Below are three tactics that no longer offer as much value to sites as they once did. While some of these activities should still be used in certain circumstances, they are not widely applicable anymore due to improvements/updates to search engine algorithms.  Rosetta SEO Director Chris Boggs recently published an article at Search Engine Watch covering these tactics, and others, which have primarily entered the realm of myth, instead of common practice.

1. Submitting Sites to Search Engines

There's a big difference between submitting your site to the search engines and submitting your site to directories. Directory submission is a very important part of link building, and has continually proven to be valuable.

Submitting your sites to the search engines is another way for the search engines to find your site. Search engines no longer need you to submit to them, although they still provide the functionality for you to do so. If all you do is submit it to the search engines and sit back and wait, you likely won't see any rankings, other than potentially for your brand name.

2. SEO Landing Pages

Another once-necessary tactic is building landing pages just for SEO. In most cases, if you want long-term results without sacrificing user experience, you should optimize your actual content, since pages in the natural flow of your site (versus hanging as a landing page) are more likely to be linked to. But there are still many circumstances that call for the creation of SEO-specific pages, such as when there are technical barriers, for advertising campaigns, and other specific reasons. Rosetta still uses landing pages for some clients, and has achieved great success as a result.

3. Reciprocal Linking

The last tactic that was once religiously-used is reciprocal linking (as a primary link building tactic). Nowadays it’s generally better to get a link into your site without returning the favor, so that you build your linking authority without leaking it back out. Some reciprocal links aren't bad, especially ones that occur naturally between related sites.