Wait, what’s SEO again?
If you’re not familiar with this acronym, SEO stands for search engine optimization. According to Moz, SEO is “the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.” It’s an important marketing tactic that, when used correctly, can help you increase high-quality traffic to your site.
Unfortunately, SEO isn’t exactly a straightforward, one-size-fits-all concept (more on that later). We’re here to help dispel some of the most common SEO myths and misconceptions so they don’t derail all the effort that you’ve put into your website.
SEO Myth #1: Keyword Stuffing is Smart SEO
When we say “keyword stuffing,” we mean jam-packing your content with a list of keywords to push your website up the search results page. While this method had some impact back in the early days of SEO, Google’s updates have squashed this strategy into oblivion. In fact, keyword stuffing is confirmed as a negative ranking factor.
Take the example below. Search engines, like Google, consider this content spammy. No one is searching for a website with a particular phrase like “discount mattresses” countless times on the same page (let alone the same paragraph).
Looking for discount mattresses? We carry discount mattresses in every bed size and firmness level. Get in touch with a member of our team to learn more about our discount mattress options.
Instead, Google actively searches for websites with in-depth, high-quality information that incorporate keywords naturally.
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Keywords are important when it comes to SEO, but your content still needs to feel human. Avoid black hat SEO by writing meaningful, relevant content that uses keywords and phrases that connect with your customers and help them answer their questions. Valuable, trustworthy content that creates an impact on its readers is more likely to rank well in search engine results and drive traffic to your website.
SEO Myth #2: SEO is a “One and Done” Process
This might be one of the biggest misconceptions about SEO. The truth is that SEO is quite literally the opposite of a one-time, set-it-and-forget-it project. It’s an ongoing process that requires constant upkeep. It involves monitoring performance, testing and analyzing keywords and adapting them to match algorithm and user behavior changes. Just maintaining your position in Google results can feel like an uphill battle. That’s why it’s more important than ever to continually update your website with fresh content so your website stays relevant to both search engines and potential customers.
SEO Myth #3: Links Hurt Your SEO
In general, this SEO misconception is pretty untrue. That being said, you should still employ a strategy when it comes to links. Having a couple of high-quality internal and external links on a webpage is an easy way to build your authority on a subject, improve your site’s value and help your viewers find relevant answers to their questions. Don’t waste their time by adding links that lead them astray. Be sure to avoid any link building approach deemed as link spam by Google. According to Google, that’s any links that are, “intended to manipulate rankings in Google Search results.” This includes excessive link exchanges with partners or exchanging money and goods for link building.
SEO Myth #4: Mobile-First is Irrelevant
Strike that and inverse it; mobile-first is highly relevant. This all goes back to 2019 when Google implemented mobile-first indexing. That means Google crawls websites and rewards those with webpages that are mobile-friendly (pages that can be viewed properly when accessed from a mobile device). If your site has separate pages for mobile and desktop, your site will be affected by this process. We recommend opting for a responsive design, which allows your website to adapt to the screen size of each individual user. After all, most people these days are using their phones for internet use anyway, not to mention that almost 60% of website traffic comes from mobile devices.
Pro Tip: You can test your website’s mobile-friendliness using Google’s testing tool.
SEO Myth #5: Page Speed Doesn’t Matter
When was the last time you stuck around for a random webpage to load? Did you wait or did you find another source that loads faster? Page speed measures how long it takes for a webpage to load. It certainly serves as a first impression for visitors. When people look for answers online, they want them as fast and easily as possible. Slow page speed can lead visitors to quickly become disinterested and move on to another source, like a competitor’s website.
But it’s not just visitors who care about page speed. Google’s goal is to give searchers the best possible user experience. Google considers how visitors interact with your website, so slow page speed might indicate a negative customer experience. If your website is a bit laggy, you may want to consider an update. Select a new hosting service or remove unnecessary media or code to bump that speed up.
SEO Myth #6: Interactive Content Doesn’t Help SEO
At the end of the day, Google tries to direct searchers to content that will give them the best possible experience. Interactive content certainly factors into that. So, what is interactive content? According to Rock Content, it’s “any type of material that conveys its message by encouraging user participation.” It can take the form of an interactive quiz, infographic, video or image. This kind of content generally increases audience engagement, which means they spend more time on your website. Google may just take notice.