SEO Myths - care to add some?

[TWD-Tony]

For some totally bizare reason I thought it would be a good idea to create a list of some common SEO advice "whoppers" that do the rounds regularly on forums etc.

The current list is on my blog here http://www.totalwebdevelopment.co.uk...ame-about.html

I have a feeling that some peeps might try and argue a few of them

[fisicx]

Here's mine: www.aerin.co.uk/articles/seo-myths.htm

I think we are in agreement about TBPR, just describe the situation differently.

[JustOneUK]

hey Tony , Firstly I thought I'd post a proper link for you...
http://www.totalwebdevelopment.co.uk...ame-about.html seeing as you posted the wrong one

Secondly.. Did I just witness Fisicx agreeing that page validation (clean code) makes no difference on ranking?

Thirdly.. didn't you know that pagerank is pointless?.. that's what all the great forum SEOs say (LMAO!)

nice blog post.

Fisicx.. I read yours too and I quote "The rank of the website is a consequence of SEO not the aim.", excuse me while I faint!!!!

James.

[fisicx]

Originally Posted by JustOneUK

Did I just witness Fisicx agreeing that page validation (clean code) makes no difference on ranking?

Yup. The indexing robots strip out all the code and treat the page as a lump of text and links. Try this neat tool to see how it works.

Don't faint! I took me a long while to realize what SEO actually means and if you read the very long but very interesting cre8asite forum thread you will see that SEO is not all about getting the #1 slot any more than the aim of a website is to get more visitors.

[JustOneUK]

Originally Posted by fisicx

Yup. The indexing robots strip out all the code and treat the page as a lump of text and links.

Sure, I just seem to remember you were a big advocate of clean code as if it were to enhance SERPs in some way.. perhaps I am mistaken. Thanks for the link I actually learned something about my site...
I'm No1 all over the place!!!

Originally Posted by fisicx

Don't faint! I took me a long while to realize what SEO actually means.

There's a clue in the name.. Search Engine Optimisation.

I'm going to guess this means optimising your website for the search engines - I'd go so far to say the point being to rank as high as possible for your key phrases.. No1 if possible.

I don't know any SEOs that would say to a customer.."it doesn't matter where you rank, in fact low is good"

(all said with my tongue firmly in my cheek) </wink>

James.

[fisicx]

Okey dokey,

I still advocate clean code - but that's not the same as valid code. Fill the page with lots of JS, tables, maps, styles, tables and associated baggage and all your're doing is making the robot work harder to extract the content. But if you have a nice clean page with all the JS and CSS tucked away in external files the spider will love you long time and forgive the odd missing tag.

I agree, SEO means Search Engine Optimisation. But what are you trying to achieve? Hopefully more conversions. Being at #1 will help but the aim should be to improve your SE visibility and generate more click throughs. So you tell your clients that you want to increase the number of visitors to the site which will improve the ROI, CTR and other TLA. This process will result in an improved ranking but remember the aim is to up the conversions not be #1. Focussing on being #1 means forgetting the aim of the site. Read Ammon Jones Quick Start guide or the SEOmoz guide and you will see what I mean.

[proson]

Originally Posted by TWD-Tony

For some totally bizare reason I thought it would be a good idea to create a list of some common SEO advice "whoppers" that do the rounds regularly on forums etc.

The current list is on my blog here http://www.totalwebdevelopment.co.uk...ame-about.html

I have a feeling that some peeps might try and argue a few of them

high page rank = high site ranking probably is the biggest seo myth

[erikko]

i can consider the existence of "sandbox" a SEO myth. Im not that sure if that really exists or not

[fisicx]

Originally Posted by erikko

i can consider the existence of "sandbox" a SEO myth. Im not that sure if that really exists or not

It's not really a myth, it's just a misperception as to how google indexes and ranks a website. When google discovers a new site is will often give it a 'pretend' ranking while it carries out the indexing process. Once it's finished google will then make a final descision as to 'real' rank of the website. This is why new sites, blogs and news stories do really well for a while then drop down the ranking over time.

[finvik]

the link is not working please rectify it. sound interesting to me please check the link
Vik