Search Engine Optimization is one of the most misunderstood topics on the internet. We have seen many myths that some online marketing “gurus” and SEO agencies attempt to sell to clients claiming to be 100% effective when carried out. Certainly, the results don’t hold up to scrutiny and result in penalizing the website. Today, we want to present you with our list of the top 10 myths that are false repeatedly.
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Here are the 10 SEO myths revealed by SEO agencies and experts
1. SEO is a short term fix.
Many think they can use some black hat SEO techniques, stuffing their pages with keywords and loading up rankings quickly. However, these techniques do not work. The reason is that Google has become very good at identifying these types of tricks. Google may ban your site entirely if you try to cheat its system. Techniques used by good SEO agencies need time to see any actual results for the long term. You cannot spam Google, no matter how hard you try.
2. You can build links for your site fast.
Many SEO gurus say that you can load up your site with thousands of backlinks within a month or two without Google flagging it. That is also false. While it is possible to quickly generate some low-value links, it will not benefit much. The ones that will help you are high-quality links, and to get these, it takes time. Google is good at detecting what they call “unnatural links”. So stop buying links from companies promising you a lot of backlinks in a short period; this is not going to work.
3. You can’t outsource SEO to SEO Agencies.
Many people are under the misconception that you can’t hire someone else to do your SEO for you. Although you can do SEO by yourself, it requires a lot of continuous work and knowledge of current SEO trends. Many things can go wrong if you do not understand what you are doing. There are plenty of tasks in SEO and you can outsource your SEO by hiring experienced SEO agencies like us so that you can focus on the core business. Request a quote here!
4. Hiring SEO experts is only for large and established sites
The fact of the matter is that you can benefit from having a higher ranking site, even if you are an up-and-coming blog or website. SEO isn’t just for those who already have high volume traffic or a very high budget. You can still start with it as a beginner, mainly if you target a low-competition term. Contact us and we can get you to plan SEO within your budget.
5. Getting indexed in Google is easy.
That is not true at all. Just because you have published your blog or website doesn’t mean that it will be indexed right away. You can easily spend weeks trying to get listed in Google, especially if you are not using social media or building backlinks. Google places a lot of value on backlinks and user ratings (even it’s own), so you will need to make sure that your site starts getting some attention before you can expect it to index by Google.
6. You need to know how many keywords you should be targeting.
Many SEO gurus tell you that the key to SEO is knowing which keywords you should be targeting. While it is true that Google ranks your website based on what they think you are best suited for, rather than just looking at the words on the page, this does not mean that you need to know a list of keywords and phrases to get a good ranking. There is no such thing as a list of high-value keywords anymore. It has become more about knowing how to do keyword research properly and using that information to build relevant content around.
7. The more images and videos you have on your pages, the better (for search engine ranking)
The truth is that Google is smart enough to know when you are using images and videos on your page to make it look more attractive. It will likely assume that if you have a couple of pictures or maybe one video, the visitor was looking for this. Google penalizes those who try to artificially increase their rankings by adding many images and videos to their pages, no matter how relevant they are.
8. You can outrank established websites by hiring a SEO company and using the exact keyword phrases.
While it is true that you can potentially rank higher than an established website if you go about SEO properly, this does not mean that it will happen overnight or without some effort on your part. It will help consider many other factors that SEO agencies suggest when ranking higher than an established website.
9. It would help if you wrote for people, not search engines.
While it is true that the best way to make yourself look like an authority in your niche is by writing engaging and informative content, it is also essential to keep search engines in mind. Include the keywords while you are trying to optimize your page. As long as you do not use these words in a spammy manner, you should be able to get away with including several of them throughout your content.
10. Penalizing a website will make it lose its rankings almost instantly.
While this is true for the short term, search engines keep penalizing many websites several times over the years. Yet, they are still around today because it takes a lot more to push them ultimately out of the rankings. Google can take anywhere from one to several months to finally move a website out of the search pages. But, it will happen eventually.
While some of these myths may have been true in the past, they are no longer relevant today. SEO is constantly evolving. That’s why it’s essential to partner with an experienced SEO agency like RankLords. We can help you stay ahead of the curve and ensure your website always puts its best foot forward.
At RankLords, we dedicate ourselves to helping businesses of all sizes achieve their online marketing goals through effective SEO practices. Contact us today for a free consultation about your business and how we can help you start ranking at the top of Google search results.
I’m getting several requests to expand on this topic. So, I will shortly be writing part 2 as a follow-up. This article is part of the first segment in a two-part series discussing organic SEO myths.
