As with any competitive industry, the world of SEO has managed to accumulate a fair few myths. Whether it’s through misinformation from agencies, a general lack of understanding, or both, these myths are in desperate need of debunking. If you’re looking to hire an SEO agency then it’s certainly worth knowing about who you should avoid. Here are some of the most widely spread myths when it comes to search engine optimisation agencies.

Guarantees

Any agency that offers you any kind of guarantee when it comes to the results they can deliver for you, are not being entirely honest with you. The way Google ranks websites is constantly evolving and nothing about the world of SEO is stable. In such a fluctuating market place, it is impossible to guarantee anything. Google do not tell SEO agencies how their algorithm works or how it is going to work in the future, thus making any ‘guarantees’ completely redundant. If Google announced details of their algorithm to the world, then there would be no need for SEO agencies to exist.

A Good Google PageRank is all that Matters

Google PageRank is obviously important when it comes to where your website ends up in Google’s search results. In fact, PageRank is in fact only one element of a highly complex algorithm that Google has created. PageRank measures the number of links you have, the quality of those links, and many other things. It’s a very visible symbol for webmasters, but it certainly isn’t the only factor to be considered.

Meta tag Keywords Affect your Rankings

Meta tag keywords no longer affect your Google rankings. The argument has long been that having keywords in your meta tags is bad because it allows competitors to see what you are ranking for. However if this is the way that an SEO agency chooses to find about keyword competition, then they are clearly not a worthwhile agency.

Keyword Cramming

Keyword cramming will never be a good way to get a good ROI. Simply stuffing keywords into content is not an ethical or effective way to get good rankings. Google cares about relevancy and it cares about well written original content. Your blogs, articles, and other written pieces are going to be read by people, not robots.

Time

Fantastic results are not gained overnight and anybody who offers such services should be immediately dismissed. Good SEO work is never really complete, because it takes time and can always be improved upon.

Don’t get drawn in by promises of number one spots for top keywords in a matter of weeks. It may take some searching, but ethical agencies do exist and can deliver great results. Be cautious and you’ll find that SEO work can be incredibly fruitful.

Kingpin-seo specialise in ethical link building and know that SEO work can be infinitely more useful to all involved when it’s done correctly. If you’re looking to optimise your website, then they could be the SEO agency for you.

Directory Marketing is a little known term which gets kicked around a lot and can be taken to mean different things. Internet marketers would call Directory Marketing an avenue to make money by building many different types of niche directories and embedding them with Google Adsense Ads and making money from it. While this is an effective practice, there is another way to look at Directory Marketing. You can build quality backlinks with web directories and they will help market your website by enhancing your search engine rank and position.

Directories might seem like nothing but a link farm to some, but in reality, a well maintained SEO Friendly web directory can be an effective tool in your SEO arsenal. Why? The reason why is a directory which hand approves listings can create a quality web resource for internet surfers; and Google and other search engines know this. Thus, when you list your site with a web directory, it is instantly recognized as a quality backlink to your site.

What constitutes a high quality or good backlink? By checking the Pagerank (PR) of the directories you submit to, you can guage the value of your backlink. The key is submitting to a wide variety of sites which vary in Pagerank to give your backlinks a natural appearance and not a systematic or formulated look. You want more PR5′s than PR0′s, but there is a reason for the variety.

Variety in your linking plan will help in the long run. Most directory owners are very aggressive about building their own Pagerank and will stop at nothing to reach a higher rank. This is great when you get in on the ground floor of a directory which goes from a PR0 listing to a PR5 in a year. Instant credibility for your listing and a natural enhancement of your site’s status. Plus, you might get in on a site, like the Aviva Directory which only accepts paid listings and has a 14,000 rank in Alexa and a PR6 rating.

List your site in as many directories as you can. The key here is not to do it too fast. Meaning, do not hire a freelancer or submission service and have them submit your site to 1000 directories in 4 days. Google looks at this like SPAM. Search engines will think you are manipulating the system to get a higher rank and then downgrade your site, effectively rendering your hard earned backlinks to mean nothing.

Submit your site mainly to Free Directories, but also use Paid Directories, especially Bid for Position Directories as the value in these types of directories is only starting to be seen. When submitting your site, remember the importance of using anchor text. Identify you site’s specific string of keywords and start with about 5 solid word combinations which fit. DO not just use one word listings. ALway use 3-7 words as this creates keyword doorways to your site via the search engines.

Remember, building backlinks is simple. Just ensure you have a plan and understand it takes time. Backlinks cannot be built overnight, but building them through Directory Marketing will help you build better ones.

Michael Manley is the Owner of the Total WebPro Solutions Network; a highly regarded Directory Marketing and SEO Network. For more information on Directory Marketing go to DirectoryBot.