Having spent years in the SEO space, we’ve seen a lot of changes as Google continues to innovate and make its algorithm more user friendly. Ultimately that’s the goal of SEO, to improve your website in the eyes of Google so it shows up higher in the search results. However, after so many years of adaptations to the algorithm and optimizing the SEO process, there are several myths that have cropped up and won’t go away. So today we’re going to debunk some of the greatest SEO myths out there that won’t go away.
Check out our top 7 SEO myths below:
1. Google only ranks new content
The first two myths we want to focus on center on content. You’ve heard the phrase Content is King. And that is still true. But, you need to do it well, and consistently. Creating new content with high intent keywords definitely matters. However, you also need to focus on the other content already on your site. This includes the home and sub pages to make sure you have relevant wording and important keywords. But it also involves your images to make sure you have the right meta and title tags to help Google understand all that’s on the page. And then there’s the new content created regularly in the form of blogs.
And while you need to keep posting new content, Google also takes into account all the old content as well. In fact, it takes all the content on your website into account as it measures the relevancy and trust of your website.
Perhaps you have an old piece of content that still gets traffic, but is outdated. It’s now time to update that content with new and relevant information. Maybe you have several pieces that talk about similar topics. Then you can combine them into one large post and redirect the others to point to your cornerstone post. Essentially, you just need to make sure all content on your site is relevant and up to date in order to help build the overall authority of the website.
2. You Only Need Good Content to be SEO successful
There are so many factors that go into an SEO campaign. Good content is an important factor. But it is by no means the only factor. The importance of good content with relevant keywords cannot be understated. You absolutely need to include this into a good SEO campaign. But just focusing on good content will only work to a certain extent.
You must also focus on things like building a strong backlink portfolio, improving your website and its code, building up your business profiles, and improving your overall online presence. Of course, there’s more to go into it. But keep in mind that there are other factors even though a “content is king” mindset still rules much of the online marketing world.
3. SEO is a one and done thing
Every website can benefit from SEO. However, it takes a lot of time and work to get it ranking. And while the work done to improve your website can raise your ranking, it won’t stay that way forever unless you continue to work on optimizing it. We’ve found that SEO can typically take 6 months or longer to get one keyword ranking on the first page of Google. Other keywords follow called Halo keywords. However, once you stop with an SEO campaign, in another six months, your site drops off the face of the proverbial map. 99% of searchers never go to the second page of a Google Search Result. So if you’re not there, you’re not getting found. Optimization work must always be done and continued in order to continue to build the momentum for your website.
4. SEO is expensive
Expensive is a dynamic word. It means different things to different people. A $40K vehicle may sound expensive to one person while to another it may sound cheap.
SEO does not need to be expensive to be successful. At WAY Nation Solutions, we’ve made it our bread and butter to service small and medium-sized businesses at basically every price level.
The needs of every single SEO customer is different. Some businesses need to be found locally and to build up local authority. That price is different from someone trying to get their e-commerce website to rank nationally. There are goals, location, current website, and dozens of other factors that must be taken into account.
If you can only afford $500/month for SEO, then there’s work that can still be done. If you can invest $2000/month, then we take a different approach. But either way, no matter the budget, SEO can work to improve your website.
5. SEO is only for big companies
Small businesses have twice the pressure, they compete on a local level and with big box stores and online options all wanting to sell to the same demographic. That’s why it’s so important to stand out. And even more, the reason why SEO is important for all businesses, not just the big guys. SEO can help the small business stand out in a time when everyone just seems to go to Amazon for what they need. It helps build credibility and branding for those who have needs right now. It helps the service companies and local businesses connect with their communities. And with companies like WAY Nation Solutions that help small businesses and only small businesses, it’s affordable and available to anyone, no matter the budget.
6. Other website factors don’t matter
The tasks that go into an SEO campaign work to build up the relevance and trust of a website. Relevance tasks happen on the website. Trust tasks happen outside the website. And onsite optimizations are far more than improved content and keywords. In the eyes of Google, there are several factors that go into making sure an actual website is optimized beyond just the keywords.
So Google knows what to crawl and how it fits into the grand scheme of things, your website absolutely needs a sitemap. No one but the Google bots may look at it, but it’s a very important piece to the puzzle. You need to make sure your website loads quickly with good Pagespeed. That’s the speed at which individual pages on your website loads. All the pages on your website will have different Pagepeed due to factors like images, video, or plugins. Making sure you have good Pagespeed matters. You also need to make sure your website is mobile friendly and shows up well for More than 50% of web traffic comes from mobile devices right now. And Google docks websites that don’t have mobile-friendly capabilities. Accessibility also matters in 2020 and more into the years to come as your website needs to be accessible by those from all walks of life.
7. SEO is Dead
Google is smart enough to know the second a domain gets registered. It constantly crawls the internet for the most relevant websites out there to deliver results for every query. Every little while there’s a headline saying “SEO is Dead” and that the tasks out there no longer matter. Things like content are dead, links are dead, crop up too. But that’s not the case. Those kinds of headlines are mostly just clickbait. But they keep cropping up. Tried and true SEO methods will not die, WAY Nation Solutions, like other SEO companies, uses millions of bits of data to help us understand the algorithm and make informed decisions for our SEO customers. But things like good content and strong backlinks will never die when helping to improve a website.
These are just some of the myths that continue to live on in the SEO realm. Of course there’s more, but these are some that we hear the most often. Check out our blog regularly for the most up to date information on the Google algorithm news and how to best optimize your website. And if you need help, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at dwatts@waynationsolutions.com,