A lot of people out there claim to know everything about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) but the truth is, we are always learning. Search engine sites are CONSTANTLY changing the way their engines work. As time goes on we need to adapt to those changes to make our websites have the best SEO possible. Here are some myths I have heard in the past about SEO.

1. MYTH – Link Everything!

The key to links on your website are relevancy. It used to be that all links helped your rankings in organic search but search engines have evolved. In this case, 40 links might NOT be as good as 10 relevant links.

When referring to relevancy, I mean links that are relevant to the topics your trying to bring up in SEO rankings. Quality links that do not just link to broad topics.

2. MYTH – Secret keywords on pages.

This is something you do NOT want to do. I have been seeing this more and more lately with unwise marketing groups. They tell their clients to put a bunch of keywords at the bottom of their pages and they have them style those keywords so that the user does not notice them but they are “picked up by search engines.”

This directly goes against Google’s (and others) terms of use. You are not fooling anyone. This will directly end up hurting your rankings. This is considered spam and it is also very unethical.

3. MYTH – Overnight Success with SEO.

I have heard/see many websites say that they can make you appear at the top of Google results in 24 hours. THIS IS A LIE. SEO is something that does not happen overnight.

Things like constantly updating your website, having rich content, using the right code for your site, and other various things are what truly help your SEO.

4. MYTH – Flash is bad – in all cases!

This is a myth – sort of. Flash can be bad if all of your content is inside of those flash pieces or your navigation is in flash. Flash pieces are okay if they are used for pieces of your site that truly need flash. Just be sure that you do not have important links, copy or pictures inside that flash.

5. MYTH – Meta keywords are the most important!

This – at one point – was truer than now. Google and other search engines pretty much skip the “keywords” Meta call now. You are better off with content that is relevant on your pages than just simple relying on the “keywords” inside the Meta tags. Now, I am not saying do not use them at all – I just think people over exaggerate how useful they really are.

Article by: Zach Reed // Firebelly Designer (Follow me @bluetidepro)