5 Misconceptions for Search Engine Optimization

1. 5 Misconceptions for Search
Engine Optimization
Picture this scene, an adolescent boy walks into a barber shop and says to the
barber, “Don’t touch me, I’m only here because my mom forced me.” Search
engine optimizers are sometimes put into the position of the barber.
They are knowledgeable and willing to work on their client’s site, but the client
doesn’t want any modifications done to the text that is visible on her web
pages. This kind of dilemma occurs due to general misconceptions about
search engine optimization. Let’s look at these misconceptions.
1. Search Engine Optimization is Prohibitively
Expensive
While it is true that very large organizations, ordering services from the top
SEO companies, can end up spending thousands of dollars on their
optimization campaigns, search engine optimization can be the most
inexpensive and cost-effective option for web site promotion.
If you launch a modest pay per click campaign and pay five cents per click and
get 100 clicks per day, then your cost is $5.00 per day or $1825 per year. If you
learn how to optimize your pages by yourself you may be able to get natural
search engine traffic without paying the pay per click fees.
This is in fact what many webmasters do. Or, if you opt for a modest search
engine optimization package from a professional you can end up spending less
than the pay per click fees.

2. 2. SEO only involves writing meta tags and working on
“invisible” code
Many people want to get a high ranking for various keywords or keyword
phrases, but if you look at the text on their web pages you can hardly find
these vital words.
They come to a search engine optimizer and think that he or she will sprinkle
these words into the meta tags and it will work like magic. This is a major
misunderstanding.
It is true that your main keywords and key phrases should be in your title tag
and your description meta tag, and even in the keywords meta tag, but they
must also appear on the page itself and they must appear in some strategic
places on that page.
Some clients say, “But I like the way it looks now.” You may like the way it
looks, but the search engines will not recognize that your page is truly about
Electronic Widgets unless these words appear in headlines on the page, in the
opening paragraph, in the file or domain name in link text and in the body text
of your page.
So, by all means if you already have copy that works, that can convert visitors
into buyers or otherwise accomplish the purposes of your site, keep it. But you
should also be ready to listen to what the optimizer has to say about
modifications that will enable search engines to select your site when a
potential buyer makes a query for your key words or phrases.
3. Search Engine Optimization is Tricking the Search
Engines
Some clients say, “Don’t touch the visible copy but put in the modifications
invisibly.” Using invisible text is something that can get you banned from a
search engine. The main purpose of search engine optimization is to give your

3. website the best possible chance to come up in good positions when someone
makes a query for your keywords or key phrases.
The key to doing this is to design web pages and write copy that is intelligible
to search engines, without sacrificing the experience and understanding of
your end-users, the people who visit your site.
So, don’t ask your SEO professional to try to trick the search engines, but work
with him or her to present your website in the best possible way.
4. Search Engine Optimization works instantly
Don’t expect to get a flood of traffic right after your site has been optimized.
Some search engines work in a fairly rapid manner, but the main search engine
at the present moment, Google, is believed to have deliberately put an aging
delay into its algorithm.
This means that it may take several months before your site makes it into the
top results for your particular category, especially if it is a newly created site.
During this initial period you will also have to consider using other promotional
methods such as pay per click advertising, article marketing, joint ventures,
paid advertising in ezines and offline advertising.
5. Search Engine Optimization deals mainly with
onsite modifications
Even if your website is well designed, has proper meta tags and has keyword-
rich text, this alone does not guarantee that your site will rank high in
competitive queries.
All of these factors, design, meta tags, and copy, are on-site factors. Search
engines certainly take them into consideration, but they also value off-site
factors such as how many high quality or authoritative websites link to you.

4. This means that hand-in-hand with your on-site optimization you and your
promotion team will have to embark on a campaign to get links to your
websites coming from websites that are already highly regarded by the search
engines and by the public in general.
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