To state “SEO has evolved a whole lot” would be the understatement of the century. Just examine how Google’s Panda and Penguin algorithm updates have alarmed SEO professionals from around the world. Marketing experts, as well as SEO and web design companies throughout the world, ended their manipulative organic search campaigns, and instead started focusing on long term quality content.
But should an SEO specialist only focus on keyword-optimized quality content? That would be far from the truth. In reality, SEO has changed tremendously during the past few years that numerous marketers have lost track of the outdated tactics, not knowing what is a waste of efforts and what will get results. In this blog post, we will debunk three major SEO Myths you simply must let go of before it hurts your results. Let’s get started.
Myth #1: We Need To Rank #1
Research on click-through rates and user behavior has demonstrated that search users prefer the top search engine listings — mainly the top three results. Likewise, it has also been shown that on other sites ranked toward the top of the search results signifies identical click behavior.
Additionally, click-through rates have proved to be higher on listings with author profiles and rich snippets regardless of whether or not they don’t appear in the top results. Overall it suggests that relevant and user-friendly information is more valuable than merely ranking in the #1 position. We are no longer in the days where you have to be ranked first to see success.
Consider us as an example. We would love to rank number one for “SEO Services” but that is still a broad keyword term for us. However, it would make more sense if we ranked for “New York SEO Services” as that is where we are headquartered, and not to mention that we will be dealing with a lower number of competitors.
Myth #2: Keywords Must Be an Exact Match Phrase
Keywords do not need repeated occurrences throughout the content. When it comes to the headlines, it’s much more important to utilize keyword phrases in a way it makes the most sense. Write an exceptional headline between 4-9 words that is clear, concise and directly explains what the content is about. Nothing would be more annoying for your users if they keep reading the same keyword phrases throughout the whole content.
Additionally, there is no magic number to keyword density. But you should, however, make sure that your keyword is in the page’s title, that only makes sense if you want to let people know what the page is about. Furthermore, the keyword or a variation of the keyword should also be within the URL and the page’s meta tags. That is enough to meet the searcher’s expectations. Also, each page should focus on one primary keyword and optionally two other variations of the main keyword, just don’t repel your users with repeated keywords throughout the content. Having the keyword once in the content and once in the heading is more than enough for both the users and the search engines.
Myth #3: Social Media & SEO Are In No Way Related
The connection between SEO and social media is being regarded as “social search,” and has been implemented by Google, so YES, they do relate. They both have been increasingly evolving and have been combined more than ever, and Google has proved this with Google+ and Google Authorship. The logic behind it is that the content should be relevant and trusted by an authoritative author who you can follow as a reliable source. More so, it’s only natural to trust people more than a company page with no real individuals to engage with.
Social search is a good thing for SEO’s and social media marketers can benefit from the best of both worlds. Simply put, the content that has a social connection to you in a way is given more importance in the search results.
In Conclusion, SEO does not have to be hard. If it sounds too complicated to be true, then most likely it isn’t true at all. Search engines take in consideration hundreds of ranking factors, so don’t be set on a few misleading SEO myths.
General rule of thumb, be natural. Don’t make it too difficult by for yourself. Need help ranking? Contact us or learn more about our local SEO services.
