Think everything you read on the internet about the internet is true? Think again! In my time as a internet marketing and search engine optimization specialist I have answered many, many questions from small business owners, internet enthusiasts and even some website pros about internet and search ranking fiction. Here is a list of the Top 3 internet and website related myths and the facts behind them.
Myth: “If I build a website, they will come”
Fact: Not true. While this adage may be true for a Wal-Mart in East Podunk, a website is far from the big box retail giant. Merely having a website is no longer enough. With literally hundreds of millions of websites out there, your website needs to be optimized, marketed and maintained in order to be found online.
Myth: “A picture is worth a thousand words, that’s why I don’t need text on my website”.
Fact: Wrong. People are visiting your website to find information. Information about a product or your services. They are not likely to glean what they need from a picture of tree..even if it is a pretty tree. Write clear, consise and resourceful content on your site to give searches what they are looking for.
Bonus: Search engines need content to crawl to help you rank for your targeted keywords.
Myth: “I heard you can pay Google to get to the top of search engines.”
Fact: Wouldn’t it be great if this were true. Unfortunately, it isn’t. No amount of cold hard greenbacks is going to win you any favor in Google’s search ranking algorithm.