subject: 3 Delusions About SEO [print this page] Many people are still quite far behind and aren't sure how to rank their site well in the SERPs. More and more myths are being spread about SEO since it has become so popular and this makes it virtually impossible for many people to understand the intricacies of search engines. A good knowledge of SEO and its components, as well as how these components work together, are vital if you want to use the search engines in your favor. Some of these fantasies will be proven wrong in this article and you need to understand them before you even get into SEO.
The notion that you have to build a page on your website that is specifically built for SEO in order to rank well is a myth that is often repeated. The fact is, any page at all can be well ranked by the search engines if you set it up correctly. In other words, you don't need a landing page that is specifically made for SEO. You don't need landing pages for organic search listings, unlike PPC, where they are necessary. Don't worry about building a special landing page for visitors, simply have them land on your site's home page or another important page. If you have the problem of pages not getting enough traffic, the solution is not to build new pages, but better optimize the ones that are already there. This is a fairly straightforward principle if you understand that landing pages are only to help you convert your traffic.
Another common misconception is that search engine optimization is about tricking the search engines into ranking you. But if your aim is to fool the search engines, then you're indirectly trying to fool the target market that you want to get traffic from. If people find your site after being misled, they are not likely to be the kind of targeted visitors you need. What SEO really involves is not tricking the search engines but providing them with the kind of quality backlinks and optimized content that they like.
You can use certain techniques to speed up the process, but they have to grounded in a sound strategy. You should be looking at the long term, not trying to get fast and temporary results.
You may also hear about another myth that states that you don't have to worry about SEO if you are in a market or industry that reaches people in some way other than search engines. It doesn't make sense to think this way when you consider how many millions of people use the search engines every single day. The fact is, the search engines cover every possible niche, which you can verify by doing any kind of search you can think of. Google alone receives over 50 million unique visitors daily, and you really can't afford to ignore the power of ranking well.
Generally speaking, the stories we just talked about are quite common but shouldn't make SEO difficult for you. You must be aware of the truth so that you can focus your efforts in the correct direction when you start marketing sites with the search engines.
