Search engine optimization is certainly a very complicated affair. Neither pure art nor science, SEO has elements of both. Due to rapid technological innovation, the ‘search world’ is in perpetual motion. No two sites should be treated in quite the same way. However, some general tips may be tailored to the specificities of individual sites. The problem, or rather one of the problems, is that some of the tips in articles on the topic are either out-of-date or utterly misleading. Hence it is always necessary to check information from one source against another. Even if this caution is put into action, however, there are some misconceptions which seem to have acquired considerable momentum.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we are fully up-to-the-minute with the latest SEO techniques so our clients are not obliged to be so. The area we work within can be highly technical so this kind of specialisation makes a great deal of sense. Nevertheless, we encourage our clients to do some research on the developing discipline because it makes for a more productive relationship. One of the reasons why we blog is to facilitate the research of others.

The first technical misconception to address is the notion that image links should never be deployed in SEO. While text links have their advocates, it is an error to rule out image links in an arbitrary and absolutist fashion. A similar myth is the commonly stated injunction not to use Flash in site design. Although a site constructed out of Flash may have considerable difficulties in the competitive struggle for higher rankings in the search engine results pages, there is no need to have a Flash-free site. Flash is brilliant for aesthetics, but in optimization aesthetics should take a back seat. Nevertheless, some pieces of Flash on a site should not prevent users or web crawlers from finding what they desire. It is often the case that good advice can get slightly twisted in the repeated telling and this seems to have occurred in this instance.

Another common misconception suggests that HTML code should not contain tables. It is hard to account for the origins of this theory. As Google does not like to tell us too much about the way it works, possibly for fear of sites being optimized to the limit, it leaves spaces which can be easily filled with rumours and distorted facts. The incorrect idea that HTML code should not contain tables has developed in one of these spaces of uncertainty. Such a vacuum is easily filled by a commentator who may or may not know their stuff. The search engines have never had an issue with tables in HTML code as legend would have you believe.

Unless you have a good theoretical and practical knowledge of search engine optimization, it can be very difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction. Hence it is becoming more and more foolish as time proceeds for the average online firm to attempt SEO without specialist assistance. If their car breaks down, many people are right to choose to obtain the services of an experienced mechanic.

There is no mistaking that a good way to get a higher ranking within the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) is to use methods which are known to please the major search engines as well as the human users – generally known as search engine optimization. This is fine to use if the keywords are relevant to the consumer but just used to tailor your copy more towards a search, however when the keywords and links are deceitful and used purely for the purpose of getting a higher rank or CTR (Click Through Rate), then this can be deemed as black hat SEO.

Black hat techniques are usually used as a way of fooling a search engine into ranking them high. This could be via a link with keywords which are most popular searched for, however may just be general terms or related to another industry, but nothing to do with the actual content of the website.

Once they are in the higher rankings, the link which they use will seem relevant to the searcher which will result in them clicking through to the web page. This in turn gives the website a high click through rate. There are various ways in which websites can do this, with some of the common ways being cloaking. With cloaking, there may be two sets of information or web pages within a site. One will only be visible to the search engines and not to the human eye. This means that keywords or links which the search engine feels are relevant will be picked up, however the actual content of the web page that the searcher sees has nothing to do with what they were actually searching for.

Other common black hat methods include fake pages, or doorway pages. This is a dummy page that in a similar way to cloaking, will seem relevant to the search engine. When the user clicks through they will only stay on the doorway page for a brief moment before they are automatically directed to the real homepage. When they get there, the real homepage may be completely irrelevant to the user, but the website has achieved in getting its high search ranking and a click to their site.

There are concerns with black hat SEO turning even more sinister, with companies attempting to jeopardise their competitors’ websites by using dirty tactics. This could be by link farming, where a series of hyperlinks are created between various sites, all linking at some point to another website. The links used however, are spam links. A more obvious destruction technique is to include spam links in comments on your competitor’s blogs or posts. A far better route is to use ethical link building strategies which don’t try to cheat or manipulate but are naturally gained over time.

The risks of using black hat techniques are that your website could get banned from a search engine. Once you are banned from a search engine there is little you can do unless you change your domain name and start again. Whilst this is possible, a new domain name can take a while to be trusted by search engines, so all your hard work has gone to waste.

Like any revolution, search engine optimisation has is detractors – however SEO has not only become a way to exploit the mechanics of the web, it has become an integral way that the internet functions, and what you mightn’t be aware of is that SEO is not only welcomed by Google – it is positively encouraged!

Just like mobile phones where once seen as a threat to fax machines, or television was seen as a threat to cinema or the printing press to the establishment – ok you get the picture! – search engine optimization was once seen as a threat to the integrity of search results; this view, however was built on a variety of misunderstandings and myths regarding how and why SEO was implemented – myths that need to be expunged for once and for all!

Firstly, white hat SEO is by no means in any way a misuse or exploitation of Google search, and instead it is completely recognised method used by highly reputable brands (e.g the BBC) to encourage better recognition and understanding from the Google bots, which will crawl your webpage and determine its quality and relevance.

Yes, quality! This is another misconception of optimization; it is not simple the practise of shoe-horning in as many keywords as possible (where’s the fun in that) and actually Google will often reprimand sites that it feels don’t live up to their fairly stringent quality standards, either by relegating your page to a lower page rank or omitting it from search results altogether – whilst it might be possible for a page which practises ‘keyword stuffing’ to make it for a very short time, decent page rank will be short lived and penalties will foll0w!

Hopefully by now you are convince about the ethics of optimisation and prepared to embrace all of the advantages that careful optimization can offer you page; however you might still have some misconceptions about how it all actually works!

Some of the more persistent myths regarding search engine optimization include:

Submission of a Page

Whilst it is possible to submit your page to Google, this will not increase its chances of being page ranked in a high position, and your page will most likely be linked via back links from other websites – a key function of off page optimisation; this proves that optimization isn’t just a way to increase your page ranking but it is actually a pretty sensible way to get your page noticed in the first place!

Length of Content

There was a persistent myth knocking around that longer content would be more appealing to Google’s bots, however this isn’t the case, and while it is true that better quality and more comprehensive content will always be preferred, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that Google have secret methods for choosing prominent pages!

Remember – Google don’t just accept that practise of optimization, but they actually encourage it, even providing systems like Google Analytics especially engineered to help you attune optimization – so if Google embrace it, what’s stopping you?!?