4 Common Misconceptions about Search Engine Optimization

Here are some common things people think they know about SEO – but that aren’t really the right way to go about things. We’ll be offering an SEO training course here soon – if you’re interested in learning a lot more, stop by again and see our course.

1. Ranking in Google’s Top 5 is the “Goal”.
It’s really easy to get ranked in the top 5 on keywords that are very precise and not competed highly for in Google results. Getting ranked for “Sally’s purple jumping beans” is really not that great a feat. It’s easy. Getting your site ranked first for “buy windows 7″ is awesome and is the goal. The goal for you as you pay someone to do SEO for you is to rank highly on keywords that bring great traffic ready to act to your business website. Be cautious about what your SEO expert is telling you. Watch out for that meaningless promise, “Your site will rank in the top 10 of Google!” Ensure your keywords are the ones you need to make more sales or gather more quality leads.

2. SEO means configuring my meta tags, links, and text so I have a my keyword in them.
A long time ago this was almost all SEO meant. Now it’s matured quite a bit and SEO is dynamic and changing often. There is on-site and off-site SEO. Both are VERY important. Off-site SEO has to do with links pointing in to your site from quality websites. On-site SEO, while important, has been made less so with recent changes.

3. “My friend can do my SEO…”
Unless your friend has a LOT of real-world experience he/she is not going to get you much. SEO is an area of expertise that few have really gotten down to a high degree. It’s a specialty field that has few specialists – even now. Don’t let someone “give it a try”, you’ve got to either do it yourself or pay someone to do it if you want to have anything positive come out of it at all. There’s a reason SEO experts charge what they do – they can!

4. White Hat SEO is the only way to go.
White Hat seo is using techniques that are Google friendly and won’t get you any penalties. In one sense, that’s the only way to go… but, there’s another level of SEO that you as a consumer should be aware of.

Now there is the Clear Hat SEO initiative and it’s all about being more open with the consumer who is paying for the SEO services. Basically it’s about being more transparent with consumers so they can verify what is being done to their site. Usually SEO’s work in a secret fashion – they do what they do and it’s all a big secret until they either fail or are successful. Clear Hat SEO is the next level and you should insist on it.

We will be offering some SEO courses here for you to take and learn a lot about the topic before you spend a lot of money on your business. The course will include information about Clear Hat SEO and there will be discounts if you join our newsletter first – so, join now!