Three Myths on Boosting Search-Engine Rankings

StartupJournal | Selling Online Three Myths on Boosting Search-Engine Rankings By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN Small online proprietors often spend lots of time and money trying to improve their search-engine rankings, getting only poor results for their effort. To avoid costly errors, make note of these common myths: Myth 1. You can be guaranteed consistently high rankings. ... SEO firms can't guarantee top search-engine rankings because search engines are constantly changing the way they rank Web sites, explains Chris Sherman, editor of "SearchDay," a daily e-newsletter from SearchEngineWatch.com in New York. "No SEO firm has inside access to those changes. The best they can do is study, analyze and adapt to their procedures as best they can," he says. Before hiring an SEO company, ask for references from past clients to learn about their experiences, he advises. "Good firms explain what they do in very plain English, provide information on their background and clients and give away free tools for checking your rankings," he says. Myth 2. I need to submit my Web site to every search engine out there. ... search engines find sites on their own from links on sites already in their databases ... The more links a site receives, the higher up it will appear in search results. ... Myth 3. Repeating keywords will increase my site's rankings. While search engines are designed to look for the words that users choose, padding your site with popular terms can backfire on a Web-site owner. Unnecessary repetition of words can turn off customers, warns Allan Dick, ... Overusing keywords may even lower your rankings ... SEO Services Search Engine Optimization SEO Company Marketing Firms