There are so many articles that are written about search engine optimization that it is difficult to know what is true and what is not. Because everyone can publish an article online these days, numerous SEO myths started to pop up. Some of them are simple misinterpretations of what is actually done in search engine optimization while others are simply fantasies. With this in mind, here are some myths you absolutely have to stop believing.

Myth – Just Rank One Matters

So many SEO books out there put a very high emphasis on being right on top of search engine results. However, there are surveys that proved the fact that more people than initially thought scroll down and look at many results. As an example, when you get to the second page of search results, as long as the keywords are right, you do get a good increase in the amount of traffic the site gets. At the same time, ranking is just one of the parts you need to think about as you try to promote a site.

Myth – SEO Can Be Done Without Outside Help

Unless you are an SEO specialist, you should not attempt SEO work alone. This is even more important when you want to do SEO for a business that depends on search engine traffic, like Fix It Right Plumbing. While it is completely true that you can learn SEO techniques and that you can do some SEO work, the reality is that SEO is highly complex and includes so many areas like coding, online marketing, technical aspects and PR. Most of the business owners simply do not have access to the tools and knowledge needed to do really good SEO. Fortunately, you can always hire an agency that will help you out.

Myth – META Tags Are Highly Important

Some years ago, one of the most important parts of SEO was making sure all META tags are in place and properly optimized. This is no longer the case. Most META tags do not have any effect on your search engine ranking. All the major search engines decided to stop taking META tags into account when ranking web pages. However, this does not mean they are completely useless. Some tags, like the META description tag, are still valuable. You just need to be aware of those that are still relevant.

Myth – Domain Names With Keywords Will Rank Higher

During dotcom days the URL was incredibly important. Google actually considered this to be a main ranking factor. This is why the official recommendation was to buy domain names that include keywords in them so you would have an advantage over your competition. While this did work in the past, it is no longer relevant. Site indexing is so much more complex and search engines actually analyze page content. Name is important as people get to see it but this does not make a site rank higher.

To sum up, be sure that you only use current and modern SEO strategies. Stay away from myths. When you are told something about SEO, be sure you triple check accuracy.

Originally posted on February 20, 2019 @ 5:50 pm