Some Commonly Held Myths Affecting SEO

Search engine optimisation can be an incredibly powerful tool for helping to increase your website’s visibility in search engines, which can translate into more traffic, leads, and sales. But with so much misinformation out there, it can be hard to know what you actually need to do to get the most from your efforts.

Here we try to dispel some commonly held myths that we often face when thinking about optimisation and SEO.

Myth 1: SEO is one-time task and works straight away.
One of the biggest myths about SEO is that it’s a one-time task. You can’t just do it once and then forget about it. SEO is an ongoing process that you need to keep up with in order to maintain your rankings in the search engines. Just taking a shortcut can cause you worry and trouble.

Due to the number of necessary elements to implement, the effects of optimization are visible only after a few months, and even later, they should be monitored and analysed.

Myth 2: SEO is expensive.
A lot of people believe that SEO is expensive and that it’s only for big businesses with deep pockets. This simply isn’t true! There are plenty of affordable SEO services out there that can help your website rank higher in SERPs.

Furthermore, the number one factor that determines if a site ranks well or not has nothing to do with the cost of an SEO service, but instead has everything to do with the quality and quantity of content on the site, its optimisation and ongoing marketing.

Myth 3: Local SEO doesn’t matter.
A lot of businesses make the mistake of thinking that SEO is only for national companies. But if you’re running a local business, you need to be investing in local SEO. In fact, local techniques can be even more important for small businesses.

Did you know that around 86% of customers use search engines to discover local businesses, demonstrating the importance of connecting with these customers.

Additionally, 1 in 3 customers, before going to a stationary premises, will visit the website to save their time. Also remember that apart from the everyday inhabitants, you can reach tourists and visitors this way.

Myth 4: Keyword research isn’t important.
Keyword research is one of the most important parts of SEO. Without keyword research, you’re essentially shooting in the dark and hoping that your target audience will find your content. It is the adaptation to the intentions of users that allows you to appear in the search engine. The more precise the intent of the user is, the higher you’re ranking.

The ranking factors are broken down into two categories: on-page and off-page. On-page factors refer to what appears on a webpage including title tags, meta descriptions, URL structure, headings and links. All should be influenced by good keyword research.

Myth 5: Content is all I need.
A lot of people think that as long as they have great content, their website will rank high in search engine results pages. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. In fact, if you want your website to rank higher, you need to focus on more than just great content.

You also need to focus on things like marketing and making sure your website is optimised for search engines. If you do this, then it won’t matter how great your content is because your site won’t be found.

Myth 6: Quantity over quality in link building strategy.
If you’re only focused on building as many links as possible, you’re not going to see the results you want. It’s important to have a mix of high-quality and low-quality links, but the quality of your links is more important than the quantity.

A few high-quality links are worth more than hundreds of low-quality links. Make sure that when you go for quantity in link building, it’s from sites that are relevant to your niche. Your goal should be to create content that attracts attention from reputable websites in your industry.

Don’t let these myths hold you back any longer – it’s time to get started on your SEO journey! Remember that the world of technology and the operation of search engines change very quickly.

As a leading Digital Marketing and SEO Agency, we have an expert team available to help your business today and help you get to the first page of Google.

We’ve helped loads of businesses across the North East and the UK improve their search ranking positions and we’d love to see if we can help you too.