Articles

Search Engine Myths and Facts

Myth: Submitting to search engines is a waste of time.
Fact: Research continually shows that 85-99 percent of web users start at search engines to find what they're looking for. As a small business, it's worth your while to get to know search engines. In fact, a high ranking on a major search engine can generate more targeted traffic than any other marketing strategy. Take advantage of search engines' potential, so you'll get a better ranking than all the sites like yours in the engines you choose.

Myth: If I submit today, I'll see results tomorrow, or next week at the latest.
Fact: It takes time to get good rankings. Although search engines claim it takes only a couple of days, you can expect these time frames:

If your site isn't listed within the time periods above, we recommend that you resubmit your site.

Myth: All I have to do to get a high ranking is submit my web site.
Fact: Unfortunately, getting a high ranking demands more than just submitting your site. Not only do you need to make your pages search engine friendly; you must also regularly track your rankings, tweak your site, and resubmit as needed. Getting the most from the search engines takes time, patience, and lots of trial and error.

Myth: Keywords are the key to getting good search engine rankings.
Fact: Sure, keywords (or meta tags) are important. But they're just one piece in the puzzle. Search engine rank is actually based on lots of other criteria, including the words you use on every page of your site, your page titles, and the links that you include on your site.

Myth: I should try to get as many keywords as possible onto my site.
Fact: Although you do need keywords on your site, you shouldn't use keywords that are not directly related to your web site. If you use keywords not directly related to your site, search engines might not list you, because your keywords don't match your content.

Myth: Using a free web address doesn't affect your search engine rankings.
Fact: Unfortunately, a free web address (such as http://www.gracecabinets.bigstep.com) can hurt not only your ranking but your ability to get listed at all. Because some people use free web addresses to spam search engines, search engines often ignore these kinds of addresses. If you're interested in using search engines to generate traffic to your web site, consider using a personalized web address (such as http://www.gracecabinets.com) — it can really help.

Myth: If I continually resubmit my site, the search engines will ban me. But if I don't resubmit, I'll lose my ranking. There's no way to win.
Fact: Each search engine is different. If a search engine accepts your site, wait about a month for your site to appear in its search results. If your site still hasn't appeared after a month, resubmit. You can also resubmit your site if you see your ranking slip, or if you overhaul your site. Typically you can resubmit to search engines as often as once a month without worrying about getting banned.

Myth: Paying for submission tools is a waste of money.
Fact: People who use site preparation tools actually have a much greater chance of seeing good results than those who don't. Better results mean that more people will find your business — which can mean more sales and more revenue for you.

Knowing what search engines look for and how to incorporate those traits into your web site can help you get a great ranking.

Myth: To get good search engine rankings, I have to pay a consultant a zillion bucks.
Fact: Getting good rankings takes only time and patience. Search engines are a complicated business, and they frequently change their rules. To get the rankings you need, you just need a few good tools and a little elbow grease. You don't have to pay a consultant.