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10 SEO MYTHS Every Small Business Should Know The Truth About

1.800.701.2894 www.wpromote.com [email protected]

©2012—All Information in This Document is Copyright Protected and the Property of Wpromote Inc.

10 SEO MYTHSEvery Small Business Should Know The Truth About

[email protected] ©2012—All Information in This Document is Copyright Protected and the Property of Wpromote Inc.

In the world of online marketing, misinformation abounds -- and it gets compounded exponentially by an incredibly dynamic and rapidly evolving world. Most of the things you think you know (but don’t) about Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, may have been true a few years ago but have changed.

This whitepaper details 10 common SEO myths every small business owner needs to forget about in order to become

smarter at Search Engine Optimization.

Not anymore; in fact, meta descriptions are no longer even indexed by Google and Bing. But don’t ignore them

altogether. Your meta descriptions form the text that is displayed along with your link in the search results. A more

compelling description will persuade more users to click on your listing instead of on others and this consequential

increased clickthrough rate demonstrates your site’s value to the search engines. Here’s an example of ours:

Meta Descriptions Help Your Rankings1.

The More Inbound Links The Better2.

PageRank Still Matters3.

Google Prefers Keyword-Rich Domains4.

Websites Must Be Submitted To The Search Engines5.

Flash Is A No-No For SEO6.

If You Have Great SEO, You Don’t Need PPC7.

Using Google Analytics Can Affect Your Rankings8.

You Will Be Penalized For Having Duplicate Content9.

Good SEO Is About Tricking The Search Engines10.

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MYTH 1: Meta Descriptions Help Your Rankings

10 SEO MYTHS

Page Title

MetaDescription



False. In all the recent updates to Google’s algorithm, the search giant has

made it a priority to have quality links trump quantity. Gone are the days

of having thousands of super low-quality links driving up rankings; in fact,

creating those links can look spammy and get your site penalized.

Focus on obtaining links from sites that are relevant to your products,

services, or industry -- and on having those links be surrounded by

relevant text. An informative blog review about your “blue widget” that

links to your site is far more valuable than a rogue link for “blue widget”

stuck in the footer or sidebar of some site -- even a highly ranked one.

MYTH 2: The More Inbound Links, The Better

Google’s infamous PageRank (named after Google co-founder and now-CEO Larry Page, mind you) is a 1-to-10 ranking

of the overall authority of every website. The bigger the number, the better the rank. In years past, this seemingly

all-powerful number dominated the attention of SEO experts.

But today, Google’s algorithm has evolved well beyond any single indicator. The PageRank still exists, and if all

things are equal, a higher PageRank trumps a lower one -- but factors such as relevance and context matter far more.

As with inbound links, if you run a dental practice in Los Angeles, it’s better to have a link from a site that reviews

doctors and dentists in L.A., even if it has a PageRank of 4, than to have a paid link with no context.

MYTH 3: PageRank Still Matters

5.

In years past, Google seemed to put a disproportionate amount

of emphasis on keywords in the domain name (what you may

think of as the URL). For example, AluminumSiding.com would

almost certainly be ranked first in a search for “Aluminum

Siding”.

Not anymore, says Google. If AluminumSiding.com is in fact the

more relevant, authoritative site on the topic, it will probably

still rank first -- but not because of its domain name alone.

MYTH 4: Google Prefers Keyword-Rich Domains

Three Sites Are More Relevant To “Aluminum Siding” Than The Domain www.AluminumSiding.com Containing The Keyword

Obtaining One Quality Link Will Reap More BenefitThan Obtaining Numerous Low Quality Links

Link Power

One Quality Link Several Low Quality Links

1

2

3

4

+ +



Websites Must Be Submitted to the Search Engines5.

In 2001, yes this was the case -- in fact, this was the first service that Wpromote ever provided. But in 2012? Not at all.

At this point, if there is any connection from any site to yours, your site will be quickly discovered by Google.

Not that it isn’t necessary to be indexed in order to achieve high rankings (or any level of rankings for this matter) --

but that first step of submissions is no longer needed or helpful.

MYTH 5: Websites Must Be ‘Submitted’ To Search Engines

Rather, often misinterpreted. It’s actually not the Flash itself that causes poor

rankings, but rather the total reliance on Flash, which deprives the page of

content necessary to achieve good rankings.

While search engines have gotten much better at crawling Flash pages, if you

have the choice between a Flash site and a non-Flash site, you’d want to go

with the latter -- it’s still an obstacle. This is a redundant point -- necessary

since it is the basis of all good long-term rankings -- but pages should be full

of unique, highly relevant text. Don’t be scared of Flash; just be cautious of

its over-usage. A nice piece of Flash imagery on a page with relevant text will

actually perform well for SEO. However, new technologies like HTML5 are the

superior choice since flash doesn’t work on iPhones and iPads.

MYTH 6: Flash Is A No-No for SEO

For many, it’s hard to swallow paying for clicks on

keywords you are already receiving “free” organic

tra�c from. What many don’t know of is the

mysterious lift that is seen when you run PPC and

SEO campaigns simultaneously.

When users see the same website multiple times in

the search results (organic and paid listings) there

is an added value of brand authority, persuading

users to click on that company’s ad. This in turn

increases the total CTR to be higher than the

expected combined CTRs.

MYTH 7: If You Have Great SEO You Don’t Need PPC

Opt For The Site That Contains A Good Ratio Of Content To Flash

VS.

#1 SEO CTR #1 PPC CTR Total CTR

Only PPCListings

Both SEO + PPC

Only SEOListings 18% 18%0%

0% 10%10%

20% 32%12%

The Organic/Paid Double-Listing Produced 4% More Total Clicks BasedOn Average Of Recent Wpromote Client Results

False. Silly, but yes there are many speculators who are weary of using Google Analytics in fear that the data collected

will be used in determining their site’s rankings.

According to members of Google, this is absolutely false. You can only benefit from the knowledge of useful data

you can extract about your website through analytics.

MYTH 8: Using Google Analytics Can Affect Your Rankings



Not True. Google doesn't actually give out

penalties for having duplicate content. How-

ever, from an SEO perspective you might as

well not even have that page on your site, as

pages on your site that consist mainly of dupli-

cate content don't stand a very good chance of

performing highly.

Online retailers definitely beware here. Having

duplicate content can also be a waste of prime

real estate. One great way to outrank competi-

tors who are selling the same product as you, is

to optimize your product descriptions by

making them unique. If you can't create unique descriptions for these products, then be sure to tag (paginate and

canonical) the pages accordingly so you can extract some value out of the pages rather than none.

MYTH 9: You Will Be Penalized For Having Duplicate Content

False, false, false. Although there are still some SEO analysts out there who go about

their business trying to “trick Google,” this is absolutely not the way to provide good,

lasting SEO.

Good SEO is about creating a relevant, informative website that has unique

content. The site should also have a great user experience and encourage the

sharing and distribution of the content to drive organic publicity, in turn garnering

links back to the site.

In the end, Google explicitly wants to reward websites with good SEO with high

rankings -- so it is anything but "tricking" the search engines that will produce results.

MYTH 10: Good SEO Is About Tricking The Search Engines

VS.

Creating A Unique Product Description Will Help You Stand Out From Your Competitors In The Eyes Of The Search Engines

Standard Duplicate Copy Unique Copy

Please feel free to contact us with any questions, comments or feedback!

[email protected]

1.800.701.2894

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