Many people in online marketing, like business owners and online marketers, know that SEO is crucial for success. It helps you get high rankings in search results (SERPs) and build authority online. Plus, it improves user experience by giving helpful and relevant information to your online audience. However, there are also many SEO myths circulating that can mislead people.
The problem is that only a few people fully understand the concept of SEO, and the frequent changes in how web pages are indexed complicate matters further. As a result of widespread confusion, several myths have emerged and been accepted as fact by many people, particularly those who are just beginning to engage in SEO. To make the optimization process easier for you and set things clear, we have prepared a list of the most common SEO myths. It’s high time you left these myths behind.
SEO is expensive. Sure! It might seem like a big expense to hire an SEO expert for your business, but let’s debunk some SEO myths about the costs. When you see all the things your SEO specialist does, it’s clear they provide value. They research your industry and market, keep up with sales trends, check out your competitors, build links, find the best keywords, and make your website better. Plus, they track how well your website is doing.
Each of these tasks shows that common beliefs about SEO costs can be wrong. Even though professional SEO services might seem pricey, they bring long-lasting benefits. When SEO is done well, the money you spend on it is usually worth it in the end.
A #1 ranking can be guaranteed. Perhaps this falls more in the category of “scam” than SEO “myth” because you will most likely hear this from an SEO service provider. Even so, we feel that this is worth including on this list for the simple reason that many entrepreneurs still fall prey to this false promise. It’s essential to remember that no matter how skilled an SEO specialist is, even if they’re the best in the industry, they can never guarantee a front-page ranking, let alone a #1 ranking. Anybody who gives you such a guarantee is probably not worth your time and not worth your money.
If an SEO service provider promises you top rankings within a certain period, you should look for someone else. Such promises are a sure sign that you are either dealing with a scam artist out to rip you off or someone who doesn’t have a clear understanding of how SEO works. Either way, hiring that person is not a good idea. The only thing your SEO specialist should promise you is that he/she will give your campaign his/her best shot and that he/she won’t use any tactic that may get your site penalized. Other than that, beware.
I don’t have an online business, so I don’t need SEO. Here are a few statistics you may want to consider if you think traditional businesses do not need SEO:
- Today 95% of adults in the United States use the Internet.
- 93% of those who used the Internet daily began their online experience on a search engine.
- Close to 80% of American consumers check out online reviews before they make purchase decisions.
Even if only a fraction of those people become your regular customers because of online marketing and SEO, that would still be a considerable number. So, you see, you’ll be missing out on a huge opportunity to promote your business to a wide range of individuals if you choose not to engage in SEO. If any or all of your competitors are implementing SEO, they will seize the opportunities that you miss out on.
My IT guy can handle my company’s SEO. This might ring true for you. If your IT guy knows a lot about IT and SEO, you’re lucky. But usually, IT experts only know a little about SEO. Some folks think anyone with tech skills can do SEO, but that’s a myth. SEO and IT are different and need different skills. It’s important to debunk the SEO myths that suggest technical expertise automatically translates to effective SEO management.
SEO changes too much; it’s not worth the trouble. Indeed, the world of SEO is always changing. Google updates its algorithms hundreds of times each year, and as the top search engine, these changes are a big deal for SEO experts worldwide. But here’s the thing: only a few of these changes will affect your site. The rest are so small, that you might not even notice them. That’s where experienced SEO specialists come in. They know how to deal with these changes and keep your site on track, debunking the SEO myths that every algorithm update is a major shake-up.
I can automate SEO. True, there are SEO tools that can help make your tasks easier and quicker to complete. However, automating SEO isn’t feasible. SEO involves the management and synchronization of several marketing processes. Automation doesn’t leave room for management and synchronization at all. In fact, automation is now considered a spammy practice and is likely to get you penalized by Google. If you’ve decided to benefit from SEO, you’ll have to be prepared to invest in both tools and human resources.
I should follow what Fortune 500 companies are doing. Yes, Fortune 500 companies are highly successful, so they must be doing something right in terms of online marketing. But that doesn’t mean you should start doing what they’re doing. Your business situation is different from theirs, so you probably have different needs where online marketing is concerned. Besides, there is more than one way to conduct SEO and succeed at it.
Note as well that there isn’t a magic formula to attain success in SEO. True, there are certain things search engines reward and things they penalize, but there are no hard and fast rules on how you should do things. Smart thinking and creativity often yield rewards in SEO. Rather than copying others, better results are likely achieved by relying on your intelligence and letting creativity flow. Of course, you can learn from the mistakes of others and take your cue from their successes, but you don’t necessarily have to do what they do.
When I get to the top of SERPs, I’m good. So you’ve finally managed to reach the top of SERPs. Does this mean you can stop doing what you’ve been doing for SEO? Definitely not! That could be the worst thing you can do at this point. The fact that you’ve reached the top means you managed to bring your competitors’ rankings down. News flash: If you rest on your laurels, what you’ve done to others could easily be done to you.
I can expect immediate success as long as I do SEO right. Among the things that SEO practitioners find frustrating is when a client calls them a couple of weeks after they started working on an SEO campaign, asking why they still aren’t ranking among the top 5 for their targeted keywords. Bear in mind that SEO doesn’t work that way. While the best SEO campaigns deliver the best results, they can also take time to properly implement, so don’t expect miracles. As a general rule, it may take months for you to see the first significant results of your SEO campaign, not just two weeks.
SEO is dead. This is something you’ve probably heard quite a lot recently. But the fact that you constantly hear it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. As a matter of fact, SEO is still very much alive and just as important as ever. Quality content may now be more important than link-building for attaining SEO success and social media may have become a key player in online marketing, but search is still a major factor in terms of gaining traffic and improving conversion. This only means one thing: SEO is alive and is most probably here to stay.
There may be a lot of misinformation circulating about it, but one thing is for sure: SEO is still very important for the success of your online marketing strategy, and gaining a clear understanding of how it works is the first step towards fully benefiting from it.