Contributed by Anh Luu, Copywriter for Phonexa
Some SEO Myths are harmless and do little to take away from your overall performance, while other myths can actually harm your productivity over time.
You’ve probably come across some of these myths during your research on SEO and have thought of them as true. Well, it’s a good thing that you’ve found your way here because we’re going to debunk 10 of the most common myths surrounding this heavily debated topic.
If you’re ready to learn, read on!
Myth #1: SEO is too much work for little reward.
Why that’s wrong: Although SEO is an ongoing marketing strategy that requires constant upkeep, its results are absolutely worthwhile. Studies show that as much as 44% of consumers begin their purchase with the search engine and almost 70% of all internet users regularly shop online. With this many people going to the search engine to fulfil their needs, it would be a waste to not take advantage of SEO.
Myth #2: All top-level domains have the same SEO value.
Why that’s wrong: Top-level domains are .com, .net, .org, and the other values you commonly see to the right of the dot. Contrary to what you might think, not all top-level domains have the same SEO value. Search engines, like Google, tend to geo-target their websites to make it easier for users to connect with local businesses. Unless you have a specific national audience, use .com and other global market domains to reach a wider pool of visitors.
Myth #3: Meta descriptions don’t matter.
Why that’s wrong: Meta tags and descriptions don’t have a ton of SEO weight, but they are significant. Although Google does not count meta tags in page rankings, it’s still the first piece of information that sums up your website for potential visitors. Meta descriptions are the concise blurbs you see under every search that shows up on your search engine results pages. Take time to optimize your meta tags and descriptions to make it attractive to the user. This attention to detail will gain you more click-throughs and credibility.
Myth #4: Google is against my SEO.
Why that’s wrong: By no means is Google (or any other search engine for that matter) against your SEO efforts. Search engines aren’t trying to get in the way of your online marketing endeavours. It’s only when your SEO practices are against the rules that penalization is warranted. Google’s ultimate goal is to provide an excellent user experience for all of its searchers. Some illegal SEO practices don’t honour that code and are therefore on Google’s blacklist. The best way to ensure that your marketing efforts aren’t violating any rules is to check Google Webmasters for their complete guideline.
Myth #5: Social media doesn’t have any SEO value.
Why that’s wrong: Social media might not have any direct SEO value, but it does help with your rankings overall because it drives qualified traffic to your website. Social impressions, mentions, likes, tags, and shares are all valuable SEO caches. By sharing your link on social media sites, you’re also upping your chances of getting indexed by web crawlers, which helps with your search rankings.
Myth #6: Only an SEO specialist can guarantee my ranking.
Why that’s wrong: The truth is that no one can guarantee your rankings – not even an SEO specialist. There are so many factors that go into SEO that it’s almost impossible for anyone to figure out the algorithm in full. SEO specialists have to do the same research you do, so you’d might as well just start with basic content optimization and work your way up. SEO professionals are simply people who are more adept at marketing, but you can be, too, if you put in the background work.
Myth #7: Blogs are useless.
Why that’s wrong: Blogs are actually invaluable tools to have if you plan on increasing your SEO rankings. Don’t get us wrong; there are perfectly high-ranking websites without blogs, but those are few and far between. Blogs allow you to build complex internal links, create guest posting opportunities, flesh out important keywords, increase your thought leadership in the field, and much more. The benefits of blogging far outweigh the work it takes to maintain a blog.
Myth #8: If I just build links, I’ll get more traffic.
Why that’s wrong: Link density should not be the goal. In fact, if you back up your articles with tons of links, you’ll run the risk of being penalized. Generally speaking, a healthy amount of internal links should be around one link per 200 words. If an article has 1000 words, a normal amount would be around five links. Backlinks are not too different, since quality matters more than quantity as well. If the websites linking to yours are legitimate and have their own SEO authority, then these backlinks will help you climb the SERPs. If you have thousands of backlinks, but they are all spammy links that you’ve bought off the web, it might actually harm your overall rankings. Always strive for quality first.
Myth #9: More content means higher rankings.
Why that’s wrong: Just like we mentioned before, a large quantity of low-quality content isn’t going to help your search rankings. Quantity should only matter if your content is high quality. Focus on creating keyword-rich, relevant articles that increase the readership experience.
Myth #10: If the results are good, the method doesn’t matter.
Why that’s wrong: Internet marketing ethics is one thing, but your bottom line is going to be at risk if you’re not extra careful about how you go about your SEO. Your methods will determine the sustainability of your online presence. Some marketers opt for automatically generated content because they simply don’t like to write nor have enough time for it, but this lack of effort will result in higher bounce rates because their user experience has been significantly compromised. Imagine reading a post that makes little to no sense because it has been generated by hacking software. Strive to generate high-quality traffic by optimizing your keywords, meta tags, body content, and web design.