SEO is a topic surrounded by various theories and practices on positioning factors , penalties and updated algorithms . It is so informative that sometimes, it is difficult to filter what is true and what’s not.
And, to complicate matters a bit more, this is a fairly dynamic theme.
For example, a technique that worked well a few years ago may not have any effect today.
Just as there are practices that were useless, but still exert significant weight on search results.
This confusion well characterizes SEO myths. These are some of the biggest villains of marketers, who struggle hard to put your site or blog on the first page of Google.
For this reason, we are going to target and debunk the 17 biggest SEO myths that are hampering your
digital marketing strategies. Join us at the
SEO Forum today!
1. The main search results are quick to reach
Just like content marketing, search engine optimization strategies take more time to attract noticeable return.
That will depend a lot on the competition for the chosen keywords . For example, if you are going to start
SEO work on the term “ digital marketing ”, you should know that you must sweat the shirt enough to achieve a space on the first page.
At the end of the accounts, it is a keyword with enormous competition, where marketing agencies, universities and specialized blogs will compete for the same space.
Therefore, it is highly recommended to bet on long-tail keywords , such as “seo company in dubai” or “
best seo companies in dubai“.
In addition to being more specific and segmented, the competition is less. Therefore, the summit can be reached with less difficulties.
2. The summit is guaranteed after the conquest
If after a lot of work, you conquered the top 3 of the Google or Bing ranking for one of the keywords, congratulations! Is that a sign that the publication must now be left there so as not to lose the throne? No way!
What guarantees do you have that another competitor will not improve an article or a page that lost its place in the previous ranking?
It may also happen that the approach you have made one year is out of date for the next. It is like writing about SEO, since new techniques and theories are addressed over time.
Therefore, be constantly attentive with the positioning of your pages in the positioning and, if necessary, update it with new information and data .
3. Keywords became irrelevant
Many people thought that, after the launch of Google Hummingbird (new version of the Google algorithm implemented in 2013), keywords would lose all their strength as a search factor.
The fact is that keywords are still very important, as it is still the easiest way for Google to match a site to a search done in your search field.
The difference is that the algorithm got smarter. It knows how to send “Futsal” results for people searching for “Futsal”, as well as displaying “notebooks” for those searching for “laptops”, for example.
In short, Google has made the relationship between sites, search results and between users more natural. But keywords are still very important in this filter.
4. Guest blogging gives no more results
In 2014 and 2015, various posts about the death of guest blogging appeared on SEO-talking websites and blogs.
The truth is that the practice of writing as a guest on other pages has never been condemned by Google, what’s more, it is difficult for the
algorithm to identify a guest post.
The sites that were being penalized were those that sent links to other pages in an exaggerated way, without having context or a logical link between the contents.
Google understood that as a malicious practice and it put bad sites to lose their position and even got to remove them from their indexing.
Guest blogging is well done, with quality content on relevant pages, having to do with your blog and directing to contextual links, continues to work very well.
5. All external link received is welcome
This is an argument that we began to demystify in the previous topic. The amount of links received from other sites is not the same thing as talking about quality.
For example, if you have a blog that talks about soccer and receives many links from sites about fashion, cell phones or computers, it can be bad.
In the end, since Google does not see the relationship between these topics, and probably neither between the contents, it is natural that it understands it as an attempt to deceive the algorithm.
Google always considered link building as one of the main ways to grow in positioning, since those addresses make sense and are relevant.
6. Any external link sent is bad for your site
If it’s so good that your site receives relevant links from other pages, why couldn’t you do the same?
Yes, there are many people who believe that sending links to other sites will expel their visitors.
The question here is not to lose traffic, but to appreciate a good public learning experience.
For example, if you bring back data from research done by another site, redirect to that page. Other information of this type may interest your audience.
In addition to helping your readers, you can earn some mentions from those sites, but it is important to let them know that they are being linked.
In short, it is about that old phrase: “gentleness generates gentleness”.
7. Meta descriptions are not important
Those who consume
SEO Expertise as content some time ago must have read that the meta descriptions (those that are below the page title in the search results) do not have a direct influence on the ranking.
These are not really a positioning factor. However, we cannot forget that they converse directly with the public. They are spaces of up to 160 characters that can and should be used to convince users who clicked on the titles.
So if it can influence people’s decision, why wouldn’t it be relevant to search results?
8. Google will find your new content quickly
Another myth that runs through
SEO practices is that it is enough for you to publish a new publication on your blog for Google to index it quickly.
We’re sorry to tell you that Google doesn’t do that kind of magic. Someone or something needs to notify the algorithms that a new page has been aired. Without an indication, this process may take a few days to happen.
On the other hand, you can facilitate the life of the search engine if you use some type of plugin that generates and updates your site map automatically (such as
Google XML Sitemaps , for WordPress) or share the publication on some social network.
9. Long content is not a guarantee of winning first place in the results
Many believe that the more words an article has, the better positioned it will be. But once again we fall into the myth that quantity is more important than quality.
There is no guarantee that a text with more than 2,000 words will be better positioned than one of 800 for the same keyword or subject.
Generally speaking, these may even perform better by being detailed and presenting more information, however this is not a rule.
A text of 800 words, being concise, objective and well explanatory on a certain topic, can please users much more and, consequently, Google.
10. The greater the number of pages, the better the positioning of the site
Another serious mistake is in the quantity-quality relationship that has to do with the number of pages on your site.
Wanting search engines to index more pages on a keyword will not push your domain up – unless those pages created have a high degree of relevance and quality.
But, generally speaking, it is more advantageous to write a single but complete article on a subject instead of dividing them into several pages.
In the end, it is better to have an excellent page in the main results than several medians at the end of the first, second or third Google pages.
11. Sponsored link campaigns help organic results
Ads on Google Adwords can even make your site appear at the top of search results, but not organic.
The two media use very different criteria. The main difference is in one of the Adwords classification methods, which is the paid value for a certain word in the auction.
Still, it is recommended to work with the two strategies at the same time, since they complement those that compete with each other.
12. Social networks do not affect in any way the ranking of search engines
This can be considered a controversy in the SEO universe, since there is nothing that proves that, for example, a widely shared publication on social networks has a better positioning as a guarantee.
However, the human factor should be considered more than
Google’s algorithm. In the end, if a post is being shared and entered by a large number of people, that will be a sign that the page is relevant.
Do you want to know more about it? Enter here: Myth and reality of what Social SEO is.
13. Optimizing images is silly
Anyone who forgets this may become unaware of important practices such as inserting an alt text tag , filling in the description, or adjusting the name of the image file.
There are three simple actions, but they make Google and other search engines read the images you publish on your site.
This will positively impact both textual searches and Google Images searches .
14. Searching for keywords is unnecessary
This myth can be debunked with two arguments. The first thing is that, since keywords continue to be one of the main page ranking criteria, search continues to be necessary to find the best terms for each page.
The second is that insight or intuition does not always have the best
keyword suggestions. Working with data that reveals the relevance and popularity of the terms is much safer, isn’t it?
So keep doing the keyword search and don’t neglect the tools that can help with this like Keyword Planner and
SEMrush .
15. Keywords in the domain have a better positioning
From a few years ago, having the main keyword in the domain doesn’t mean much to search results anymore.
In the past, if a workshop specialized in the maintenance of imported cars or your site like www.mecanicadecarrosimportados.com.br , had more opportunities to appear in the first results for searches for “imported car mechanics”.
Currently, the content and usability of the page are other more important factors, since that makes the difference in the public more than the domain of the site.
16. Header tags directly influence the ranking of results
This is a myth that is still not used to being widely spread over the internet. First of all, we don’t want to devalue the famous tags H1, H2, H3, etc., which serve to hierarchically classify and organize the content of a page.
These help us divide a text into blocks and facilitate our understanding of the content. For search engines, tags also have that function of ranking content.
However, they are not considered positioning factors. But it is important to use them, because the labels, by contributing to the browsing experience of the public, indirectly influence the classification of the pages.
17. If the content is excellent, that will be enough to rank well
Useful, valuable and memorable content for the public can bring countless benefits to a page, but it will not do all the positioning work alone.
In the end, if the other sites are writing content as good as yours for the same keywords, what would be differentiating you in the ranking?
It is in those moments that other factors weigh in the balance, such as:
Quantity and quality of external links received;
Number of times a post is shared on social media;
Optimized images;
Good usability;
Responsive design
Loading speed optimization etc.
The problem with these SEO myths is that many of them became habitual thoughts and practices of various marketing professionals. Therefore, it is not so simple to point out that they may be the cause of a possible lack of traffic, engagement or conversions on your site.
But if you look closely, you will notice that these have been demystified because they do not make more sense when it comes to delivering a good user experience and relevance to search engines.
Anyway, put it into practice and check if your results don’t improve.
If you did get this far and unraveled the 17 greatest
SEO myths, you should know that the matter has not yet been exhausted.
