The rules for search engine optimization (SEO) are constantly changing, which makes it easy for myths to be accepted as fact. If you’re struggling to sort fact from fiction and optimize your search engine traffic, it’s time to investigate some of the biggest SEO myths.
Great Content Is Better than SEO
If you build it, they will come—not. If you open up a store selling the best coffee in the world, but neglect to put up any signs announcing where it is, you might make some sales by chance. However, you will never benefit from the sustained traffic that helping customers find you can bring. The same is true for SEO. Creating a website is only part of the equation. Without a great search position, nobody will see it anyway.
Keywords Need to Match Exactly
In older versions of Google, exact match keywords were the standard. However, today Google utilizes semantic indexing. That means that Google now understands that “digital marketing,” “online marketing,” and “web marketing” are the same thing. At the end of the day, this is wonderful for content writers, who can speak naturally instead of forcing long-tail keywords into a blog 20 times.
Link Building Doesn’t Matter
Links are still part of how Google determines what sites are worth listing on the first page. Cultivating quality backlinks is not a quick or easy process, but it can pay off in the long term. Backlinks are especially valuable if you are trying to rank for lower-competition keywords.
More Pages Is Better
Many of the websites that rank well for target keywords have only a handful of pages of content. Quality is much more important than quantity for SEO. You should only add pages to your site if the pages add real value. This SEO myth partially comes from the fact that Google favors “fresh content” and recent updates over old content. However, refreshing older blogs and adding new blogs is a much better way of combining quality and quantity.
Images Don’t Need to Be Optimized
Whenever you place an image on your website, you can use an alt tag to optimize the image for SEO. Alt tags are the part of the image that a search engine reads since Google cannot view pictures the same that a human would. Adding alt tags helps your website to rank higher in Google and makes it so that the default title of the picture is not what shows up.
We’re Busting SEO Myths at My Content Co
My Content Co knows how to create fast, engaging and effective websites, just like you know how to grow your small business. We specialize in creating websites, blogs, social media posts and newsletters that are consistent with your brand. Partner with us to see real growth from your content marketing. Visit us online or contact us today at 410-324-3934 to get started.