Every SEO expert has come across misconceptions about our industry. This is just part and parcel of this job, so today we are going to debunk 6 shocking myths about SEO.
SEO is just a scam!
Sorry, can you speak up I couldn’t hear you over the sound of all the traffic coming to our sites! This is one of the most painful myths for SEO professionals. As with any industry, not all SEO companies are created equal. The best thing you can do as a business owner is to ensure you are getting a quality product and understand what you are purchasing. You cannot pay for a Nissan and walk out with a Ferrari. If you are purchasing 500 links for $5 then it’s likely to not be a good product. But good SEO is worth its weight in gold and can have a positive impact on your revenue.
Link building is dead
Dramatic sigh.
There is nothing dead about quality link building, however, spamming the web with random backlinks that add no value for users is probably something you should avoid. This has never provided value to users and each day Google gets better and removing sites that engage in this practice
Links and relevant anchor text are still signals to Google that your site and content are relevant and popular in your niche. If we shift our thinking and remove the concept of SEO from link building we will see that many of the activities are tried and tested digital marketing tactics.
Here is a breakdown of ranking factors from Moz.
We need our focus keyword to rank in position 1 within a week.
This one is popular with clients. There is this misconception that ranking for one keyword will solve all of your marketing problems. These focus keyword clusters tend to be broadly focused and although related to the offerings of the business they may not be the kinds of terms that would bring in a purchasing customer.
Client education about keyword focus is extremely important, many are misinformed about how keywords fit into an effective SEO strategy in 2016. Our job as digital marketing and SEO professionals is to guide and educate them about keyword research and keyword focus.
I can get good SEO for $100 a month
This one is way off the mark.
Most times you can’t even get good SEO services for $100 an hour! The reason many people get themselves into penalty hell is that they don’t see the value in SEO and engage in services that utilize automated activities.
Google continues to expect more value from websites for their users, therefore to be visible we need to give users and Google more! You simply cannot do the activities necessary to have a positive impact on your visibility by taking the cheap route. To ensure long-term success you need to alter the way you view SEO and respect this field as an extension of marketing, PR, and web development disciplines.
Google will find you on their own
If you build it, they will come?
Unfortunately, this isn’t a field of dreams and it is going to take much more than that. Having a great online presence in today’s market takes strategy, consistency, and expertise. There is nothing set and forget about SEO.
Many people who take the DIY approach will be implementing tactics that fall into spammy categories, such as building out multiple pages with overly keyword-stuffed content. They expect that Google is going to see them as an authority.
Every search engine strives to provide the most relevant and valuable results to users. Proving that you are valuable to your audience means you need to work on the visibility of your site, for the lifetime of your business maintaining a website.
Google hates and penalizes SEO
This is a great one! Google loves QUALITY SEO, the kind that incorporates different quality marketing disciplines and provides users with unique and valuable content. Google advocates the use of good SEO for its users. What Google hates is black hat and manipulative SEO, spammy backlinks, and algorithm manipulation to get rankings for keyword terms. It goes against Google’s central goal which is to provide the very best experience for its users.
This misconception was born from not being able to distinguish between spammers and high-quality strategies. Again this goes back to ensuring you are engaging experts who can provide solutions and strategies that will help you reach your long-term goals.
Good quality SEO will never die! The industry will evolve as it always has and will continue to be an integral part of the online marketing strategies for brands for as long as the internet exists. If you want to discuss how our Toronto SEO experts can help you or if you have any questions about high-quality SEO feel free to contact our team today.
