The Biggest Myths About SEO

I’m going to try to bust some of the most prevalent myths about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This article applies to SEO for websites and blogs, not necessarily hubs. So if you are looking to do some SEO on your website or blog, or looking to hire someone to do SEO, hopefully this will help you.

Myth #1 - SEO is easy.

SEO is not easy, at least not good SEO. Many people think that SEO is simply a matter of slapping some keywords in your meta tags and copy, and boom, you have an optimized website. In truth, there is so much more to SEO. A discussion of all the elements that make up good SEO is beyond the scope of this article. What is important to note here is that if someone tells you that SEO is easy or says that just reading an article or two will get you ready to do SEO, then they are misleading you. And of course, if you are looking to hire someone to do SEO and they say it’s easy, they are either lying or they don’t know the first thing about SEO.

Good SEO is hard. It requires attention to a lot different things and certain skills that need to be developed over time. So if you intend to do SEO yourself, be prepared to learn a lot. If you’re looking to hire someone, be sure to question them thoroughly about their approach to SEO.

Myth #2 - SEO is quick.

SEO is not quick, at least not good SEO. If someone tells you it is, again, they are lying or they don’t know how to do SEO. Good SEO takes time. There are no shortcuts. After all, Google’s whole business is built upon sorting and sifting through websites, and its army of engineers’ sole job is to ensure its search results are of the highest quality.

The only kind of quick SEO is what is called “black hat” SEO. Again, the specifics of black hat SEO are beyond the scope of this article. However, suffice it to say that practitioners of black hat SEO (and there are plenty out there, unfortunately) use various “tricks” to try to fool Google’s algorithm. Sometimes these tricks work; however, Google has gotten smarter and smarter over the years in defeating these gimmicks. But some do get through. Here’s the catch: these tricks never work in the long-run and are very likely to get your website banned from Google.

So if you are going to do SEO for your website or your blog, be patient, it will take time. If someone (and there are too many such people, sadly) who tells you they can get your website ranked in the top 10 search results in a week, they are lying. And if they give you a guarantee, run! No reputable SEO will ever give you a guarantee or promise to get your website to the #1 ranking in a week.

Myth #3 - Anyone can do SEO.

This is sort of related to Myth #1. However, I will address another angle here. Since there is this perception that anyone can do SEO, there are a lot of businesses selling self-help tools, books, DVDs, and God knows what else, intended to make you a master SEO in no time. Please don’t fall for these. The vast majority of these are pure garbage. No reputable SEO will go out there pitching some self-help manual or book. There are a lot of businesses trying to make money off this myth, and they are ripping people off. The information is fluff, out-dated, and mostly useless, if not outright dangerous. There is no cookie cutter approach to SEO, so beware. All good SEOs value the skills and knowledge they have developed over the years so they are not about to share these with the world for $1. So if anyone says they will share SEO super secrets, they are likely a scam.

Being a small business owner or working with a tight budget, it is easy to understand the temptation for doing things on the cheap. When applied to SEO, this means trying to do it yourself. If you do decide to go that route, be prepared to work hard, learn a lot, and be patient.

If you’re looking to hire someone, beware. There are a lot of phony SEOs out there. Because there are no standard credentials for being an SEO, many people who see it as a hot or lucrative business are jumping into SEO, only to make a quick buck. That is why perhaps SEOs as a community are getting a bad rap these days. Before hiring, interview any prospective SEO thoroughly about his or her experience, knowledge, and references. We need to weed bad SEOs out.

Myth #4 - All SEO is the same.

This one was sufficiently addressed in Myth #2, so I won’t belabor it too much. The bottom line is that all SEO is not the same. There is “white hat” or good SEO and then there is “black hat” or bad SEO. I’m sure there are great resources out there about what exactly constitutes black hat SEO. Make sure you familiarize yourself with this information before hiring someone to do SEO or embarking on doing it yourself (and your source of SEO information).

There is a reason why some SEOs charge a lot of money. They know what they are doing and have been doing it successfully for many years. So beware of SEOs who promise to do things on the cheap with guaranteed results.

Again, SEO takes times to learn and master, and because it changes so quickly, it is hard to just read a book and go out there and optimize your site or blog. Professional SEOs spend years learning SEO, and they are still learning everyday. Of course, some people think they are very smart and can do it all themselves, and more power to them.

If you decide to do SEO for your website or blog yourself, make sure you are realistic about your goals, learn from credible sources, and be prepared to work hard and be patient.