Avoid These Common Four SEO Myths

Avoid These Common Four SEO Myths

Is SEO(Search Engine Optmization) based on a magical, impossible to understand algothirms? Do you think the only way to succeed in SEO is by using black-hat methods like using unrelated keywords, hidden links, cloaking, duplicate content or scraping?

“Myths have surfaced all over search results about SEO on how to quickly achieve a high ranking in search results.”

Remember when your parents taught you that nothing worthwhile comes easy or without work? You have to earn your worth in this world.  The same principal applies to SEO.  SEO needs to be a long-term goal for your website. Time, patience, and consistency will grow your SEO and build a high-ranking in search engines.

Keeping this in mind, we have listed four of the more common SEO myths that seem to cause website owners the most confusion. We’ll also list tips that will help you work through the long-term process of maintaining and growing your content for best SEO rankings.

Myth 1: Keywords

Myth: If I stuff my keywords, I will get my website penalized by search engines and this will have a negative impact on my search engine ranking

Fact: Keyword stuffing or over-optimizing your keywords, refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results. This type of “gaming” with SEO, will result in penalization and also makes your content hard to understand for your user. There are ways to follow the rules and also grow your SEO score to rank high on search engines using the correct keywords.

Tips:

1. Content priority comes before keywords – Focusing on your audience and providing value to them is most important. Provide your audience with content that makes sense, relevant, and engaging. As you write your draft content, think of keywords that relate to the content that you have created. This will make you aware of putting your audience and content first, rather than focusing on stuffing keywords into the content.
2. Use tools like SEMRush, Keyword Tool, or Google Keyword Planner to find the right keywords to use to target your audience and SEO search results. These tools will help you build strong keyword lists and also help you find high yielding searches.

Myth 2 : Content

Myth:  To rank high on search indexes, I need long-form content on my website.

Fact:  While it is true that the length of your content helps build your SEO ranking, there are many others factors that also contribute to maintaining a high ranking website in search indexes. These include user experience, mobile responsiveness, backlinks, and page speed.

Tips: 1. Make sure you are utilizing Google Analytics and identifying your target audience. Google Analytics provides measurements that list visitors by age, region, interests. Google trends also helps you identify new markets and examine keyword audiences to search for. You can then build content based on your findings.

2. Make sure to publish new content frequently. Search indexes give preference to sites that frequently publish new engaging content. This signifies that the business is active and engaging with their customers. You can also share your content via social media to attract more visitors which also helps give your new content a boost from Search indexes.

Myth 3: Domain Names

Myth:  The only way to rank high is to have a “.com” website url.

Fact:  Your url needs to be concise, easy to spell, and readable by human beings. The easier to read, the better it is for search engines. Keywords that are used in the domain name are especially important. Keywords in the URL show up in search results, and research has shown that the URL is one of the most prominent elements searchers consider when selecting which site to click.

Tips:

1. Make your website domain readable – we touched on this in the fact, but it’s important to repeat. Make sure your domain name is readable by human beings, then it will be easier to read by search engines. Avoid domain names with numbers, many of the same characters, and unusual spellings.
2. Your domain name should be relevant to your business. For example, if your company ismarketing.com, a user would assume that your website is about marketing.
3. If your preferred domain name is not available on “.com”, you can use a sub-level domain such as “.net”, or .”guru”, etc. You can also add a prefix, suffix, or hyphen. For example –marketing-tips.com.

Myth 4:  Sharing Information with Similar Sites

Myth: Sharing information with other websites through guest blogging and authority links diminishes my marketing efforts. This takes away visitors from my site and decreases my SEO.

Fact: Remember earlier in our article when we mentioned that your audience comes first with content. Same goes for this myth. Your top priority should be educating your audience and giving them the best information. This may include providing references or authority links to similar sites, or inviting a credible guest author to provide their valuable experience and insight.  Other benefits include increased traffic by linking out to authority sites and attracting new audiences.

Tips:

1. Make sure when you are linking out to references and authority links, that you are linking to safe, credible sites. You want to link out to reputable websites and companies that share similar values as your business.
2. Do not ever, ever purchase backlinks. Acquire backlinks naturally by building relationships with similar blogs or guest authors. If you create and build engaging content, other websites will provide backlinks organically, not forcibly by purchasing links.

In conclusion, SEO is not a difficult, mysterious concept

There is not a magic bullet or quick approach for search engine optimization. It takes patience and consistency to grow your SEO to build a high-ranking in search engines.

• Focus on your audience first. Provide relevant, engaging content that is related to your keywords, but not driven by your keywords.
• Avoid stuffing content with irrelevant keywords that is disengaging to your audience
• Build relationships with similar blogs or websites that share similar values. This will build your authority and relate to more traffic
• Choose your domain based on readability and keyword. Even if you cannot get a top level domain, use a domain name  that is memorable, easy to read, and that clearly relates to your business.

Using these tips, you can invest your SEO efforts into a long term plan and build your ranking. Remember that SEO takes time and consistency and by providing value to your target audience, your ranking will grow organically. If you need help with SEO, our team provides free consultations and SEO services to help you grow.