6 Things You Don’t Know (but think you know) about SEO

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In a popular SEO article that received over 50 votes on Sphinn last week, Vinny Goldsmith outlines 6 things that he knows (thinks he knows) about SEO. However, I felt the need to refute every single one of his points. Who do you think is right?

1. Planning matters, but not as much as you planned on
Obviously planning and researching are very important especially when starting a new site or a new SEO campaign. All of the basics must be taken care of such as by doing keyword research, implementing a search engine friendly site architecture, and creating a themed structure that allows for quality content and high ranking potential. However, planning doesn’t matter as much as you think. In fact, over-planning can choke the SEO potential of a site by limiting options and stifling new ideas. Sometimes if you want to succeed in the search engine rankings, you have to be flexible and spontaneous by making changes according to the latest trends. Ranking algorithms change so frequently that a predefined plan for SEO (other than for the fundamentals) can actually be detrimental to a campaign. Loosen up a little.

2. Text is king… but new ideas are gods
It’s common SEO knowledge that text is what’s best for the search engines. A site done entirely in Flash is going to have a hard time ranking for any related keywords. However, saying that text is king is extremely short sighted. Text is not worthy of such a title. For example, I can fill a site with text like “asdf asdfasdfasdf” and rank #1 for “asdf”. In this case, text is still king - king of crap that is. Text by itself is worth nothing. Rather, it’s the ideas that the text represents that make it worthwhile and valuable. In fact, many spam sites use whatever text they can find in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings. Text is just a means to a greater end. Without ideas, text by itself means nothing even for search engines as they progressively become more advanced.

3. Content IS everything
Come on now, what did I just say in point #2? Of course, there is more to a site than just its content including site design, usability, and links. However, content comes first and given that the content is of high quality, the links will flow naturally shortly thereafter. Unless you pay for it, you can’t have links without the content, but the content by itself has the potential to get you a ton of links.

4. Google IS everybody, and their dogs too
Who said Google isn’t everybody? Google IS everybody. In a few years, Google will be your mom, your dad, your school teacher, heck maybe even your dog. Google has a stronghold on search with close to 70% market share and is now dabbling and in some cases even dominating new industries like social media, the mobile Internet, online advertising, and e-commerce. The recent hysteria on paid links goes to show you how much Google actually controls the search industry. Google simply has too large a market share to not optimize your sites for. In most cases optimizing for Google will also optimize you for Yahoo and MSN. But if not, then I wouldn’t risk rankings in Google to try and satisfy the less advanced search engines.

5. Don’t update too regularly. Patience is overrated.
Fresh content is definitely a necessity for high search rankings. However, I’ve seen a lot of sites publishing content just for the sake of publishing new content. Poor content that is rushed can damage your site’s brand and will turn visitors away. A posting schedule is great, but make sure it is reasonable and allows you enough time to create quality content that is valuable for the end user. If you’re going to sacrifice quality, then don’t update regularly.

Furthermore, patience in SEO is overrated. Most people think that if they implement a change on their website and then wait, and wait, and wait, they are entitled to higher rankings and increased search engine visibility. Sure, patience is a good virtue to have but it doesn’t mean you can be stagnant if you want to see results. There’s always something to do to improve your site’s SEO and rankings.

6. You can always stop. Quitters can be winners too.
In fact, just stop now. That means less competition for me. Vinny says that you “can’t ever stop doing SEO” even when you reach a #1 ranking. While I partially agree with this view, there comes a point in time when sometimes the best thing to do in an SEO campaign is to just stop. Trying to rank #1 in Google for ‘mortgage’ with a brand new site and a $5 budget? Yeah… I think it’s safe to say that you should just stop. You have to know how to realistically analyze a situation and cut your losses if need be. You may be a quitter, but you’re a winner for quitting.

And that is what you DON’T know about SEO.