Myths are common all throughout the internet. There are those that are just plain fascinating, others are entertaining, most are hilarious, and some… well, there are those SEO myths that are just totally wrong – so wrong that all you can do is to facepalm.
So before you get the wrong information, here are six of the most common SEO myths you should be aware (and entirely ignore).
1. SEO is dead (All we need is content)
The death of SEO was well documented throughout the internet. Just a simple search about SEO will lead you to posts which chronicled how the once mighty SEO succumbed to the changes brought by Google’s new search algorithms, post-Hummingbird era.
As Google continue to update its search algorithm that gives emphasis to quality content and user search intent more than just keyword, many believed that the days of SEO are over. However, this is a myth that you should never believe.
It’s true that it the internet marketing has been more competitive and the usual researching, targeting, and stuffing of keywords won’t just cut it to a page-one placement for your site. But this increase in competition also makes SEO more valuable than ever.
Sure, quality content is still king, but doing so without optimizing it for people to discover is useless especially on this battlefield where everyone is unceasingly publishing content (and some are even doing online advertising), even at this very moment that you are reading this.
2. Keyword targeting and research are no longer relevant
Together with the belief that SEO is dead is the misconception that keyword targeting and research is no longer relevant. Nonetheless, believing this is something dangerous for you and your site.
Yes, one could argue that keyword targeting and research are no longer as useful as they used to be, but this does not make them irrelevant.
Ask this yourself: How do users find what they are looking? The answer: By using keywords to search.
Without keywords, search engines won’t even know the searchers’ intent. What you should avoid are using excessive keyword-rich anchor texts, and over-optimization as these might negatively affect your site’s ranking.
3. SEO is a One-and-Done Activity
SEO isn’t a magic trick where you wield your wand, use the magic [key]words, and voila! You are on the first page of the search engine!
No. Just no. Believe me; it is not that easy.
SEO is not a one-time effort where you can enjoy the benefits of high traffic overnight. It is a long-term practice which includes activities such as publishing and updating contents, checking and gaining quality links, and adapting to new search algorithms, to maintain or increase your page rank.
If you still believe that all you need is a one-time SEO, watch as your page ranking drops shortly.
4. Long-form content improves ranking
Before you throw a bunch of statistics at me to prove that long-form content does perform better when it comes to driving traffic and conversion than shorter and less in-depth content, let me clarify – QUALITY long-form contents do improve your rankings (see the “quality” there?).
What this means is that a long-form content does not guarantee that you will rank high on search engines. You can write a crappy 2,000-plus word blog and see your site dropping instead of increasing.
In terms of SEO, there are a lot more factors to consider than just the length of the content. Besides, in this time where quality and user intent is more important, providing value to users should be prioritized.
5. Linking to other sites means losing visitors
Technically, you’ll actually be redirecting your visitors if you link to other websites. Thus, it’s perfectly okay if you fell into this notion that you are losing visitors because you are doing external linking.
Nevertheless, linking to authority sites has its benefits which might help your site more than harm it. Linking to authority sites gives your content more value, and helps you build trust among your readers.
Also, the same reason you strive to get backlinks from quality sites, linking to authority sites has also been proven to improve your web rankings, thereby increasing your chances to get higher traffic.
6. More pages ensure higher ranking
Gone are the days that you can manipulate search engines by stuffing your site with indexed pages bombarded with search terms you want to rank. That is no longer how it works.
Though it is not wrong to have a large number of pages on your website, each page should be properly optimized for search engines if you want to reap its benefits.
Furthermore, as I have continuously emphasized, quality still rules. Thus, even small sites that provide quality and valuable content could rank higher than bigger sites with mediocre and irrelevant content. Imagine this; it doesn’t make sense for a company that offers human resource services to talk about web development. Not only it is irrelevant, but it won’t also help ranking regardless of how many pages they dedicate to it.
Debunking SEO myths
There are loads of misconceptions about SEO and it is just difficult to include everything in this blog post. Sure, you can search for “SEO myths” or “SEO misconceptions” and learn more about it. However, you must be careful on what you read as I guarantee you, there are A LOT of contrasting ideas out there.
Competition is fierce in the digital platform, and you do not want to be left behind due to some false ideas designed just to get clicks, social shares, and attention.
Stop believing in the myths we mentioned on this blog, study up on SEO or hire a reputable SEO company in the Philippines, and we can assure that you will be on the right track.
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