Busting some SEO myths

08 August 2007 Joost de Valk 11 comments, leave your own!

Short note: A fellow Dutch SEO, Wiep, has done a nice post busting some SEO myths, worth checking out!

The results:

  1. Google indexes a website if you add a Google Analytics code. Busted!
  2. Google indexes a website if you use Google AdWords. Busted!
  3. Google indexes a website if you add Google AdSense. Busted!
  4. Google indexes a page that can only be reached through nofollow links. Busted!
  5. Google indexes a page that is excluded by robots.txt. Plausible!?!

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Categories: SEO

10 Responses to “Busting some SEO myths”

  1. By Peter van der Graaf Wed, August 8th, 2007 at 12:27

    I've seen it on Wiep.net, but I don't really agree. I've seen plenty of proof for number 4. It just isn't true for every case as for wieps example.

  2. By Joost de Valk Wed, August 8th, 2007 at 12:33

    Ehm Peter: that has recently been fixed, as in 2 weeks ago or so, so I think 4 is actually true now...

  3. By Peter van der Graaf Wed, August 8th, 2007 at 13:20

    Ok if you say so! I have no use for it as a SEO tactic, but when I do I'll retest it.

  5. By John Hacking Thu, August 9th, 2007 at 11:55

    I've seen no. 2 to be true a few times. I've also noted that Google will index a blog post on a new blog site within 15 minutes. I suspect the RSS feed goes straight into the database tables.

    Do a search on "blue nike sneakers". That term was ranking number 1 within 15 minutes of me posting it on a brand new blog on a brand new domain within 15 minutes. Spooky !

  6. By Ruud Kok Thu, August 9th, 2007 at 21:16

    @John, fast indexing is really usual for blogs at least. check matt cuts post on his blog: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/minty-fresh-indexing/

  7. By Joost de Valk Thu, August 9th, 2007 at 21:22

    @John: I'm guessing the Google sitemaps you use at /sitemap.xml work as well :P

  8. By PocketSEO Thu, August 16th, 2007 at 23:23

    Google definitely does not always obey rel=nofollow. Lately I've had blocked pages indexed and cached from a new site. The indexed pages had been blocked with robots.txt from the site's launch.

  9. By PocketSEO Thu, August 16th, 2007 at 23:24

    Sorry, I mean that they do not always obey robots.txt (not rel=nofollow)

  10. By Joe Beccalori Fri, August 31st, 2007 at 19:45

    Can you share some more specific details of your study? Were these tested in isolation? Were they tested for highly competitive keywords?

    I don't doubt it's true, as Google has always been above-board at separating ranking from sponsored links as inherent in their business model. Just curious as to how you tested, especially since you soft-reference Mythbusters, one of my favorite shows.

    Best,
    Joe Beccalori
    SEO Blog blog.beccalori.com

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