Misunderstood SEO Concepts
Search engine optimization is not a straight forward approach and oftentimes requires experience and knowledge in order to get it right. Over the years some key important optimization techniques have been seriously misunderstood and completely butchered.
Here is a list of common misunderstood SEO concepts that I came up with:
Website Meta Info
You shouldn’t have 100 keywords stuffed into your keyword section of each page of your site. There should be no more than 5-7 keywords in this space strategic to the material on that web page.
Internal Linking
Your web pages should not have more links than content. This is going to cause a horrible user experience and could even cause a penalty if really abused.
Footer Links
Years ago it was a popular measure to stuff many different links into your footer with the hopes of misleading the search engines. If you did it years ago the algorithm might allow it but if you try it with a new website today you might have some troubles on your hands.
Directory Submissions
Directory submissions can generate nice link power when you are listed in strategic niche directories surrounding your area of business. Purchasing a directory submission package promising 1,000 links is not strategic and oftentimes abused.
Article Marketing
Article marketing is all about positioning yourself as an expert in your field by writing a few key pieces of literature. Paying someone overseas to re-write the same article 500 times is not going to help your business in any way.
One Way Linking
If you are a plumbing company and you are seeking out links on a florist directory you have the concept of one way link building all wrong. It is all about creating targeted one way links from either news or niche sources. Completely irrelevant links such as this could actually hurt your search engine optimization efforts.
Content Writing
Yes, content is important but that doesn’t mean that your local dentist practice in Sheboygan, WI needs 2,000 pages of content so that you can dominate the search results. This is an old school approach that really doesn’t work.
If you are going to conduct search engine optimization for your company business you need to be able to get it right. Things are always changing and it is important to roll with the punches so that you don’t find your website on the wrong side of the search engine space.
17 Responses to “Misunderstood SEO Concepts”
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Great to have an article that clears the seo mysterys like footer links or keyword stuffing. But what would you recommend as proper seo techniques?
Excellent.Those who misunderstood SEO concepts have been making money by misleading people. This blog can open a new path for SEO persons who work hard to get the results.I would like to thank you for writing on this important topic.
Another great article nick.
Yes i totaaly agree the plan is long term with great content and value added items for your vistors
Best regards,
I’ve followed & recommended your blog for just this type of helpful post. As SEO contunies to evolve its great to have a resource that cuts through the bull. Regarding content – is there a way to estimate how much content to keep on your site?
Thank you so much for all of your “coherent” and HONEST advice, so many companies out there turn this into such a “mystery” that small business owners like myself get scared off by their guerilla tactics and try to shame you into buying services that you just don’t understand – nor will they try and help you to.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. All of your advice has been so helpful to me!
Love your newsletter! Thanks
Don’t get me started on scraping and spinning!
I wonder how much your advice applies to catalog sites. As I have one with many depts. I try to cover what is offered on the site in the meta tags, so far with good results from the main search engines. I have not noticed any penalties for running too many words in the meta descriptions. Should I worry about your advice, “no more than 100 keywords?” Or too many internal links on a single page? Both the jewelry site and the silverware site have inventory pages necessitating links to the individual ware pages and back links to them. Do tell?
Very solid and well-timed perspectives, Nick. Thanks for helping clear the air for those in search of updated SEO techniques.
Very Insightful information. This article should be emailed, posted in thousands of places. Thank you very much. I am grateful for your info.
Good points indeed Nick!
The “art” of SEO is getting tougher and tougher by the day. competition, Google constantly changing the algorithms….your advise is SPOT ON, as usual !
Thanks for sharing this. I am sure many will benefit from this information.
Ever heard the saying, “the devil is in the details”. This is 100% true with SEO. If you half-ass your approach SEO it can sometimes hurt more than help.
So true! I’m the virtual “sandbox” at the moment, as I recently launched a new website with a new domain name. As I delve into DIY SEO tactics, I’ve come across dozens of sites and received as many e-mails from people abroad promising the world and 500 links. You can make a guess about the relevancy of those links.
Good list. I think “Canonical” is also a common mistake. Many webmasters add this to every pages of the site.
I’m with Megan in the sandbox
I’ve read that excessive back linking and manic SEO linking tactics on a new site is not recommended. So we build it slow but steady.
Thank you for the info on article marketing. Having written hundreds of SEO articles for clients in the past, I faced writing hundreds more to rank my new sites. Don’t think it hurts but it seems backlinking is king, with or without articles. I enjoy your information here, very clear and to the point. Great for those of us who need it really clear cut.
There are many misunderstood seo concepts that you touched on .
Why only 7 keywords per page? Is that all they look at and index is 7? Sometimes i have 7 different products on 1 page. That don`t leave too much room for variations of each keyword. On my site I use anywhere from 11 to 19 per page and have not had any problems(except for keeping track of their positioning in search.
Thanks
Have a great day.
SEO can be one hard topic to get your head around as I am learning more and more every time I read a new article on it. My business has only just started up in the last 4 weeks and before now I have never ha to think or even heard of SEO. So thank you very much for all the insight and advice this article has given, although I am not convinced I will ever remember everything with SEO but I take loads of notes and keep them to hand.