Search Engines - Moonlight Development

A Word About Search Engines

There is an abundance of search engine information available on the web - some of it valuable, much of it contradictory. Throughout the years, some prevailing search engine myths have developed. Some of these myths are actively encouraged by companies with a financial interest in their continued existence. Others are based upon techniques that were effective years ago but no longer work. Still other myths come from simple misunderstandings that inevitably come with a relatively new medium. What follows is a few of the most prevalent.

Search Engine Myths

MYTH: Using services with names similar to "Domain Name Listing Service" or "Web Listing Directory" or buying software that promises to "Submit your site to 10,000 Search Engines" is a good idea.

FACT: There aren't 10,000 search engines. There aren't even 500. In fact, the top 10 search engines account for the vast majority of search traffic (studies vary from between 85 and 98 percent). Most of the sites that these programs or services list as "search engines" are called FFA (Free For All) sites. These sites will agree to place a link to your site on their site, which is usually just a collection of links. Your link will usually only appear for a short time, since as new links are added, the older ones are pushed off the page. Almost no traffic can be expected from such links - but you can expect a lot of unsolicited mail to the email address that you provide them. In fact, these pages are set up largely to collect email addresses to which spam can be sent. In addition, engines do not like submissions done by computer programs, and many of the most popular have taken steps to make automated submission impossible. This means that these programs or services will not even get you listed in many of the top engines. There is absolutely no reason to pay anything to a website submission service or buy software promising the same.

MYTH: You Must Submit Your Site to the Search Engines to Become Listed

FACT: Many people believe that their site will never be listed unless they submit their site to the search engines. This is simply false. You see, search engines compile their data using software called spiders (also known as crawlers). Every minute of every day, these spiders are visiting websites and using their respective ranking algorithms to build the massive databases that the search engines use to rank each website for each keyword. Besides following the submitted list of sites to spider, the spiders follow the links on each website it visits. Therefore it is possible for a spider to find and index (the act of listing your site in its database so it will show up in search results) your website without ever submitting to the search engines (putting your website in line to be spidered) assuming there are other sites linking to yours. This is not to say it is a bad idea to submit to the search engines. For newer sites, this will ensure that your site is listed. My point is simply that you should not be fooled into paying someone to submit your site to the search engines before you have had a chance to ensure it is ready to be submitted.

MYTH: Meta tags are the most important factor in search engine rankings.

FACT: Many people believe that meta-tags are the most important variable in obtaining top placement in the search engines. There could not be a more inaccurate statement. Many search engines (most notably Google) largely ignore certain meta tags due to constant abuse by webmasters. The only importance placed on meta tags these days is actually the meta "title" tag and the meta "description" tag, which will appear as the description of your site on engines like Google. Other meta tags are virtually irrelevant in the ranking algorithms of the top engines - but many people continue to believe that they are the only optimization strategy that they need.

MYTH: Sites must be constantly resubmitted to retain rankings.

FACT: This is a scare tactic popularized by various submission services and software companies. In fact, it is a waste of money to pay to have your site resubmitted once it is already listed in an engine's database. It will not hurt your rankings to resubmit (or else people would constantly submit their competitor's sites to get them penalized), but it will not help, either.

MYTH: Search engine optimization is not as effective as "traditional" marketing.

FACT: In many ways, it is more effective. Companies often spend countless dollars on direct mail, television and radio advertising, and bulk email without a second thought. The common thread with each of these strategies is that the prospect is "approached" by the company, and that the company must reach a great number of people to find a few motivated prospects. On the other hand, search engines can deliver highly motivated prospects directly to your website - people who have already demonstrated, through their use of particular keyphrases, an interest in your products or services.

Conclusion:

These are only a handful of the numerous search engine myths currently in existence. Even if these particular myths were to be universally dispelled tomorrow, a new batch would surely arise to take their place - and the motivations behind some of them would be just as dubious. With search engine marketing, as with anything else, it is important to treat everything with a healthy dose of skepticism.