The insoluble and continuously changing algorithms and the variegated off-page optimization tactics are giving birth to many misconceptions. Some of them are quite harmful and dangerous. If you want to fully understand the whole “how to SEO a website” topic, you should be aware of these dangers, so let’s debunk these myths together!
1. SEO is all about rankings
Technically speaking is true. Your goal is to get higher rankings and as we saw, that can be quite challenging. But the real problem lies much deeper. Your ultimate SEO goal is not to get higher rankings, but to get better conversions through better rankings. So, keep in mind:
SEO isn't about rankings. SEO is about getting higher conversions through better rankings.
What I am trying to say here: if you are there on the first page of the search results getting a huge amount of traffic is great, but if you can’t engage your audience to monetize your rankings all your efforts were in vain. Good rankings doesn’t necessarily mean more click-throughs! Theoretically, you can be #1 on Google without making a dime. If your targeting strategy is inefficient and your meta description shown in the SERP snippet is not appealing, both your cash and time investment can be worth nothing.
And, guess what: if you have a good click-through rate, you will be rewarded even more by Google …
2. Keyword optimization is the most important element of your SEO success
This is one of the most common SEO myths, but if you are ready to think it through carefully, you’ll see that is just another excessive and illogical tomfoolery.
First of all: the algorithms are weighting and analyzing hundreds of different factors and while one of them can be more important than others, there is no such thing as decisive or pivotal factor. Yes, a keyword is a very important factor, but is still just ONE factor and is definitely not THE key factor of your SEO success.
Second: the latent semantic indexing (LSI) used by Google is becoming more and more prominent and powerful with every day. What does it mean? It’s quite simple: when the content of a web page is crawled, the most common words and phrases are collated and automatically identified as keywords for the given page. In other words, today, you’ll have to focus on creating better content for your target audience instead of trying to achieve a certain keyword density for a few well-chosen keywords.
The bottom line: the top-secret algorithmic formula it’s incredibly complex and there is no such thing as determinant or “most important” factor. More than that, since the LSI has been conceived (2004), the power and the “relevance” of the keywords has been seriously diminished because Google is no longer trying to just match some keywords, but to understand the intent that can be found behind those keywords.
3. Keywords need to be an exact match
I just told you how LSI works, so I won’t spend too many words on this one. There is no question: you must use your best keywords in your headlines and the main content blocks too. They are part of the equation.
But, your goal is to create content for your readers and not for the search engines, so don’t overuse your keywords just to artificially create more exact matches.
4. Link building is more important than content creation
This is an iron ring made of wood. Unless you don’t want to create a link farm, you are going to need content in order to build links. Can you make eggs without a chicken? No, you can’t. If you don’t have enough quality content you won’t be able to create and to sustain an efficient link-building strategy.
My advice: you should invest in content creation because every piece of useful and relevant content that can be used on your website, in a blog post, as a lead generation offer, etc will bring you more links.
5. The more pages you have the better
Wrong. Yes, search engines love content. They need content. But modern SEO is all about creating quality rather than quantity. Even if all your content gets indexed (and believe me, generally won’t be), a larger digital footprint won’t help you in getting better rankings.
And there is one more thing: it’s extremely hard to strive for both quantity and quality. Sometimes less can be more, and generally, more quantity means dilution and impairment. Don’t forget: since Google launched its (Kung Fu) Panda (2011), every piece of poor content can be – and most likely will be – punished and penalized mercilessly.
6. The H1 tag is the most important on-page factor
Another false overstatement. Let’s say that is still an important element, but sadly, it has been already spammed to death. Also, for the very same reasons – already exposed above – what really matters is the so-called opening paragraph, with all the core concepts and important terms presented close to the top of the page.
The H1 tag is a semantic tag which can be used efficiently first and foremost for styling or emphasizing purposes. Yes, you need a clear and interesting headline, but its influence on your overall SEO is almost non-existent.
7. You can skyrocket your business using SEM
As I already said earlier, SEM is a complementary method which can be quite useful in certain situations – for example getting a bigger amount of traffic in a shorter period of time -, but it’s not a magic wand or a miraculous super-weapon. SEM won’t transform your “regular” business into a thriving online empire. Why? Well, I will give three reasons. First of all: search engine marketing is not free. Second: is not your personal secret weapon, but a public advertisement service available to anybody and everybody. Third: 70% of clicked search results are organic (Imforza).
One more thing: there are many “experts” saying that SEM will also help you to improve your organic rankings. Forget it! There is only one way to improve or to influence your organic rankings and it’s called SEO.
8. The possible site-level security issues are completely irrelevant for SEO
Literally speaking, it’s incorrect. In August 2014 Google announced that it had started using HTTPS as a ranking signal for their algorithm. At this point we don’t know too much yet about this “lightweight” ranking factor, but is there, it’s active, and I know for sure, those guys from Googleplex usually are not giving up their ideas easily.
Moreover, an extra security layer won’t hurt, so yes, is better to use HTTPS instead of simple HTTP and probably will help you a bit with your SEO efforts too.
9. You need to submit your site to Google to get indexed
No, literally speaking you don’t need to submit your brand new website to Google in order to get indexed. Since 2001 the submission is not required anymore. Of course, is highly recommended to do it!
But if you have enough good content and an adequate number of inbound links coming from quality websites, sooner or later your content will be automatically exposed to the search engines. If you really want a 1,000% bulletproof method: create some awesome “initial” content, submit your homepage URL to Google directly and stay focused on creating more useful content and building more and more quality inbound links.
10. Mobile optimization is just an added “bonus”, not a requirement
This is probably the most dangerous and perilous misconception about SEO. If you ignore mobile optimization, you can literally ruin your online business! I will rephrase it: you will ruin your business. According to Google, more searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including USA and Japan. If your website structure and your SEO strategy screams 2008 instead of 2018, you should start to outline a radical and comprehensive modernization strategy. Right now. Why? Because, according to Google & Nielsen …
77% of mobile searches are made where a desktop PC is available.
11. You should use a professional SEO agency to get top rankings fast
If you have serious problems in understanding and applying SEO or you just don’t have enough time, you should probably consider hiring a professional SEO agency. If you are a beginner who needs a professional guidance to understand more complex issues such as metric analysis or competitive auditing, you could also contact an agency to get the needed information. Luckily, here at WA there is no need for external agencies :)
But, for god’s sake, don’t spend your money hiring a SEO agency just to get quick rankings. No doubt, they will do the job faster – and probably a bit better – than you, but SEO is a time intensive long-run game even for pros, and for an alleged slight advantage you are going to pay a ton of money.
12. Social media signals are completely irrelevant for SEO
I admit, this is a highly debated issue. Google has repeatedly denied that they are using social signals for ranking purposes, and I won’t argue with that. I am going to tell you something else: every single top ranked website has an outstanding social presence and a remarkable volume of social signals. It may seem contradictory, but if you think it through, you’ll find it quite logical. If your content is popular you’ll get a well-deserved social exposure which ultimately will generate an increasing search traffic and as we already know, popularity is definitely an important ranking factor.
To put it simply: in one way or another – even if it’s happening indirectly – social signals can affect your rankings.
Conclusion
There are many ridiculous or baleful myths and misconceptions out there and they can cause serious – sometimes even irrevocable – damages to your online business.
The golden rule: every single time when you have doubts, you should consult our mutual best friend called Google. Believe me, if you really want to learn how to SEO a website, this is the best approach. And don’t ever forget: the Google Zoo (Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird) can’t be fooled!
Focus on content quality, user experience and link building and stay away from any questionable or “light-grey” methods that could harm your SEO results.
And before moving forward, check out and bookmark the new testing tool (beta version) launched by Google.
Reply
