Many Real Estate webmasters are new to the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). So they often visit different webmaster forums & groups to gain knowledge on SEO. But sadly not all forums/groups provide the accurate information about Search Engine Optimization. There have been cases where Real Estate Webmasters were misled by the members of these forums & groups.
There are lots of myths regarding SEO that are completely bizarre and false. So today we will be listing the Top 5 Organic SEO Myths that you may hear from people in the public forums & groups.
Myth 1: Guaranteed Top 10 Results
I’m sure you have heard this first myth many times from wanna-be “SEOs”. Some SEO firms will also advertise a “guarantee” to have you listed in the top ten rankings. But the hard truth is, No one can guarantee you any ranking. So don’t believe what they say. If you really want to judge their performance, you can look at some of their own results or results for other clients and then you will get a pretty clear idea how effective their strategies are. Always make your decision from actual client successes and not just from empty promises and guarantees.
Myth 2: Anyone can become a SEO. It’s just playing with Title Tag & Keywords anyway.
This is another misconception that many people have in the back of their head. Well it’s true that anyone can become anything provided that he/she goes through the appropriate training. Some professions require you to obtain more skills and have top notch academic background (e.g. Doctor, engineer) whereas for some professions you just need to be gifted with certain skills (E.g. Music, Art).
SEO is not all about playing with title tag & keywords, it sort of evolved there but has traveled in more depth. So now “Search Marketing” has become a huge part of any organization’s marketing effort and organic SEO deals more than just search ranking. If you are really serious about making a big stance online, you should hire a professional rather than saving cost by trying to do it yourself. If you at least get the initial steps right, you can slowly start learning and eventually develop your own team in-house.
Myth 3: Search engine traffic is useless and not as good as other kinds of targeted traffic
You will often hear ignorant business owners saying “Does people really use search engines? I don’t think people will search for my product & service in the search engine. I’d rather spend more money in display advertising, where I can show everyone the nice flashy advertisement”.
Display advertising is often called “Push marketing”, because you are pushing your marketing message to the general population without much targeting. Thus, a person can choose to ‘see’ your advert or can ignore it completely. You actually have to live on the visitor’s mercy. However, for search traffic the whole this is “Pull Marketing”. The searcher is looking for a specific thing, and when they see your site ranking for that term in the top of Google, they come to you. And they also know that it’s not an advertisement, thus your credibility also increases substantially. Search engine traffic is probably the most qualified traffic, because it comes from people searching for the exact products and services which the search engines have you indexed.
Myth 4: Adding the same keyword numerous times will help me with my search ranking
This is just not true! The keyword density factor doesn’t really make a major difference in your ranking these days. Your keyword should be placed on the right places to have the most positive effect, however if you over-do it and start writing pages for the search engines and not your visitors then you might even get penalized.
Myth 5: I rank No #1 for xyz, and its going to stay there forever!
Search engines keep changing their algorithm very frequently in-order to give their users more relevant search results and a better user experience. Even if you rank for a certain term today, you can’t be sure that you will be ranking for it tomorrow! So you will have to continue to work on your website so that you can sort of build a good trust with your users and the search engines. When you get a desired ranking for a term, check the other 9 sites that are with you in the SERP, and figure out how you can improve your site and help your user so that you can continue to be the ‘best’ among the rest of the sites. Keeping your content fresh & updated at all time is a must, don’t just put up some content and walk away from your site. You have to make sure that new content are added to your site on a regular basis and most accurate information is passed on to your visitors.
Can you think of any other SEO myths? Share them in comments!
This is a reality, not some TV show, why arent we usint it?
Good info. I love the Guaranteed Top 10 Results. I get those emails almost every day. They also call me too. I guess some people do fall for it.
@ Marc Rasmussen
What about the e-mails that say that they can’t find your website in the search engines even though you are number one for all your wanted search terms lol !
Great article. I hear 3-4 of those myths every day at the office. I find the hard thing is to find the right blend of writing for the audience and writing for the search engines. If I talk for 4 pages about suburban kansas city real estate, but I am number 500 on google for kansas city real estate, no one will ever read my stuff. I find writing for the hyper-local, subdivision level is easier. The big name subdivisions, such as LionsGate in Overland Park have some competition, but smaller ones, like Arlington Park in Olathe may only have 2-3 people who have ever written anything picked up by a search engine.
Ken Jansen Realtor Overland Park
Ken, for now just blog offsite. Your site needs links badly. Blog here, active rain, realtown etc.
Thanks. I am working on building my backlinks. I have submitted to some directories, so hopefully that will help too.
I appreciate the advice.
Ken
Ken, Also check out bloodhoundrealty.com/bloodhoundblog and ericbramlett.com/do-follow
Ok, this is more of an advertisement than a myth. Remember the email we get that say, do this one secret thing and get to the top of google/bing immediately”
There is no silver bullet in seo. Some things do help more than others, however, being well rounded should go a long way.
I wish that it would stay where it is forever! Link building, SEO, marketing – whatever you want to do or call it – is so time comsuming, us agents do not have the time to sit there all day everyday promoting our websites. We have clients to attend to! And can’t afford to get anyone else to do it because it is too expensive and do not trust anyone working on our site anyways!