In Digital Marketing, specifically in Search Engine Optimization, there are always tidbits of information roaming around the internet without any context. A plethora of myths surround the concept of SEO; it seems as if somebody deliberately churns them out daily. Business owners need to figure out what is true and what isn't so that their business isn't affected.
Zombie SEO Myths
Zombie SEO myths are ones that, despite being discarded by SEO professionals over and over again, do not die out. These myths thrive among individuals who are not aware of the ‘ins and outs’ of SEO and believe anything they are told.
Keyword stuffing is key
Google uses the TF-IDF procedure that is the Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency. It is a metric through which the search engine giant can detect the number of times a word or phrase appears on every web page.
In case the number exceeds that set by Google, the website as a manipulative or irrelevant source, in some serious cases, is also penalized. A nightmare for digital business owners. None of the digital nomads would want that, will they?
Google is now able to detect language patterns that are used naturally. It gives Google the ability to penalize your website for the over-optimization of keywords in the SEO.
SEO is a one-time investment
One of the most common misconceptions about SEO is that it is a one-time strategy. While this is completely untrue, it is also important to understand that every service in this world requires continuous maintenance for maximum results.
Over time, numerous updates have been made to the Google algorithm that changes the procedure for organic ranking. The SERPs ranking seen is now refined to a great extent. The competition in the market has shot up, and so every brand wants to attain the top position in the SERPs.
As a result, it has become essential for businesses to continuously work on their SEO strategies to sustain their high rank, or they won't be able to find themselves on the first page.
Content isn't important
Modern consumers have switched to online businesses. If the SEO agencies only focus on creating backlinks to increase traffic on your website, they're missing the business's actual target, the consumers.
Consumers' choice of purchase for a product depends on the search engine results. Content is the key to attract visitors and convince them to take action on your website.
If the content isn't valuable, it will break the conversion funnel, leading to loss of leads and visitors.
SEO provides dramatic results
People tend to believe that SEO gives miraculous results within a week or even less. Even if the SEO company, without a strong foundation, succeeds in raising your website's rank to the #1 position, it will slide down in the ranking in no time. Rest assured, you will lose more than you've gained.
SEO is a long-term process, and expecting overnight results from this technique will bring you nothing except disappointment. So how long does it take for the SEO to raise the rank of a website? It completely depends on the website. If the website is well-established with rich content, it will take less time to give results than a relatively new site. At an average, it may take three to six months to raise the rank of the website.
Backlinks are all you need
Backlinks in SEO are important, yes, but they alone cannot boost a website's ranking. Just like every effect in the world has certain factors that lead to it, effective SEO has certain essentials that are key to its success.
Google Ads increase organic activity
The Click-through rate in SEO is debatable, but there is no proof that Google Ads will boost your website's organic activity.
At Google, there is a difference between the paid side of the market and the organic side. The professionals working in the Search Quality Team will not let any paid marketing strategy impact how they perform organic results ranking.
Speed doesn't matter
Google has stated that the tie-breaker, when all other factors remain constant, is the website's speed. It is one of the elements in SEO that has an immense effect yet, is often overlooked due to other factors. In today's competitive market, the website's speed is what makes it stand out from other different sites.
SEO is dead
The worst kind of all those mind-sucking myths is that SEO isn't relevant anymore. There are a plethora of blogs and articles that claim that it doesn't work anymore. In reality, SEO is very much alive and is functioning to increase visibility and generate leads.
The next time you read an article with a headline saying "SEO is dead," know that it is either written by an ineffective and unprofessional marketer or the page it belongs to isn't functional anymore.
Is this it?
The above-stated myths are just the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of additional myths about SEO services circulating among the digital nomads, extending from basic common ones to absolutely bizarre ones. The thought process of the consumers is evolving, and with that, even Google’s ranking scene is undergoing considerable changes. It is now essential for business owners to differentiate between the correct information and myth by thorough research, or else they might be facing severe losses.
Search Marketing Experts, a US-based digital marketing company, provides digital marketing solutions to businesses in the United States. For more than 15 years, the company offers digital marketing services to both SMEs and large-scale enterprises. The services include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media marketing, and Pay-per-Click (PPC) campaigns.