We’re probably not the only SEO company who has had to dispel SEO myths. In the past, it was easier to bat away doubts potential clients had – SEO is not about stuffing keywords into title tags, SEO is not about submitting to crap directories, SEO is not fast, etc.

These days, however, people are looking at SEO from a return on investment (ROI) perspective. Most clients are already up to speed about the basics of SEO, and what we’ve found is that the relevant myths are most tied into expectations of ROI. Here are two myths that you’ll want to dispel right away to save you a lot of explaining later on.

SEO Myth #1: Higher Rankings Guarantee More Sales

Look at it from the client’s perspective. “Here are three keywords that describe my company. This SEO company is telling me how important search engine optimization is for business. That means if I’m on Page 1, my sales are guaranteed to increase.”

This kind of logic is perfectly understandable. What’s missing from it are other major factors  necessary for increased sales.

• Conversion Rate: Yes, Page 1 rankings will increase traffic, but if the client has a website that doesn’t convert traffic, sales won’t increase at all.
• Customer Service: It’s not ideal to drive a lot of new traffic if a company isn’t ready to handle the extra volume. Poor customer service is the fastest way to lose customers and one of the major factors to driving and sustaining sales increases.
• Brand Awareness: SEO does increase brand awareness, but it doesn’t do much as much to build brand equity and interaction (Google doesn’t let you post your logo in the SERPs…not yet, anyway).

In case some readers are taking this the wrong way, here are a few reminders about the benefits of SEO:

• SEO does drive qualified, relevant traffic.
• SEO does increase visibility on the Web and provide an opportunity to obtain new customers.
• SEO does provide an opportunity to market your company as an authority in your industry.

SEO Myths

SEO Myth #2: SEO Replaces Marketing

This is a tough one, especially with the popularity of SEO. This myth suggests SEO has no limitations when there are actually quite a few. For example, SEO can’t create the same buzz as a traditional marketing campaign. A mistake that many companies make – especially the smaller ones – is to rely on SEO too much. Yes, SEO is a traffic driver, but it certainly isn’t the only one. E-blasts, print advertising campaigns, radio and television still perform remarkably well. We recommend companies take a holistic marketing approach, not just focus on a single promotion channel, no matter what the medium.

If the budget isn’t there, a company needs to decide what approach to take in regards to marketing. Do you want quick results and immediate traffic increases? Run a traditional advertising campaign and blast potential customers with your message. Do you want long-term results that bring in sustained, qualified traffic? Go with SEO.

There are obviously more, but we’ll leave that to another day. Any other SEO myths you want to dispel out there?

Sometimes we highlight classic posts on our SEO company’s blog because most quality content is evergreen; that is, it is perpetually useful.  This is one of those times.

It is probably not surprising that a group of SEO and online marketing consultants enjoyed Jeff Jarvis’s recent book What Would Google Do?.  After all, ensuring that our clients can be found via Google (as well as Yahoo and MSN) is our job.

Everyone involved in marketing anything (which basically means virtually everyone involved in any kind of business endeavor) should check out Seth Godin’s latest book, Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us.