Great article here on Copyblogger about how to write engaging content for websites using the ‘rule of three’.

You’ve probably heard about this but I think it’s still worth blogging as a simple reminder about how powerful search has become. When the now infamous John Darwin was suspected to have faked his own death, and his not-so-widowed-widow Anne moved to Panama to console herself, a Daily Mirror reporter just, on the off-chance, did a Google image search using the term “John Anne Panama”, and immediately found a photo of the not-so-dead John and Anne, on holiday, since his death, in Panama.

This simple bit of evidence lead to so many questions in the media along the lines of ‘why did they get their picture taken in the first place?’. The quite simple, obvious answer, is that John and Anne were clearly unaware of the power of search.

Originally taken from Webmaster World

1. Myth: Time on site matters
Some of the most valuable sites to me are the ones I stay on the LEAST amount of time, because I got my information FAST.

2. Myth: Bounce Rates affect my ranking
When I can get the information I am looking for on the page G finds most relevant, voila! No need to go any further! Awesome!

3. Myth: Natural link text is important
The most natural link is either “click here” (Adobe ranks #1 for Acrobat reader) or the name of the company. “Varied” link text is actually unnatural.

4. Myth: Link acquisition rates shouldn’t be too fast
News worthy items generate a ton of links quickly. Example: the host of a future Olympics is announced. A site (Olympic site) that is new, had no links, suddenly has a ton overnight.

But one could argue these are from “authoritative” sites and won’t raise a flag. Ok, think of all the esoteric niches that have the equivalent of a major announcement happen.

By ignoring or even penalizing these links, Google does the opposite of serving good results. I think Google LIKES seeing sites that get links fast, it is a clue that something is “hot”.

5. Myth: Links from topically relevant sites are critical
Search for “financial services” and Adobe appears #5. Why? Because their homepage (PR 10) links to a page with the words “financial services”. That’s it. And they are beating every single financial services company for that term except Primerica. And don’t you think AMEX, VISA, and all the banks get links from “topically” relevant sites? Face it, Google doesn’t know topical relevancy, it is too much of a wishy washy thing to comprehend for a computer. It understands PageRank.

6. Myth: PR doesn’t matter
See #5 above. Adobe is a great case study on how PR works.