| Myth 1: |
All websites get listed in
the search engines. |
| Reality: |
Oh no they don't. We can show you thousands of sites
that have been around for years and aren't listed anywhere
and have absolutely no chance of ever getting listed.
You should also remember that getting listed is one thing,
getting listed on page 1 or 2 is another! |
| Myth 2: |
I've submitted my webpages to 1500 search
engines ... |
| Reality: |
There aren't 1500 search engines. There are only 14
search engines that count and they won't accept a submission
from the automated device that submitted your site to
the other 1486 !!! Also, many of those so called search
engines are link farms designed to collect your data and
spam you for ever more. Worse still, being on one of these
link farms will lead to your site being banned from the
most important search engines. |
| Reality: |
The search engines don't care! Your website could be
the most beautiful thing on earth -- right up there with
the Mona Lisa, and you could have hired the hottest award
winning designer available, but the bottom line is that
the search engines don't care! Each search engine uses
a different set of rules called algorithms to decide whereabouts
in their engine your site will rank. So a perfectly hideous
site can obtain a No1 spot while the beauty next door
is ranked at 2549! Now don't get me wrong. People WILL
see you site, and WILL be influenced by how it looks,
how it is laid out and how easy (or hard) it is to navigate.
Your overall site design IS important ... Just not to
the search engines! |
| Reality: |
There are probably a dozen reasons for not doing this.
Here are a few of the major ones. First, if people are
looking for "sex sites," do you really think
they are going to stop and buy your "kid rated"
bathtub gizmos? Second, if you are paying your ISP for
traffic, you are going to be paying for all sorts of *useless*,
unqualified traffic. Third, the search engines will very
quickly see what you are doing and ban your site altogether! |
| Myth 5: |
Once I get a top 10 ranking with a search
engine my work is done! |
| Reality: |
People are going to try and outdo you every single
day! There are well over 150,000 new domains registered
each and every month! Many of them want YOUR top 10
position -- and as soon as they get it (which eventually,
they will), you will find your listing sliding further
and further down the list.
In addition to the competition, search engines are
regularly changing their algorithms. So when they send
their spiders to reevaluate your site, you may receive
a much lower ranking. The reality is that your search
engine work is never done. You have to keep checking
your position -- and when you slip, do something about
it! If you do get a top 10 position, don't fiddle with
it. Don't resubmit this keyword in an attempt to get
an even higher listing. If the engine's algorithms have
changed you could end up being bumped down the list
instead! |
| Reality: |
Think again. If you know about the trick, chances
are, the people who program the search engines probably
do too! There are real people behind the "machines"
and they get pretty annoyed when people try to trick
them. If they catch you, they may prevent your site
from ever getting listed.
Here are some of the tricks that some search engines
will penalize you for:
- Key word stuffing. If one keyword, say "marketing,"
will get noticed, then repeating the word "marketing"
over and over will get you a good listing, right?
NOT so! In fact, it will probably get you on the "hit"
list!
- Hidden text. You can hide text by using color or
size (making the font the same color as the background
or hiding text in small, 1 pixel by 1 pixel tables).
While invisible to the human eye, some search engines
see it.
- Non-related key words. We've already discussed using
the word "sex." But some people also use
competitors names or product names as keywords. In
addition to being frowned upon by the search engines,
you could get sued for it. Playboy is getting so much
it could be consider another source of income!
- Content switching. It's the old "bait-and-switch"
trick. You build the perfectly optimized page, let
search engine spiders visit it and then substitute
the "real" stuff.
- You might have got away with these sort of tricks
in the past, but you wont now! Try any of these and
you will get caught caught. Your IP address (and not
just your domain name) gets banned for life!
|
| Reality: |
Oh no you won't! Search engines stopped reading and
using keyword meta tags 2 1/2 years ago! They are of
no use at all.
|
