{"id":1805,"date":"2014-05-13T18:31:27","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T18:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aseohosting.com\/blog\/?p=1805"},"modified":"2025-05-03T09:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T09:22:13","slug":"debunking-the-ten-most-common-myths-about-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aseohosting.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/debunking-the-ten-most-common-myths-about-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Debunking The Ten Most Common Myths About SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Like any field with a technical aspect, search engine optimization plays host to a wide range of different misconceptions, half-truths, and falsehoods.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With digital marketing in particular, this problem is exacerbated by the fluid and rapidly-changing nature of both search and the Internet itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What held true last year might not necessarily be valid next year; this year\u2019s tactics could end up obsolete with a single update to Google\u2019s algorithms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These tall tales \u2013 and there are many of them \u2013 range in veracity from \u201csomewhat true\u201d to \u201cless grounded than the flat-Earth theory.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Perpetuated by well-meaning, misinformed journalists; underhanded snake soil salesmen, and unknowing laymen; the myths collected here all share one thing in common: they can be universally damaging to one\u2019s efforts online. Don\u2019t buy into them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEO Is Dead<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll start with one that seems to be the mating call of self-professed industry \u201cexperts\u201d the world over, to be sounded every time Google tweaks its algorithms: \u201cSEO is dead.\u201dTo be frank, nothing could be further from the truth. Are certain techniques that worked in the past now irrelevant? Certainly. Does this mean the field is on its last legs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as there are search engines, there\u2019ll always be certain variables that make sites likelier to rank. As long as those variables exist, there\u2019ll always be men and women who figure out how to utilize them in order to increase their visitor count. SEO will change from time to time, sure; I doubt it\u2019s ever going to outright disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crap Hat Techniques Are The Only Techniques<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People outside SEO often wrongly believe that shady tactics are central to it. They think buying links, spinning articles, and creating misleading content are SEO’s core. This makes them see SEO experts as similar to scammers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, those who use such bad practices are generally seen as the black sheep of SEO. They\u2019re the people who make every legitimate online marketer look bad; most simply wish they could be swept under a rug and forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although spam is inevitably going to be a part of digital marketing (there\u2019ll always be incompetents), it\u2019s not fair to judge every professional by their existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ranking First Is All That Matters<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another all-too-common belief is that ranking first on Google is all that matters. This one\u2019s particularly dangerous, because there\u2019s actually a small grain of truth in it: ranking high on Google is <\/b>important.  That said; if you rank first for a keyword that has nothing to do with your page, people aren\u2019t going to click through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if your keywords are tied to your site, ranking first isn\u2019t a guarantee of success. Google\u2019s introduction of author profiles (through Google +) and rich snippets means that keeping your content relevant and user-friendly is just as important as ranking high \u2013 if not more so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Most
Most Common Myths About SEO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Social Media Is Irrelevant To Optimization<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m a bit confused about how this myth started. It’s a huge lie. At its heart, SEO is about changing your content. The goal is to make it more likely for people to find it. If you ignore social media while doing this, you’re only doing half the work. Social media is quickly becoming part of search (as noted above with Google Authorship).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meta Tags Are Super Important<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Depending on who you ask, a page\u2019s meta tags are either one of the most important optimization elements on a page, or they\u2019re completely irrelevant to your site\u2019s rankings. The truth is actually somewhere in between. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While search engines no longer use meta descriptions to determine the content and topic of a site, the people who use them still do. This means that a poorly-written meta description will likely drive users away from your site and into the waiting arms of competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEO Is Too Expensive\/Too Difficult\/Takes Too Much Time<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly, this is one misconception I myself held about SEO before learning more about what SEO actually involves. Yes, learning SEO takes some time. All the jargon can seem scary at first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, applying that knowledge is surprisingly easy once you understand it. Many SEO plugins are available to download. You don’t need to stress about it too much. You also don’t necessarily need to hire an “expert.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEO Has Nothing To Do With Your Site\u2019s Usability<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A lot of people seem to love perpetuating the idea that optimizing a site has nothing to do with making it more usable or user-friendly. The reason why this is patently untrue brings us back around to SEO\u2019s ever-changing nature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

See, search engine optimization isn\u2019t just about manipulating the components of a site so it\u2019s more likely to rank \u2013 just as Google\u2019s considering its audience, you need to do so as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A site that is difficult or aggravating to use isn\u2019t going to interest users. Even if you offer them a great deal of value, they aren\u2019t going to bother. You won\u2019t get shares, you won\u2019t get visits, and you most certainly won\u2019t be seeing any conversions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keywords Must Be An Exact Match – And Using Them More Often Is Better.<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve said before that you should try to keep your keyword density below a particular percentage. While it\u2019s certainly still true that you don\u2019t want to stuff your page with keywords, the truth is there really isn\u2019t a \u2018magic number\u2019 when it comes to keywords. It\u2019s far more important to write natural-sounding, flowing content than it is to stress over how many times you repeat the word \u201coptimize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PageRank Is The Only Metric You Need To Know<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Having a high PageRank is good. Having the highest is even better. However, it is not the only thing you need to consider. Google considers hundreds of different factors when it determines how to value a site, so it\u2019s foolish to think that SEO only involves worrying about a single metric. There are many other metrics<\/a> one needs to take into account beyond PageRank in order to paint a complete picture of how one\u2019s efforts are stacking up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If You Create Awesome Content, You’re Guaranteed to Get Readers. <\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Finally, some believe content is the only<\/em> thing that matters for ranking. While great content is key to getting more visitors, it’s not the only<\/em> factor. Many websites have better content than top industry pages. However, their owners don’t know how to market themselves. So, they are rarely discovered, if ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Closing<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like any industry, search engine optimization has created many misconceptions and mistruths over its lifetime. It\u2019s not terribly surprising, particularly given the mercurial nature of search.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some of the myths listed above hold more truth than others, they are all universally damaging to one\u2019s online marketing efforts \u2013 if you ascribe to any of them, you\u2019re probably better off giving up on SEO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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