Bursting the Bubble! Know the Top 7 Seo Myths to Steer Clear of Search Engine Fails Share: Date Published 5 October 2016 Categories Blog Reading Time 5-Minute Read Pick up any field of knowledge, concept or process. It will not be devoid without its fair share of myths and misconceptions. Some of these myths are evident at the start and some become visible once people use it regularly and substantially over a period of time. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), is no different. The sheer excitement and experts surrounding this domain has led to development of varied versions, each claiming to be the best one. SEO can be very beneficial to your business, but only when done correctly by following clean methods. And to do it rightly, it is mighty important to be aware of the pitfalls or myths that can take your SEO investments down the drain, reaping poor results. Debunking the Top 7 Myths clouding the world of SEO 1) SEO is nothing but sham There is very little to be said about those who believe that SEO is not worth their time and money. Implementing SEO requires confidence in its science and methods. According to one report 57 percent of B2B marketers admit that SEO has the biggest impact on their lead generation goals (Mindjumpers). What’s more, research shows that users tend to ignore paid ad listings and click on organic results instead (Search engine land). SEO needs attention like full-fledged marketing strategy to achieve success with website traffic. 2) SEO is majorly Links and more Links Rise of freelance service portals has increased the maniacal obsession over links as you can get anybody to build backlinks to your website without putting any thought or connecting with your core offering. Is this what your want? – A junk of overwhelming backlinks and visitors who do no good for your ranking. Instead promote building links through content, build SEO friendly content and focus to earn backlinks from relevant websites where your target market thrives. This will move you up the ranks. 3) Meta-description helps big in going the SEO way Interesting but untrue! Meta description stuffed with keywords and tags bears no relevance on your site’s ranking whether it is Google, Bing or any other search engine. In fact, Matt Cutts had made it publicly known in 2009 that Google didn’t use keywords Meta tag in web ranking. You should worry about meta-description from a different perspective although. Try and make it compelling enough for it to stand out among competitors and attract more clicks from the searchers. 4) SEO is one-time investment If only it was! But it is not. SEO is a continual activity that needs dedicated resources allotted to this task in terms of time, money and people. If you treat it as a one-off temporary job to be done at start of your business or just to follow a trend as everyone else is doing it, the outcome can be disastrous. Factors like link degradation, rotten old website content, following dated patterns of search engine algorithms, and no regular updates on products/services can plummet your ranking as the timeline progresses. SEO in no magical mojo with permanent effects! It is a logic that needs effort and attention for long-term benefits. 5) SEO is exclusive of Social Activity A lot has been said over how Google doesn’t take into account Facebook likes, comments or Twitter followers and shares. But facts that are easy to miss while assuming this proposition include: Social signals do result in higher page rank Google takes social activity as a sign of quality Social activity leads to engine discovery and indexation Sharing of content also enables sharing of links and shares Targets most relevant users and increase web traffic So those who believe SEO and social activity are not related, move the rock and be enlightened. 6) Guest Blogging is overrated No it is not! Whoever thinks that Guest Blogging is something Google discouraged, is gravely mistaken. It is again about quantity v/s quality. If the SEO is targeted towards generating guest blog content that is of poor quality but generates high volume useless link building, it will fall flat without a doubt. However, high quality and relevant guest blogging can not only get useful backlinks but also attract quality visitors/customers to your site. It is reputation building via SEO mode. 7) SEO is nothing but play of Keywords There is more than what meets the eye. It can’t be as simple as relying on keyword density, keyword stuffing and keyword exact match to boost your rankings. Nothing is more upsetting than looking at an ad or listing with keywords that are repeated senselessly without any objective. Using keywords intelligently to earn good quality backlinks helps to differentiate you from spammer websites and content. Search engine algorithms are smart enough to understand related content and keywords based upon what the searcher needs. So bothering about number of times a word repeats, order of words or exactness of words is pointless. Emerging from the Myths Google and other search engines constantly change the rules of the game by using different algorithms at different times. They do this to counter those who play tricks to beat the search system. Constant obsession about ranks and search engines is a futile exercise. The reality to ace up your SEO is smart investment in people and tech tool-kits. Developing a strong bond with customers through online and offline modes, bringing out great products/services, having quality content that is upgraded from time to time and trusting a sharp yet balanced SEO expert to guide your strategy, takes you up the search ladder.