There are hundreds of different SEO myths floating around out there. The problem is that for webmasters and small business owners looking to do things the right way, it can be hard to find factual information that can really pay dividends. When you want to be successful with SEO, you first have to become aware of these SEO myths so you can rid yourselves of them. Here are the 12 most common SEO myths that are still getting passed around.

#1- All Links are Equal- Even though this was once a successful SEO strategy, you will find that are links are NOT equal today. There are several ways to build backlinks to your sites, but only a few of them today are helpful. This is due to the search engines becoming more aware of what is relevant and what is not. So when you find someone with 50 backlinks to their site and a higher ranking then you with 1000 links, this is why.

#2- Keyword Density is Important- Another one of the monumental SEO myths is that keyword density is the most important part to your success. The truth is you won’t find any set of rules that guarantee success through a proper amount of usage. What it really comes down to is providing highly search and minimum competitive type keywords, and then placing them in the article appropriately.

3. META Keywords Still Work: While until recently there was still some debate on this, it’s now officially one of the SEO myths. Both Google and Yahoo! have publicly announced that they do not use META keywords for their ranking algorithms. In other words, you should no longer pay any attention to them or devote any time to including them. META descriptions and tiles however are still valuable.

4. Web Directories are Highly Valuable: It’s been a very long time since web directories have been highly valuable. The proliferation of the insta-web directory and webmasters submitting their sites to them en masse has devalued the importance of these once powerful marketing strategies. Getting displayed in highly credible web directories can still be advantageous, but in general web directories have lost their mystique.

#5- Blackhat SEO Won’t Get you Caught- It’s still amazing today that people believe they won’t be caught doing something that is illegal. What it comes down to though is no matter how big or small your company is, using illicit marketing tacts can keep you from being listed in the major search engines.

#6- SEO Success Happens Overnight- Even though we consider this one of the major SEO myths, most people are beginning to catch on to the longevity involved. The truth is SEO is an endless battle and mostly because of the fluctuation that takes place in the algorithms. If you or someone you know think this is a quick fix solution, you’ll end up being disappointed.

7. Google is All That Matters: Obviously Google is the largest and most powerful search engine that’s out there today. However, one of the most prevalent SEO myths is that it’s all the matters for the success of your website. This can’t be farther from the truth. With Yahoo!, Bing, other search engines, a slew of important social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and MySpace and various other tactics such as article marketing there are a variety of ways to drive traffic to your sites besides Google.

#8- PageRank is Everything- Page ranking was extremely important when there was only one way to decipher the ranks. However, when the algorithms began to change in hopes of providing more relevant information, thinking they were everything turned into one of the SEO myths. It definitely still helps, but with the constant algorithm fluctuation it’s not as big.

#9- Common Sense is More Important than Research- If you think something works online, it doesn’t necessarily mean everyone else believes the same thing. A prime example of this is through keyword selection. There are hundreds of different ways to find keywords and in order to find them you need to do research. If you don’t you can easily end up losing out in the long run.

10. More Traffic is Always Better: Receiving a lot of traffic is generally great, but if all of your traffic is untargeted you won’t be producing any results. Additionally, sites with high bounce rates can end up suffering in the search engines as a result because your site is viewed as having something wrong with it or being a match. Therefore, first strive for highly targeted traffic and then work to increase and expand your base.

11. Buying Links and Link Farms Always Works: Google has long since sniffed out the practices of link farming, three way linking and buying links. You may be able to derive some benefits in certain situations, however in most cases many of these techniques fall into the blackhat realm and can see you penalized.

#12- Once you Achieve a Ranking, You’re Done- SEO myths are all over the place and they usually start with thinking you’re done when you finally get that ranking. However, you will find that SEO is an ongoing process that takes constant work. So if you just wrote 10 articles, submitted them to directories and added a few backlinks here and there, it’s only the beginning. In the end, if your competition is constantly working on their SEO strategies; why should you stop?

So learn from the mistakes of others and avoid these common SEO myths. Always remember, SEO is a dynamic and changing landscape, and what works today may not work tomorrow. Stay up to date with the latest trends and best practices and avoid falling into these and similar schemes and pitfalls.

Learn more about SEO. Stop by David Baxters’s site www.SmartMediaInnovations.com where you can find out all the latest data and information about increasing your wesbite’s search engine rankings and what it can do for you.