This post was originally written by Ken Shafer, past SEO Manager for Apartments.com.
We’re all busy people and time is short, right? We need to be out there filling vacancies, so time to spend on the website and SEO is limited. Let’s see if we can help you by debunking a few myths that could be eating up valuable time and resources.
Myth 1: Keywords in your Description Tag can affect your rankings
They don’t. Search engines stopped placing any importance on the content of these tags years ago. It’s just too easy to manipulate them for the engines to really care what they say.
That doesn’t mean they’re not important. These description tags are likely to be the first thing a potential renter is going to see when they find your link in a search engine result page (SERP). This is your chance to make a first impression. Don’t waste it with some unreadable, keyword-rich mumbo jumbo. Use it to entice the searcher. Also, keep in mind that keywords in the description that match the user’s search phrase will be bold-faced. This can be eye-catching as well.
Myth 2: Using the Keyword Meta Tags matters
Due to constant abuse by websites in the past, search engines have all but given up on the keywords meta tag. There is some research out there that possibly suggests Yahoo minimally uses this tag for ranking. However, its impact is still — like I said — minimal at best. Considering Yahoo’s market-share and the fact that they are going to be using Bing’s algorithm very soon, the only use the keyword meta tag has is to show off to your competitors which keywords are important to you.
Myth 3: Links on Twitter, Facebook, etc. count as inbound links
They don’t and they never will. They ALL have the “nofollow” attribute on their links which prevent them from passing any Page Rank information. In other words, they don’t pass link “juice.”
Once again, that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. Just don’t count on them to boost your rankings in Google or the like. This doesn’t take into account the increasing adoption of “real-time” search results, into which we’ll delve deeper in the next SEO blog post.
NOTE: Before you say it… yes, the link on your Twitter profile is a “follow” link. Everything else is “nofollow.”
Myth 4: It’s all about the number of links you have to your site
Sort of… but not really. It’s really all about the where those links come from. A hundred links from irrelevant, untrustworthy sites won’t equal one good link from a trusted, related site. The search engines are constantly improving their ability to discern good links and less desirable ones. This game is increasingly all about quality over quantity.
Myth 5: Getting links from .edu, .gov, or .org is “better” than other types of websites
Speaking of where we’re getting our links, the .edu,.gov,.org myth has been around for a long time. The thinking is that these sites are somehow more trustworthy in the search engines’ eyes so their links are more valuable. Well, if you believe this video from Google’s Matt Cutts, then you have to believe to Google doesn’t really care where the links come from. If you want to skip right to it, it’s around the 0:55 mark.
Anyone can purchase a .org URL. It being a .org does not automatically imbue a site with wonderfulness in the search engines’ eyes. If you want to know which sites to pursue for links, don’t look at whether it’s a .org or dot-whatever. Get a plug-in for Firefox that tells you the PageRank of a website. Long story short: The PageRank is sort of a trust score. The higher the score, the more you’d probably want a link from that site.
Also, try to get links from sites that are somehow related to your site. Think of it this way: If there’s a site about blue widgets and they link to your site, which happens to sell blue widgets, the search engines are going to say “Are you looking for blue widgets? Well I just happen to have it on good authority that this site sells them” and it’s more likely to be your site.
Hope this info helps you to spend more time focusing on the ranking factors that matter instead of spinning your wheels on tactics from the past!
Good stuff, Ken … but I have to challenge #3. Just because they’re “nofollow” links, that doesn’t mean search engines don’t “see” them. From my understanding, “nofollow” just tells the search engine not to pass the site’s authority to the link. It can still be a good way to get pages on your site indexed (not to mention viewed by some of your audience on social networks). Are we on the same page here?
We ARE on the same page, Mike. I had hoped my caveat: “Once again, that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. Just don’t count on them to boost your rankings in Google or the like. This doesn’t take into account the increasing adoption of “real-time” search results, into which we’ll delve deeper in the next SEO blog post.” would have covered your concerns.
Some websites have seen successes in getting newer content indexed more quickly by posting the URL to their Twitter feed. cont…
…cont.
This makes sense considering search engines are constantly prowling the Twitter-verse looking for real-time information. Naturally, they’d stumble upon your new URL.
For the sake of this discussion, I am only referring to the fact, as you correctly pointed out, that those links should not be included as part of your “link graph” or as a source of link-juice-passing links.
Unfortunately, I’ve heard them described as effective link-builders in the past.
While the content of this article is valuable I think some of the myths are in fact incorrect.
Myth 1- In order to properly optimize for any keyword this keyword should be found consistently throughout your page. It should be found in the title tag, meta description tag, meta keyword tag and throughout your site content. Optimizing in all of these locations for a specific keyword helps search engines to better understand the content of your page. While the weight of the description tag to searc
h engines has decreased it is still valuable to have keywords inside of your description tag.
Myth 2- This is similar to myth 1. In order to properly optimize for a keyword you need all four items otherwise you may not rank as high as you could for that keyword.
In summary:
In our own personal implementation of property management websites we have found that adding keyword meta tags and keyword based description tags have had a significant impact on search engine results. For example Appleton
Mills was listing around the third page for “Appleton Mills Apartments” when we started optimizing there website. We simply added title tags, keyword tags and description tags and now the site is consistently ranking in the top 5 rankings in Google for this keyword. Others have also experienced similar success.
These myths are not all correct. Keyword Tags and Description Tags are valuable for search engine optimization.
Hi Jacob!
Thanks again for the feedback. I’ve got the complete response over here:
http://www.multifamilyinsiders.com/home/multifamily-blogs/five-seo-myths-you-should-avoid.html
Thanks again!
Its all about about having relevant content. That’s what everything is moving towards.
I agree 100% Dallas SEO! Google’s latest content farm update certainly is a signal that having a site full of low-quality, “me too” content is no longer going to cut the mustard.
yeah With the implementation of Google Caffeine the game has changed!
We can safely say that page-load-speed is definitely a factor since the Caffeine update.
Exactly Tammy. There is a belief about .edu and .gov backlinks. If they are such powerful, then why sites with such backlinks got penalized by Google’s Penguin update? Relevancy is the Key, nothing else.
Too bad there isnt a acredited college that teaches seo. I have read so many different opinions about seo the last three years that it is driving me crazy. I had a homes for sale site in my area on page three until three months ago. Now it is down to page 14 and dropping. That has been frustrating because I can not pinpoint why it dropped so far other than realtor and trulia dot com have many spots on the top now.
Myth 1: Keywords in your Description Tag can affect your rankings
They don’t. Search engines stopped placing any importance on the content of these tags years ago. It’s just too easy to manipulate them for the engines to really care what they say.
I have to disagree with this one. Sure they don’t carry as much weight as they used to, but Google still considers the text in the meta description as long as it is consistent with the content on the webpage. Ive test this out ;)
Hi Craig,
Thanks for your feedback! I think the main point to myth 1 is that as a ranking signal, the description tag is no longer utilized.
You are absolutely correct in your assessment that Google still considers the text, but I feel I should warn that it is not for the purpose of ranking a webpage higher in the results set. The best use of the description tag comes in the form of conversion rate optimization where the the goal is much more aligned with SEM best practices.
You want the description to jump out and grab a searcher thus bringing them to the page. The tricky part is keeping them engaged and coming back to that page or pages like it. Here is where things get interesting; the by-product of having a powerful description tag is that it attracts higher engagement levels and in return backlinks, which is a ranking signal. We know this is the case because Google has admitted to swapping out that text with what it considers a more useful description of the webpage.
The best way of looking at it is this: Description Tags are essential for traffic acquisition but not for ranking at the top of Google.
Thanks again!
I totally agree a description tag will drive more traffic and convert well if used well and have text used for the users. But again, I have to say it does help rank, its not the be all end all of you getting good rankings but it does carry some weight. Again I have tested this out, hence the myth buster.
I can’t believe how many people still believe #1. I know I did for my first year a SEO.
Myth 3: Links on Twitter, Facebook, etc. count as inbound links:
This may be true but do not forget you can use these sites for social citations or social signals. When you tweet or facebook your Business Name, Phone Number, Address, and Company Site this will work as a local citation which can help with your overall local search strategy. GREAT POST!