plenty of whom are new to it. I'd say the most common myth is that SEO involves all "secret" tactics requiring you to buy links or trick the search engines, and that no one in the industry can be trusted. In reality, there are a lot of simple but effective techniques that even the search engines will tell you to do that can increase traffic. And there are plenty of people who are not snake oil salespeople who can provide this useful service.

A good place to start the process is to look at your analytics. There are a variety of tools, including some from Google, that spotlight if you have problems being accessed by search engines. I also like a top-down approach. You start from the homepage and ensure that it is search engine friendly, then work your way back through the site going down the paths that are most important to your business.

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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.