Common SEO misconceptions broke down and dismantled.
SEO is a complicated world that is always being updated and changed. It can be intimidating to many business owners who rely on online traffic for success in their work. The release of many different Google updates has changed the game in major ways when it comes to SEO and how to get the highest ranking you can for your website. Sometimes it is confusing, frustrating, and seemingly impossible to figure out how exactly you’re supposed to navigate through a world of algorithms and Google bots. How do you know what you’re doing is actually working or if you fell for more SEO myths? Some of the most common misconceptions have been broken down for you to help give a wider idea of what you should be avoiding and working on to further help the traffic to your website.
SEO Myth 1
The most common lie that SEO faces is that it is dead. Guess what? It’s not. SEO will never truly die because as long as people use search engines, search engines will have to use programs to provide results. While the way SEO is used can vary, sometimes drastically, the need for it will always be alive. It’s a very different scene than it was 10 years ago and it’s lasted this long successfully.
SEO Myth 2
Some people are hung up on the idea that SEO is basically just keywords. This is another myth that has been widely believed and once was close to accurate. Google has updated their system however, and they rely more on relevant content rather than the spamming of specific keywords. Applying SEO to your content and coupling that with marketing is the best way to get your website out there, but you won’t go far unless you have accurate and relevant content instead of awkwardly thrown in keywords and confusing sentences. This does not mean, however, that if you have quality content SEO doesn’t matter. Without SEO, how would anyone find your website? They go together like peanut butter & jelly.
SEO Myth 3
Is SEO expensive? Granted, when hiring a professional or deciding to take courses to further your own knowledge, it isn’t always cheap. The reason for that is because the goal behind SEO is to gain more traffic, and through that, more profit. In the end, paying for a professional to get your website up high on the rankings should more than pay off for the investment you made by hiring someone in the first place. It’s a better option than using free services that are automated. This plays into another myth that you can use automated SEO. Google will give your website a penalty if they catch you which will cause a dramatic decline in ranking, and hurt your business. Having to shell out more cash to fix these errors would put you further back than simply going to a professional from the start.
SEO Myth 4
You may have heard it said that link building is dead but some still claim that links are all that matters. What’s the truth? Once upon a time, yes. Links were the best way to climb to the top. Now it’s more complicated than that. You can’t spam a bunch of low quality, high volume links and get instantly great rankings anymore. It takes more thought now. You can still build your links to gain more traffic, but now you want to aim for quality. Links are still very important when it comes to factoring rankings; you just have to do it the right way.
SEO Myth 5
Most Google searches are done now on a mobile device, which also tears down the myth that being mobile friendly doesn’t matter. Especially with the roll out of Google Mobile First Index, it’s more important now than ever to make sure we have responsive sites with traditional SEO tactics in order to rank well. You want to make the best user experience for your audience, and if most of your viewers are on mobile, it’s a good to prioritize them.
In the end, everyone needs SEO. There are lots of other ways you can direct traffic to your website with the use of social media and marketing, but your best option is to go down the beaten path. The key is to do it the right way and to avoid all the latest fads and hacks that end up getting penalties. Local SEO, hiring a professional, and taking a course or two are a few ways to learn the facts about SEO and avoid the risk of hurting your website more than helping it. The most important thing to remember is that SEO is always changing, just like the world around us.