What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the practice of increasing the number and quality of visitors to a website by improving PageRank in the algorithmic search engine results.Research shows that websites on Google's first page receive nearly 95% of clicks, and studies show that results that appear higher up the page receive an increased rate click (CTR) and more traffic.
Google's top search results ranking has become an important business mission. Consequently, SEO services ' value and demand have increased significantly. Marketers know what is SEO, but they want to know the magic secrets in the search results to get higher rankings.
For web entrepreneurs, SEO is currently the most searched topic. If you search on the internet for' SEO Tips,' you will receive loads of queries and related articles. Search traffic conversion ratio is 9 per cent better than social media traffic, according to research.
However, the optimization world is caught up in a lot of SEO myths and misunderstandings along with popularity and demand. Some of the myths to read are really funny, but some of them may actually harm your efforts.
Personally, we'd hate to spend weeks perfecting one aspect of SEO just to realize a month later that Google doesn't even consider it important (and we're sure you'd!) to keep you from improving your search traffic and website rankings and hampering your best efforts in content marketing.
So here we've exposed some of the most common SEO myths we've come across, and behind those myths, we've provided the real truth.
1. SEO is an outrage
The myth: Astronomical fees are charged by fast-talking SEO consultants to provide services without any explanations that do almost nothing and can even penalize your website.The truth: Sigh! SEO is not a scam.
Unfortunately, this myth probably came into existence because there are many dodgy SEO companies out there that make a profit spamming sites with your links, leading to a quick increase in rankings that rapidly drops when the sites linking to your site are deemed to be spammers by Google.
But just because unethical SEO companies promise you top rankings in Google then leave you high and dry, that doesn't mean that SEO isn't legit or' real.'
For decent businesses making sincere efforts to increase their customers ' website traffic and improve user experience, SEO is a continuous effort to help them beat competitors and gain from high SERPs.
This myth is probably rooted in the misconception that with little effort, SEO involves quick and easy wins.
It doesn't. It is an ongoing investment, but it is worth it. Stop making stupid SEO mistakes and keep up the quality of work.
2. Rapid response to updates of algorithms makes you more successful
The myth: Every time organic search ranking algorithm is updated by Google, you need to make changes to your site as soon as possible to stay ahead!The truth: Every search engine out there is constantly working towards improving its search algorithms – Google changes its search algorithm about 500 times a year. The only updates you need to worry about are the major updates to the algorithm.
The smart thing to do when these occur is to wait and see if your site has been affected. More often than not, if you're doing the right SEO, your site hasn't been negatively impacted anyway, and you might even see a boost!
There is no such thing as the perfect search algorithm, so there are always updates. Try to wait to react, read credible sources about what the update involves, and give yourself a few days or even weeks if necessary to make adjustments.
If it's an update the search engine will adhere to, you'll soon hear about the company's own best adjustment practices anyway.
We visit this site semi-regularly to stay up-to-date with the latest web news and you might also be able to follow SEO gurus' Twitter accounts. The main thing to remember, though, is that no one wins a prize in the instance of an update to panic or revamp their site as quickly as possible.
Note where you are when the update occurs and after a few weeks compare your metrics.
3. If you optimize for Google, all websites are covered
The myth: If you've optimized it for Google, you don't have to worry about optimizing your content for other search engines.The truth:Google search may account for over 60% of the search market, but the share of Bing is steadily improving. Bing is a great example of a site that works slightly different from Google and is worth paying attention to.
Bing doesn’t value backlinks as much as Google: Rather, it compiles user engagement rankings, social signals, click-through rates, page authority and keyword domains. Google does not use metrics directly in search rankings such as Facebook shares or Twitter Followers. So you can clearly see that you're not covered for Bing if you only optimize for Google.
If you target 100% of web traffic exposure, you should optimize for at least the top 3 search engines.
4. Unless you sell stuff, HTTPS is not important
The myth: If you're in eCommerce, you only have to bother with HTTPS encryption, otherwise the original HTTP protocol will work well.The truth: Wrong! At the beginning of 2017, according to Mozilla (the company behind the Firefox web browser), the average worldwide volume of encrypted internet traffic finally exceeded the average volume of unencrypted traffic.
That means you are more likely to see a little green lock right next to the web address when you visit a website, which indicates that it came to you via HTTPS, the secure protocol of the web, instead of plain old HTTP.
Google said loudly and clearly that websites with the HTTPS prefix will be given preference over others.
This is because HTTPS encryption provides advantages such as confidentiality, integrity, and identity.
Ultimately, using HTTPS is better than leaving the web unencrypted and switching to HTTPS was a priority for major sites such as Facebook, Google, Wikipedia and The New York Times.
When it comes to encrypted vs. unencrypted data, we've passed the tipping point, and organizations like Let's Encrypt are now helping millions of companies add free HTTPS to their sites.
5. H1 tags increase search rankings
The myth: When it comes to good SEO practice, the use of H1 tags is a must-do.The truth: Technically, this is not at all true. While H1 tags help make content more reader-organized and also make designing your website easier for web developers, they do not directly contribute to SEO.
Whether you're using H1 or H2 doesn't matter. What matters is that your page contains information that is relevant and useful to address your users ' needs.
H1 tags used to be one of the most critical SEO factors a few years ago, but today they are only part of the basic best practice and not a source of SEO differentiation.
6. Building a link is black hat and attracts penalties from Google
The myth: Google hates black hat link-building!The truth: That's really hilarious. Google rewards your website for backlinks – the only provision is that these backlinks must come from sources that are relevant and credible.
If you use malware and other suspicious scripts to plant links to your website on article farms, unrelated websites, spammy websites or websites, then yes, you can expect to be penalized for back-linking.
But it's actually spamming in that instance, not back-linking.
You don't have to worry about this SEO myth when you build quality links. Many people think it's a black hat SEO technique to leave comments on blogs, but that's only the case if the comments only link to your website without adding value.
The key is to ask yourself if you add value whenever you leave a comment in an article on a blog or link to a website–if you are, you have nothing to worry about.
7. Content is king
The myth: All you need to do is create high-quality, useful content without much SEO assistance to rank well in search results.The truth: Look, for fear of upsetting too many digital marketers, we're not going to bag out the ' content is king ' mantra here. But while it's great to publish timely, relevant and well-researched content, it won't get you to Google's top alone.
Content is like one of many board members waiting to make a joint decision. Equally powerful are the other directors: some include quality backlinks, SEO keywords, user experience, and responsive design.
If your entire website is not optimized, crawlers might even struggle to find your content, which means that the results will not appear at all.
To be sure, focus on content, but don't be myopic about it, as you have to take care of the entire user experience.
8. Place of Hosting is important
The myth: If your website is not located in your target country, you may as well forget about success.The truth: While hosting your website in the country you are targeting is better, it is not essential. Google is smart enough to present to the right audience the correct country version of your website. And this study shows us that quality information is prioritized by Google over local content.
That means ‘jp’ links are shown to Japanese, ‘sg’ links are shown to Singaporeans and ‘in’ links are shown to Indians.
If you do not already use a country code top-level domain(ccTLD), we suggest using the geographic target setting of Google Webmaster Tools. Simply go to Search Traffic > International Targeting in the sidebar of the Webmaster Tools and specify the destination country for the website.
Simply select' unlisted' from the tab below for international websites
9. Having an XML sitemap will improve your search rankings
The myth: Improve your search engine rankings by installing an XML sitemap.The truth: A sitemap does not affect your web pages ' rankings, although it makes them more crawlable.
Sitemaps provide Google with more information about your site and thus ensure that it indexes quickly.
However, there has never been any Google announcement or study-based outcome suggesting that the submission of XML sitemap improves the SEO of your website.
Use one to ensure that all your URLs are indexed for easy crawling as it can improve your website's long-term visibility. We suggest trying a plugin like Google XML Sitemaps generator, which works great with WordPress websites.
10. With Personalized Google searches, it's not possible to rank #1
The myth: Since the search results of everyone are personalized, everyone sees different results and there is no longer any way to be ranked # 1.The truth: Our request to all readers–don't be misled by such rumours, please. Here's a trick at home to try.
Do five Google searches related to the niche of your industry, first use your personal computer (where you will most likely see personalized search results from Google), and then add & pws=0 at the end of the SERP URL.
That makes Google depersonalized.
Notice the difference now.
Chances are, there isn’t one. Because websites that are good enough to make it into the top 10 of Google are also good enough to feature on any custom search!
There are relatively minor differences between personalized results and non-personalized results. The advent of personalization means that somewhat less authoritative data can be provided by rank tracking than before.
But it is not in any way the end of SEO or it requires a whole new look at SEO practices.
11. SEO Keywords in comments and title tags help win
The myth: The strategic placement of keywords and the title attributes of IMG and an HREF tag in HTML comment tags will help you win at SEO.The truth: This is not really how rankings work.
First and foremost, comment tags specifically mean content for calculating ratings is out of Google's view.
Secondly, title attributes are not supposed to help you with SEO.
In summary
We could add at least half a dozen more SEO myths to this list, but these are some of the main ones we see causing confusion among digital marketers, programmers, webmasters, designers, small businesses and entrepreneurs.Hopefully, for you, we have debunked some myths or at least motivated you to apply some critical thinking to the next one you hear.
SEO doesn't have an easy science, and since the digital landscape is constantly changing, it's hardly surprising that a lot of misinformation is out there. But moving forward, stopping giving SEO strategies or techniques time or energy that doesn't have any substance behind them or that probably came about due to a bunch of snake-oil SEO salesmen.
Which SEO myth will most tick you off? In the comments below, let us know.
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