In our previous articles, we have spoken about the value of SEO and the legion of benefits that one can get by spending a great deal of time doing SEO on their website. An e-commerce website that isn’t displayed on any search engine results pages is like a business card that hasn’t been handed out to anyone. That same website, displayed on the top page of Google’s search engine display results for relevant search terms has a great opportunity of developing into a moneymaking machine.
Individuals with anything more than a vague familiarity with the concept of search engine optimization know that focusing on SEO has become the sine qua non of web presence and reach. And so, a great deal of them are starting to get their healthy dose of SEO talk out of their system. The SEO chat around the dinner table has become a regular occurrence. Folks are spending less time talking about HTML and CSS at the workplace, and more time talking about what keywords they are using to boost their online presence. All this is healthy and fantastic.
But the problem arises when folks who think they know more than they do about SEO begin to spread myths. Today, so much bunkum is being imbibed by a great number of SEO enthusiasts. Many are going on forums and trying to find “the answer” to all their search engine optimization woes. They want to know how they can quickly get to the top. To the experts, it’s like hoping for the wind to whisper the secrets of the universe into one’s ear. But the less SEO conversant seem to believe that it is worthwhile to vacuously search the hidden corners of the web for the secret.
The Myths
The number of myths out there regarding SEO are innumerable. Among the most commonly distributed ones would be the myth that Google makes changes to their search results with the sole intent of expanding profits. It doesn’t matter whether or not you buy ads. Google doesn’t care. They won’t curry favor to the folks who are putting an extra bit of change into their piggy banks. The ethical nature of the company is of utmost importance; it would be a violation of their principles to stoop down to that level. And even if we were to assume that their moral principles were out the door, Google couldn’t risk losing the respect and admiration of everyone they do business with for a mere infinitesimally small profit. Any profit Google can make off of SEO bribes will be less than a hundredth, or even a thousandth, of a percent of what they make on a regular basis. So in short, the short term benefits of taking bribes are not worth the long term effects of a lost image that would most certainly ensue.
The other myth is more general. It is something that folks need to keep in mind whenever they feel the urge to explore forums that claim to have all the SEO answers. The myth is this: anyone who actually knows how to boost a website’s position rankings to the top of SERPs will not actually share that information with you. Human beings respond to incentives, and anyone possessing this golden piece of knowledge will not share it with everyone. If that knowledge were shared, and if and when people catch on, everyone will start to employ “the secret,” and the tactic would no longer be effective. The most profitable thing to do would be to keep the secret to oneself, and demand exorbitant prices for the SEO service. Selling a million copies of an SEO book wouldn’t rake in the amount of money that one could make if he were to just keep the secret to himself and charge companies for hiring him to do SEO on their site.
So stop wasting your time on those forums that claim to have all the SEO answers. No sane person would divulge the most profitable secret known to exist in the 21st century. If you have read through this, and still feel the urge to continue your SEO forum foraging, it’s about time you check our own level of sanity.