Debunking SEO Myths and Misconceptions

Debunking SEO Myths and Misconceptions

Posted By admin | February 4, 2022 | No Comments | SEO
SEO Myths

Myths and misconceptions are a part of our lives and work culture because of our ignorance. However, SEO myths have become prevalent because of Google’s claim that its search engine rankings are based on 10,000 signals. The tech giant made the statement years ago to outshine Bing’s claim of 1,000 signals. The war between the search engines led to a lot of speculation in the digital marketing realm that gave birth to several myths.

Thus, if business owners come across such myths about SEO in Gold Coast, they need to recheck the facts with a professional to avoid getting entangled in false information.

Believing these misconceptions can create chaos in the organisation because of differences of opinion among teams. Also, it can affect the search engine rankings and reduce the organic traffic coming to the website. So, let us help you to debunk these myths with information.

Myth: More the Keywords, Better the Ranking

Fact: Many marketers follow the myth and indulge in keyword stuffing, which involves embedding irrelevant and out of context keywords in dozens on the same page. They believe that it will help them to rank higher quickly.

However, it is precisely the opposite. Keyword stuffing is not encouraged by search engines and can lead to a search penalty. It hampers user experience as visitors are looking for valuable information and this increases bounce rate.

According to Webmaster Guidelines and E-A-T, it is evident that search engines emphasise expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Thus, the density of the primary keyword should be 2% in the content and the long-tail keyword can be used as a variation of the primary keyword in the same manner. The keyword should appear only one time in the page title, meta description, and title tag.

Myth: Link Building Does Not Hold Any Relevance

Fact: Some business owners believe that link building has lost its worth in the eyes of search engines. However, it is far from the truth. It is a significant part of ranking factors but is not as relevant as the quality of content. Gaining backlinks is beneficial in improving the credibility of the website.

However, the inbound links must be attained from an authoritative site and without any payment or partnership, which is equivalent to black hat SEO.

In addition, adding more than required outbound links is a strict no-no. Like keywords, links should be used judiciously and only when necessary. The same link should not be repeated on the page.

Myth: SEO Is Needed Temporarily

Fact: Contrary to popular belief, SEO is an ongoing process that requires constant tracking and analysis to measure the performance of the digital marketing strategy. SEO professionals need to revamp their efforts and tactics if they are not working.

Also, the search engine bots may take months to assess the changes made in the website design and content to gain more traction, which means that SEO cannot be stopped.

It includes both on-page and off-page optimisation strategies that involve maintaining high-quality content, keyword research and embedding, analysing the competitors, tweaking the site architecture, mobile optimisation, and reducing loading speed. Thus, it cannot be done in a few months.

Myth: Anchor Text Doesn’t Need Keywords

Fact: Anchor text are the words in the content that are hyperlinked and direct the user to land on another page on the same website or another site. To avoid overstuffing keywords, many marketers refrain from using keywords in anchor text.

However, it has been identified that the crawlers utilise the anchor text to understand the content on the page. Thus, keywords should be appropriately used in the anchor text without appearing out of context on the page.

Myth: Social Media Affects Ranking

Fact: It is not entirely a misconception. Although social media posts do not directly impact search engine rankings, they aid in improving brand visibility that helps in SEO.

When the posts are viewed and shared by users across social media platforms, they help in increasing website traffic and circulation of content. However, it is significant to understand that having a social media profile with many followers does not guarantee first page rankings because it is not a ranking factor.

Myth: Page Speed Does Not Matter

Fact: If your website takes time to load because of the heavy size of files, you need to be concerned because loading time is a vital ranking factor. Do not make the mistake of neglecting it. Google Page Speed Insights informs marketers about the loading speed.

Thus, compressing files and images is a significant way of achieving the required loading time. The attention span of visitors is only 3 seconds, and if the page does not load in this timeframe, they jump to another site. Thus, search engines pay attention to this aspect as it affects user experience.

Myth: Pay Per Click Ads Boost Ranking

Fact: Marketers think that PPC ads will help them get a higher ranking. However, PPC is paid search, and SEO is organic search, and thus, they are two different ways of attracting traffic.

Search engines do not give preference to websites running paid ads on Google. The tech giant uses a separate algorithm to rank websites based on their content and website structure. Business owners can use PPC along with SEO to increase conversions and brand recognition, but they will not help in ranking higher.

Myth: Older Websites Get Higher Ranking

Fact: Google has denied domain age as a ranking factor several times. If you still witness an old website ranking higher over others, the reason is that they have been around for a long time and have been using SEO techniques for years. They will have more relevant content than a website that came online a few months ago.

An older website will have higher brand recognition, customer interaction and backlinks that make it credible and authoritative compared to a new entity. Thus, they rank higher. They have been experimenting for an extended period and have understood the ranking game better than their younger counterparts. So, age does not matter, but experience and expertise do matter.

Conclusion    

As a business owner, if you are using SEO in Gold Coast to rank higher, you need to understand that there are several myths that you need to get out of your mind. Pay attention to the advice of professionals and the information distributed by the search engines to optimise your website and content successfully.