Search engine optimization (SEO) has changed significantly in the last few years. And there are many SEO myths out there can be very confusing to the small business owner.
As a long time web designer, I can say that I’ve experienced the SEO evolution first-hand and I’m still learning. I also observed that a lot of people are confused by the changing rules of SEO. This is because SEO is evolving every day. And some people don’t even know the importance of search engine optimization.
Whether you are a blogger, website owner or you’re a local web design agency trusted with other people’s websites, you really need to take SEO very serious even if it confuses you a lot. Overall, there are lot of SEO myths out there that will confuse you especially if you’re a beginner. I’ll advise that you prepare yourself to unlearn whatever you know and be ready to learn new information.
Overall, an average SEO campaign is not enough, you need to pay attention to your local SEO campaigns too. This is because search engines now rank your site based on your business location. Although, there are a lot of misinterpretations about what is needed to reach the top page of Google search engine. Let’s find out what works, and what doesn’t. Let’s see which SEO myths are real… if any.
Myth 1: If you’re doing social media, you don’t need to do SEO
This is untrue as SEO, and social Media can work together, and one is not a substitute for the other.
Before Facebook and Twitter became popular, SEO was one of the only ways to get traffic organically. Since the advent of social media, the line is quickly blurring between the two.
While some schools of thought think SEO and social media are different beasts, the truth is that they are very closely linked. For instance, Google’s social network (Google plus) is placed in its search results on Google.
Admittedly, if influential people get information about your product and link to your site, automatically their recommendations will show up in any Google search result that their friends do. This is clearly an interface between social media and SEO.
Social media content plays a great deal in making your page relevant and the truth is that social media is very essential for your SEO campaigns.
Myth 2: SEO is dead
This is one of the most popular SEO myths that is widely spread among sites and communities. Some claim that it is dead, others have stepped back to seek clarification and redefinition. In this case, I’d love to say that one size fits all. This is because SEO’s don’t just optimize for search engines anymore, it also help to increase your conversion rates by improving your landing page rates.
It is quite unnerving though when you search for something on Google and you see an answer instead of a link. It is even scarier when Google automatically opens resources like calculators, converters (Kg/lbs), song lyrics etc. So, you’ve got to take SEO serious because SEO isn’t dead. You can get started by using these trusted SEO techniques.
Myth 3: Content is king and the only way up
Lies, lies, and more lies. If you’re in digital marketing you must have heard the “content is king” chant again and again. Churning our high quality content that is useful will push your ranking high anyways without SEO. So publishing good content alone is not going to put you at the top of Google search especially if you publish in a highly competitive niche. This is only an SEO myth.
Publishing good content is quite important and even a requirement for ranking. But if you don’t optimize it, search engines will never know that it’s good. If your whole website is not optimized, there could be a struggle to find your content, which means your page will not show up in results at all.
SEO is simply about making sure search engines are matching your pages to the right audience. So while content is king, it’s not an absolute sovereignty.
Myth 4: The more inbound links, the better
False!
In recent updates to Google’s algorithm, they have made quality to trump quantity. The days of having thousands of slow-quality links driving up rankings are long gone. In fact, creating those links can get your website penalized because they look spammy in nature.
Your focus should be on obtaining links from websites that are relevant to your products, goods, services, or industry — and then have the links surrounded by relevant text. In the case of inbound links, your focus should be on quality and relevance instead of quantity. This is good for your SEO health.
Myth 5: Videos and images don’t matter for SEO
This is also another SEO myth that has long been thrashed. This is because visual aids like videos help improve user experience and show more relevance to your keywords.
Infographics, illustrations and photos usually make webpages look attractive and they typically increase time spent on page and decrease bounce rate. Optimizing your page with images opens up a new channel of traffic which is image and video search results.
The title description, and alt tags of your images and videos matters a lot in SEO. Search engine bots will use these data to rank your site for the relevant keywords. This is the number one reason your images will appear when an image or video search is conducted on search engines.
Myth 6: Meta tags don’t matter
Meta tags are HTML tags that appear in between the opening and closing <head> tags. Although they have become slightly irrelevant, mainly because people use them so often on their web pages without having great contents to back it up.
Meta tags show a more compelling description that will compel users to click on it instead of something else if you have good descriptions. They’re used to show preview snippets for a specific webpage in the search results. Although, Meta tags are no longer indexed by Google and Bing, it’s advisable not to ignore them altogether.
Truthfully, you need to have good SEO hygiene so that your page can stand out.
