In the digital era, mastering the art of search engine optimization has become a must for any successful business.
However, the fact that SEO is perceived by most as this daunting Pandora’s Box makes it all seem more complex than it actually is.
In fact, if it weren’t for all the misconceptions, SEO wouldn’t even seem so complicated.
Are you tired of SEO being described as some sort of sorcery? Then, keep reading to learn what SEO myths to leave behind.
6 SEO Myths and where they go wrong
1. Keyword Density Is a Game Changer
The rumors are true, keywords do matter.
However, like a double-edged sword, they can help your search engine ranking, but can also harm it.
Therefore, it’s important to understand the difference between researched and targeted keywords, and keyword stuffing. While the first one aids the reaching of your target market, the former one only loads pages with keywords while attempting to manipulate the site’s ranking.
In fact, Google officially declared that “filling pages with keywords or numbers results in a negative user experience, and can harm your site’s ranking”.
That being said, keyword stuffing can also lead to Google perceiving your website as a manipulative source.
So, even though you should incorporate relevant keywords, make sure that you don’t transform your copy into a Thanksgiving turkey.
2. Keyword Research Isn’t Essential
While keyword stuffing may be a thing of the past, this doesn’t mean that we should forget keywords altogether.
In order to define your primary and secondary keywords, you need to think of your target audience, more specifically, of your audience’s search intent. After all, if you want people to find you, you need to know what they are looking for.
Going that extra mile and conducting keyword research will later make business easier for you, as you can find out which keywords are easy to rank for or find out your competition’s keywords.
Besides, optimizing your content for a specific audience can lead to a boost in conversion rates as well as increased Return on Investment (ROI). In fact, the standard content marketing campaign that uses keyword research has an average ROI of 16%.
Want to find out more about keyword research and its benefits? Check out our article on Keyword Research 101.
3. Content Doesn’t Matter
Despite all the tips and tricks, at the heart of everything is human interest.
The end users don’t care about keywords or internal linking, they are looking for high-quality content. The hard truth is that ranking high on Google has no point if your content doesn’t generate any engagement or conversions.
Therefore, the best way to provide a great user experience is engaging and easily readable content.
That being said, valuable content also helps with ranking high in search engines. Google aims to deliver “useful and relevant results in a fraction of a second” so content is crucial as it tells Google for what searches it should rank you.
So, great content is the basis of a SEO strategy, as it is crucial for both positive user experiences and search engine visibility.
For example, content creation results in 434% more indexed pages in search engines.
Besides, insightful content can also create a sense of community as you can interact with customers when responding to their questions and comments. Hence, useful and substantive content can not only lead to optimized conversion rates, but also to customer loyalty and retention.
4. Images Don’t Need to Be Optimized
Photo source: Unsplash
Alt tags are not only beneficial for search engine ranking, but they are also mandatory in the United States. According to the American With Disabilities Act (ADA), all digital content is required to be accessible to people with disabilities.
Alt tags make that possible, as they provide context about an image’s content to those who are unable to see it.
On the other hand, descriptive, keyword-rich image alt tags also allow search engine crawlers to index images correctly.
In line with this, scaling images is important not only for SEO but also for user experience. In truth, images heavily impact loading times and site speed influences whether you get a good ranking or not.
A slow website can also impact your business as it can influence customer satisfaction, conversion rates, and page views.
So, even though images may no longer be worth more than a thousand words, they should still be worth your focus.
5. Link Quantity Is More Important Than Quality
Less is better is no longer an Instagram slogan. Instead, it should be your SEO mantra.
Like keyword stuffing, having lots of low-quality links will hinder your trustworthiness and, consequently, harm your business.
In truth, both keyword stuffing and inaccurate links are referred to as “black hat SEO”. These are practices that try to trick search engines to increase the ranking of their website without putting in the necessary work.
This quantity-focused approach will result in decreased authority as users will perceive you as an untrusted source.
Additionally, despite “black hat SEO” focusing on search engines rather than humans, these techniques can lead to a ban from search engines. For example, tactics like link buying or link farms could end with penalization.
Once again, remember that at the heart of everything is the human audience. Focus on being a reliable source by providing them with valuable and authoritative links, and gain their trust as well as their loyalty.
6. Social Media Doesn’t Impact SEO
Although social media doesn’t directly impact your Google rankings, it can increase brand exposure and send traffic to your website.
That being said, if a lot of people share your content on their social media platforms, they are also driving traffic to your website, hence increasing your ratings.
Additionally, gaining exposure can also generate more backlinks as it improves your content reach. Backlinks are a quality ranking sign for search engines, as the top results on Google have 3.8 times more backlinks than those below them.
Social media also facilitates relationship building with customers. Not only is it easier to interact with existing customers on social media platforms, but you can also reach potential ones as you are targeting a specific audience.
It’s also worth considering how social media humanizes your brand as it’s the best place to show authenticity and demonstrate your brand’s personality. In fact, 90% of consumers would rather make a purchase from a brand that they know from social media.
Start Enjoying the Benefits of SEO Today!
Photo source: Unsplash uop
With all these myths, starting a SEO strategy may seem rather intimidating. However, now that you can separate facts from fiction, search engine optimization should seem more approachable.
Considering that 93% of online experiences start with a search engine, it’s needless to say that SEO has become a necessity if you want your business to thrive.
Still not sure where to start? CadenceSeo can help your company achieve its vision and boost conversions. We’ll walk you through our 5-step process that includes a technical SEO audit, competitive keyword research and optimization, content creation, and authority development.
Why wait another minute? Book a free SEO consultation with us today!
