subject: 3 SEO Myths You Cannot Afford to Believe In [print this page] To help you maximize your site, here is a list of SEO myths.
One widespread fallacy is that you should submit your URL to the search engines. Search engines are evolving more and more as the internet continues to grow at an astounding rate. Thus, if you want your URL to appear in the search engines you are no longer required to submit it manually. Search engine spiders crawl sites constantly so the speediest way to have your site indexed is to have a link back to your site from a few Web 2.0 properties or popular forums that are constantly visited by spiders. Another reason why you shouldn't directly submit your URL to the search engines is because it might actually make the whole process even longer. So the best option is to get your website listed with a few popular sites and you'll see it getting indexed in no time.
Another other myth that is quite common and you should be aware of when you are optimizing your site is that your site will be banned if you don't conform to Google's rules and regulations. This is because the rules Google has created are simply good sense. You are not obligated to read them if you know you are not doing anything wrong. You need to avoid doing anything that the search engines might consider spam or an attempt to game the system, also known as cheating. However, it is wise to read through these guidelines every once in a while because they are always being updated and it will help increase your knowledge.
The amount of content you need on your site is the source of another myth. Word count is believed to impact your site ranking with the minimum being 250 words. Quality of information should not be overshadowed by a desire to meet a minimum word count since there is no magic number. The idea behind this myth is to optimize a larger number of keywords. Content should be about quality not quantity.
A long copy works exactly the same way as the short one. Just don't spoil the meaning of your content trying to impress the search engines. Good content is not determined by length so any length will work.
You can profit from search engine optimization, but you have to be patient and learn how to do it right. There will be times when you get confused and don't really know how what to do, just refer to the best sources you can find and start applying what you learn. If you keep studying and applying your knowledge, you will be able to achieve better ranks for your sites, even if you make a few mistakes along the way.
