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What do you think of when you hear someone use the term “SEO”? Do you scrunch your nose in disgust and shake your head? Do you make it a point to let your colleagues know that SEO is bad? If these are your feelings about SEO, you are not alone. This term has become quite the buzzword in the world of internet marketing as of late.

The concept of SEO is almost as old as the search engines itself, with the earliest mentions dating back to the mid 1990’s. Webmasters caught on to an infant Google’s algorithm system and began to work to manipulate those results. This worked so well for many years; by pointing huge numbers of relevant keywords and links to the desired domain, webmasters could increase their visibility. Though Google made significant updates through the years to improve and fight against manipulation, no one was prepared for the fall.

In the last quarter of 2011, Google dropped a bomb on the world of SEO with their Panda algorithm update. Then, as SEOs were starting to recover, they dropped another bomb in spring of 2012 with the Penguin update. The purposes of Panda and Penguin were to pinpoint and penalize sites that used manipulative techniques to gain rankings – keyword stuffing, automated link building, cloaking, etc.

The final blow was dealt in the fall of 2013 – Google Hummingbird. This algorithm update sealed the deal on Google’s switch from a Boolean search (keyword combinations) system to a semantic search (user intent-based) system.

Given the long and often shady history of SEO, it’s no wonder people feel so strongly against using SEOs to boost their internet marketing efforts. Let’s take a look at some of the most common misconceptions about the SEO industry and people that consider themselves SEOs.

All SEOs are Snake Oil Salesmen

Thanks to a handful of money-hungry SEOs, professionals in the SEO industry have gotten a bad name. These greedy salesmen wanted quick ROIs with little risk – and that’s exactly what they got using automated link building systems and poor quality standards. They didn’t think into the future to recognize what Google was capable of becoming. Instead, they plugged sites full of spammy content and pointed sometimes millions of low-quality links to unsuspecting domains. After their clients were hit with huge losses in rankings, maybe even deindexing, they were nowhere to be found.

Basically, if an SEO can’t admit mistakes were made in the past with ranking tactics, don’t hire them. Sure, there are tons of agencies that recovered from Panda and Hummingbird and made something truly great! Even more, there are tons of SEOs that never gave in to the world of “black hat” and have done exceptional work for over 20 years. But, plenty of SEOs out there still believe “black hat” tactics are a viable option. You want to ensure you’re not involving yourself with a person that can’t learn and evolve with the industry.

SEOs Have No Real Data to Show

You may have heard of “not provided” – Google’s move to take away keyword data from analytics. More than 80% of users’ keyword queries are no longer available. This keyword data was the cornerstone of SEO campaigns in the early to mid 2000’s – how could you possibly know if what you were doing was working without it?! Well, you can’t.

This is where “not provided” and the “death of SEO” became best friends. So many professionals were writing countless articles and studies about “the death of SEO” due to “not provided”. It’s very likely that a ton of SEO agencies folded after Google dealt their “not provided” card. But, many were committed to their clients and the industry enough to realize keyword rankings are tricky metric nowadays.

Instead, SEOs know to look to social signals, brand mentions and evangelists, traffic increases, content amplification, and so much more when deciding what success metrics to report to their clients. Sure, clients are still concerned about where they fall in the search results. But, a good SEO should be able to make the case for engagement, user experience, and overall brand in conjunction with those SERPs rankings.

SEOs Only Care Ranking Keywords and Gaining Links

As mentioned, keywords and rankings are a very small component of a much bigger machine. Of course keywords still matter when you’re designing awesome content. They are the skeleton your content needs to hold it up and make it great. Keywords often give a direction and focus to content development and allows SEOs to focus on the guts of your business.

These keywords speak to what you do, and what you’d like customers to buy or gain from you. But to expect them work alone to rank your site is very dangerous.

We talked a lot about “white hat” SEO – things like building real relationships with your customers. It’s so important to turn your business into a real brand, and turn your customers into brand evangelists that are constantly delighted by their shopping experiences. Good SEOs should know that link building is still important, but now, it’s quality over quantity and relationship building over link building.

SEOs Can “Rank” Your Site in 30 Days or Your Money Back!

If you see an email come into your inbox with a subject line like above, don’t even bother opening it. Real SEOs would never dare to make such a claim. Real, organic marketing takes time, and sometimes lots of it. Some shoddy SEOs still claim to rank your site in 30 days, sometimes even touting a money back guarantee! But, this is just a bait and run tactic. Your rankings may skyrocket in a month’s time, until Google catches on to a breach of their quality guidelines and deals a hefty penalty. Once you question their tactics, good luck getting ahold of anyone for a refund.

This isn’t limited to rankings though, there are plenty of companies that claim to get you 25,000 Twitter followers or Facebook Likes in a week – this is another “run for the hills!” situation. Bottom line, any company that claims to get you something that seems farfetched, probably is. This money for quick results practice is just another hit to good, professional SEOs everywhere.

In all, SEO can still be a feared buzzword. Hopefully, the community of hardworking, committed SEOs will continue to work together to better their name and the industry as a whole. There are tons of high-powered thought leaders in SEO that spread the good word and prove that SEO is an evolving industry, not to be judged by a few bad eggs.

The good work that SEOs can do for sites is often invaluable. Increasing your brand presence, producing great content, and building lasting relationships is the foundation of any good SEO’s plan. If you’re thinking about adding some SEO work to your site, don’t go into it with fear! Instead, interview companies – ask real questions about their failures and successes, where they see the industry going, and what they stand for. You’ll be happy you did.