Has someone ever told you that you will get penalized for having duplicate content on Google? Well, if you actually believed them, then you fell prey to one of the most common SEO myths. Unfortunately, in 2017, there is still a whole lot of unfounded theories surrounding SEO. Some of these baseless theories develop from a misunderstanding of how SEO works while others are calculated moves by rogue business people to mislead their rivals. After coming across these myths for quite a while, I thought it was time to quash them and provide you with the truth.
List Of the 7 Most Popular SEO Myths
- All Backlinks Are Created Equally and In the Same Way
When I explain to internet users the importance of backlinks for SEO, most of them tend to think that backlinks are created equal. They have the notion that if they place a hyperlink to their website on fb, Twitter or even their newsletter, their ranks on Google will rise automatically.
That is not the case. The hyperlinks you place on popular social sites don’t get counted as links that would help better your backlink profile. Then again, most of these sites have what is known as a “Nofollow tag”. This way, the search engine is instructed not to count the link as one that would influence the ranking of the link’s target.
The backlinks you want to create are natural, authoritative links on other industry-related sites and blogs.
- Link-building is Dead
You have probably heard folks say that Google will penalize you for links these days. Some of them go as far as claiming that link-building is bad for your site. That is not true.
Link-building remains one of the most essential ranking factors. Nonetheless, you need to be wary of the kind of links you build in terms of quality. Remember, relevance will always be the key factor. It would be better to place them personally on industry-related sites rather than buying them in bulk. This way, relevance will remain high and the results will be pretty good.
- Keywords Are Not Important
Yes it is true that Google uses semantics to comprehend searches in order to provide users with relevant search results. However, keywords still remain a vital SEO element.
To benefit from keyword targeting, don’t stuff as many of your keywords into your articles as possible but rather match topics to individual pages and spread related keywords evenly throughout these pages. Don’t forget to do some keyword research and be sure to go for the ones that are highly relevant and uncompetitive.
- Pay-Per-Click Will Boost Organic Rankings
This is one of the most frustrating myths about SEO. Just because you’re paying to receive some exposure doesn’t mean you will see an improvement in your site’s organic rankings.
What you can do to benefit from PPC (pay-per-click) is better the content and user experience on your site to make your pages more relevant for your paid traffic. This way, those who visit your site through your PPC projects will be willing to return and recommend your site to other people. Keep in mind that simply paying to receive traffic won’t improve your site’s organic rankings.
- “I Will Get You to Page 1 of Google in a Week for $99”
I bet you have received at least one email pitch or cold call from someone promising to take your website to page 1 of Google in an incredibly short period of time for a fee. Now, that is most likely a swindler looking to make a buck from you. The truth is, there’s no quick solution to getting onto Google’s first page.
Many people who sign up for such suspicious ranking programs have to pay real SEO experts later to recover from algorithm penalties from Google. That is because the people offering cheap speedy Google ranking usually place spammy backclinks of their clients’ sites on other websites, thus violating Google’s terms.
If you’re really interested in boosting your site’s ranks on Google, you need a transparent digital marketing strategy. Look for a real SEO expert who appreciates that real results can’t be realized before 3 months of strategic content and site optimization. A genuine SEO expert will be willing to share with you the details of how they intend to optimize your site for ranking and provide you with regular updates regarding the progress they have made.
- Mobile Friendliness Doesn’t Matter
Perhaps you have a small site promoting your dental services or maybe you are a manufacturer looking to target local store owners. Whatever is your purpose for being on the internet, you probably haven’t even given a thought to optimizing your site for mobile viewing. Well, the truth is, more and more internet users use mobile phones to surf the web these days.
With the recent surge in mobile commerce, mobile-friendliness is now more indispensable than ever. Furthermore, mobile-friendliness is now a ranking factor on Google nowadays. Therefore, by optimizing your site for mobile, you not only gain higher chances of getting new clients but also attain higher organic rankings on Google.
- You Will be Penalized for Duplicate Content
This is one of the most unfounded myths I have encountered and I have to admit, it’s a little hilarious. Google won’t penalize you for having duplicate content. It won’t reward you either.
If you sell common products from the same manufacturer, for instance soda from the Coca-Cola Company, you might have to use product content that is being used by other retailers already. Google will not penalize you for that. Nonetheless, I would advise you to take the time to come up with unique product descriptions and optimize your pages to stand out from the crowd and rank higher on Google.
Other common SEO myths include:
Local SEO does not matter – it’s actually indispensable if you have a physical store and are in need of foot traffic.
You can automate SEO – there are several SEO tools including WordPress Plugins but they are not a substitute for a real person.
So there you have it, folks. The most common SEO myths quashed – hopefully for good.
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