SEO — Search Engine Optimization — is to a website what gasoline is to a vehicle. Yes, you can own the latter, but without the former, it doesn’t do you much good. An SEO strategy should help guide your website development and content creation efforts. And, like the gasoline analogy, you can “boost” your SEO akin to using a higher-octane fuel. This has, however, led to a handful of misconceptions about the ways to do exactly that: supercharge your SEO. Here are four SEO myths and why you should ignore them.
SEO is no longer effective
The first of our SEO myths is that SEO is dead and PPC (Pay Per Click) is the only way to rank in search engine results. Yes, PPC strategies are incredibly important. It’s also true that PPC can “supercharge” your SEO efforts.
However, what is not true is that SEO is no longer effective. Rather, your SEO and PPC strategies should work hand-in-hand. SEO helps organic searchers find your website. PPC campaigns help to promote specific pages or promotions you’re running.
There are aspects of older SEO methods that are dead, such as everyone’s favorite keyword stuffing technique from a few decades ago. But what that means is that good SEO is very much alive and can help showcase your business to new and existing customers.
SEO is a leave-it-and-forget-it process
In fact, one of those “older” strategies we’re referring to is a static SEO strategy. In other words, in days gone by you could conceivably build your SEO strategy today and be good for years to come. Today, however, SEO is constantly shifting. It’s constantly evolving. A lot goes into building and then maintaining your SEO ranking. It’s that keyword, maintaining, we want to emphasize. If you’re looking for another analogy, picture a marathon runner. They have a massive lead ahead of the competition, relax a little bit, and then find themselves being passed up by another runner.
That’s what happens when you leave-it-and-forget-it.
You’ll always rank number one
Speaking of rankings, another common SEO myth is that your website will rank number one for every possible variation of a given keyword search term.
Here’s the thing: your website’s homepage might rank number one in search results within your industry (which is awesome in its own right). However, each of your landing pages might have a different rank, depending on a wide variety of factors. This includes your keyword difficulty for that service or landing page as well as the nature of your specific marketing campaigns.
SEO rankings can be campaign-specific, and it takes time and effort to maximize your search engine placement for each of them.
Link building doesn’t matter
When creating SEO content, some focus exclusively on their keywords and writing process. By doing so, they overlook one of the most fundamental ways to boost your SEO: link building.
Yes, user engagement matters. Yes, optimizing your copy for your SEO strategy matters. But it’s an SEO myth that those are all that matter. Link building demonstrates authority, and the stronger authority your content has the better you’ll rank in search engine results.
Debunking SEO myths while boosting your strategy
SEO is here to stay. It’s an ongoing process, though understanding the value of a rank and how to maximize your website’s standing in search engine results can feel overwhelming at times. Our team can help sort through the clutter, directing your SEO strategy so that you don’t fall into the trap of these four SEO myths.
Would you like to learn more? Then send us a message HERE and we’ll schedule a time to chat.