It’s easy to find bad advice on the internet. That goes double for SEO advice. SEO is constantly changing and adapting to the way people use the internet, so it’s easy to find bad advice or design your website with outdated methods. It is important to always choose the right SEO company to stay ahead of trends for your site and industry.
It’s just as important to avoid certain things as it is to include things on your website. Gaining web traffic from organic searches can be difficult if you aren’t up to date with the latest SEO methods. Below are a few myths concerning SEO that will help anyone avoid mistakes and drive traffic.
11 Myths About SEO
1. SEO is Dead
This couldn’t be any more wrong. SEO is still thriving. The entire basis of this myth is that people believe it’s impossible to manipulate search engines. It’s true that search engines are constantly changing their algorithm, but there are still ways to make sure your website sits at the top of search results. Popular search engines even provide data to website admins to help them make their website more search engine friendly.
2. The Google Algorithm is Unknown
It’s quite the contrary actually. Google is very upfront about how their search engine works. They provide updated documentation, videos, blog posts, and much more about the various tweaks they make to their algorithm. There are even third-party companies that exist solely to test the algorithm and publish their findings.
3. Short Content Doesn’t Rank
It can be frustrating to search for a simple question and all the results contain giant walls of text. This has led many people to believe that short content doesn’t rank on Google. Google has said that they rank quality ahead of length, and in the future, they may even de-rank content that is considered fluff.
4. Long-tail Keywords Confusion
Long-tail keywords are wrongly defined as keywords that contain three or more words. In reality, long-tail keywords are simply words that just sit higher on the graph of popular search terms. An SEO company knows how to make use of long-tail keywords correctly.
5. Google Punishes Pop-Ups
It’s true that some intrusive pop-ups are punished by Google, but this doesn’t mean all pop-ups are bad. In fact, Google has a guideline for pop-up use.
6. Meta Tags Don’t Work
There is a lot of conflicting information about meta tags. The truth is meta tags are used to tell Google exactly what a page is all about. Meta tags may not be used directly by Google to rank websites, but they do provide Google with much-needed data to help find the right search results.
7. Generic Homepages Improve Rankings
Google has officially stated many times that you don’t need a .com, .org, or .net domain name to rank efficiently. Content matters more than the domain name.
8. No Duplicate Content
Google doesn’t always hate websites with similar content. Google understands that certain websites have a theme and often creates similar blog posts and other content.
9. Does Domain Age Matter?
It’s been confirmed that the age of a domain has little to nothing to do with the ranking of a website on Google.
10. Avoid Link Building
Link building has always been a way to make a website rank higher. Google figured out people were abusing their system and changed its algorithm. This doesn’t mean link building is useless though. It’s still a great way to add authority to a website.
11. Personalized Results
It’s true that Google will give different search results to different people, but many websites have universal content. It’s entirely possible for one website to appear on everyone’s search results.