SEO has been around for a while now and it’s become more complex as search engines continue to update their algorithms.
As a result, there are a lot of outdated SEO “tips” out there that can actually hurt your website’s ranking if you follow them. What worked five years ago might not work today, and what works today might not work five years from now. Despite this constant change, there are certain SEO “truths” that remain constant.
In this blog post, we’ll dispel some of the most common SEO myths so you can focus on what actually works.
Table of Contents
Common SEO Myths Debunked
SEO Myth #1: The More Keywords, the Better
In the early days of SEO, it was all about cramming as many keywords into your content as possible.
These days, keyword stuffing is not only frowned upon by search engines, it can also result in a penalty. So, what should you do instead? Focus on creating quality content that contains one or two relevant keywords. As long as those keywords are used in a natural way, you’ll be fine.
SEO Myth #2: You Need to Spend Thousands of Dollars on Paid Advertising
Paid advertising can be a great way to drive traffic to your website, but it’s not the only way—or even the most effective way.
There are plenty of organic SEO tactics that you can use to improve your visibility and draw visitors to your site without spending a dime on paid ads. So don’t believe the myth that you need to spend money to make money when it comes to SEO.
SEO Myth #3: Social Media Has Nothing to Do with SEO
This one isn’t entirely accurate. While social media signals don’t currently impact your search rankings, they could in the future. In addition, social media is a great way to build relationships with potential customers and generate buzz for your business. So while social media isn’t strictly necessary for good SEO, it’s still worth paying attention to in 2022.
SEO Myth #4: Guest Blogging Is Dead
Guest blogging died years ago—or so some people would have you believe. In reality, guest blogging is very much alive and well—and it can be an excellent way to build links and improve your visibility. Just make sure that you’re guest blogging on high-quality sites in your industry and that your posts are high-quality as well. Otherwise, you could do more harm than good.
SEO Myth #5: You Don’t Need to Worry About Technical Stuff
The technical side of SEO includes things like site structure, sitemaps, robots.txt files, etc.
While it’s true that you don’t need to be a tech expert tooptimize your website for search engines, technical issues can still impact your rankings if they’re not handled properly. So if you’re not comfortable dealing with the technical side of things, hire someone who is—it will be worth it in the long run.
SEO Myth #6: Title tags are the most important on-page ranking factor
Title tags are certainly important, but they’re not the be-all and end-all of on-page optimization.
In fact, recent studies have shown that meta descriptions are actually a more important ranking factor than title tags. So, don’t spend all your time obsessing over your title tags; meta descriptions are just as important.
SEO Myth #7: Google loves long-form content
This myth has been around for a while, but it’s simply not true. While it’s true that longer pieces of content tend to ranks higher in Google, that doesn’t mean that Google loves long-form content.
In fact, Google has said time and time again that there is no optimal length for content; the best length is whatever length is necessary to cover the topic at hand thoroughly. So, don’t force yourself to write long pieces of content just for the sake of it; focus on writing quality content that adequately covers the topic at hand.
SEO Myth #8: Social media signals don’t affect SEO
Social media signals may not be an explicit ranking factor, but they definitely affect SEO indirectly. The more people who share your content on social media, the more people will see it and click through to your website. And the more people who visit your website, the higher your website will rank in Google.
So, while social media signals may not be an explicit ranking factor, they definitely have an indirect impact on your website’s SEO.
SEO Myth #9: You need to submit your website to search engines
This one is technically true, but it’s not nearly as important as it used to be. In the early days of search engines, you had to manually submit your website to be included in their index.
But these days, search engines are so good at crawling the web that they will almost certainly find your website even if you don’t submit it. So, while you can still submit your website to search engines if you want, it’s not nearly as important as it used to be.
SEO Myth #10: Link building is dead
Link building may have changed a lot over the years, but it’s far from dead. In fact, links are still one of the most important ranking factors in Google’s algorithm.
The key is to build links naturally; avoid any tactics that could be considered spammy or manipulative. If you focus on building quality links from high-authority websites, you’ll see a significant boost in your website’s SERP (search engine results page) rankings.
Concluding Thoughts on Myths About SEO
As you can see, there are plenty of myths about SEO floating around out there—and some of them are more harmful than others. The best way to separate fact from fiction is to keep up with the latest industry news and trends so that you know what really works (and what doesn’t).
And if you’re ever unsure about something, don’t hesitate to reach out to an experienced SEO professional for the advice.
