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Debunking 9 SEO Myths

Posted at Digital Marketing Tips & Info - by TheDigitalMass.com by Michael Ouellette

Aug. 11, 2008

Tagged with: marketing in search engines, search optimization, seo

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Search engines may not be mythical creatures bred for the skills in magic, but they are constantly engulfed by marketing myth. That is simply because the rules change almost daily. The rules you knew from late 2007 have changed and will likely change again before the year is out.

The points below specifically address Search Engine Optimization. Some of the tactics below, such as video marketing outside of context, are effective outside of an SEO strategy. Google and the big engines are making page rank more and more difficult, hopefully these tips help.

 Search engine submissions are worthless. Once your site is
indexed, it’s over. Mission accomplished.

 Directories are no longer a good source of quality one-way links.

 Article submission sites are so inundated with content that any
new articles will be buried on Page Rank 0 pages forever.

 Press releases are nice if you just cured cancer but they don’t
help you reach your target audience.

 Diverting traffic from blogs is called spamming. It will get you
banned from any decent blogs (the only ones that matter).

 For an RSS Feed to work, you need relevant, well-written
content that is regularly updated for your core audience.

 Social bookmarking is great IF you to have something of
value to post. You need your own blog to do this effectively.

 Getting permanent, one way backlinks from other sites is
ideal, but the only way to get them is to write customized,
individual e-mails aimed at target sites of value.

 Using video clips to promote your business is effective IF
you place the videos within the context of your blog. Placing
them in social media sites is not going to have the desired effect.

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User Comments

1. RE: Debunking 9 SEO Myths

Written by: Mike Parker

Aug. 12, 2008

Thanks for your article. As in all things, there are differing opinions: we do not agree on several points you have made.

Yes the algorithms have changed.

No, quality directories are still relevant. It's about relevance and link content.

If you can coax folks into giving you a backlink, you are missing your true calling. Recipracol linking is dead and there is no benefit to them to give you a link.

But, most importantly, Page rank is a bogus concern in SEO. Page rank is nothing less than another algorithm, designed to favor --what, exactly? I can tell you that our clients are all over huge search depths with often little page rank. It isn't about page rank, it's about unique visitors and converting them to sign ins.

We have over 4000 customer phrases on the first page of Google. The one absolute I can offer everyone is that there are few absolutes, once you satisfy the basic algorithm; that is, page rank is an arbitrary and meaningless thing for everyone but those selling back links from their directories, I guess!

SEO is math and experience more than anything else, in my opinion. The math to write and select the proper HTML coding, the experience to link responsibly to relevant directories and sources.

While many agents do their own SEO, remember that only less than 10% are pleased with the performance of their sites, according to NAR. Maybe it's because there are so many do it youerself-ers out there, maybe not. I do know this: We've got folks all over succeeding online daily; big, little, rural and urban. expertise is vital to succeed in online marketing. Just getting on the first page isn't enough, and that is probably why we continue to grow and our clients largely continue to sell more houses online each month.

Get this free booklet if you would like to helpyourself: http://admin.compassinternetsystems.com/docs/?filename=SEO_Secrets.pdf

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2. RE: Debunking 9 SEO Myths

Written by: Joe Cline

Aug. 13, 2008

I agree with Mike. I think there is still value in some directories (i.e. yahoo). I also think that publishing content on a regular basis, both on your site as a blog and in article sites is valuable. Those article sites may bury the content, but publishers often pick up stories and then put the stories on their sites. I've never done anything with video, so I can't speak intelligently there, but I don't think I'm putting any significant effort in videos in the near future.

Joe
Austin Real Estate | Austin Texas Real Estate

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