SEO is a constantly changing practice. Staying on top of it all can seem extremely daunting at times. This, in turn, can lead to a number of misconceptions that spread around and lead to major misunderstandings about SEO. These misconceptions can turn off businesses to the practice. What a shame that is, as SEO is one of the most effective methods of generating new leads and customers to your business. In an attempt to curb some of these misconceptions, we’re going to let you know five of them and how to avoid them.
1. SEO Is All About Keywords
We detailed a bit of this in our blog last week, but here we can go a bit more in-depth on the subject. This seems like a bold statement. So, let me clarify. Keywords are important, it’s just not the only thing that you should be relying on. If you are just relying on these,
you won’t be getting the maximum results you could be getting. SEO is constantly changing and evolving. There are more factors to take into consideration other than keywords.
Make sure that you put as much effort into other elements such as website structure and social media presence and reputation as you do into your keywords. This will ensure
that you’re working all the angles you can in order to maximize your SEO efforts.
2. Results are Immediate
The big misconception here is that you can just buy your way to the top of the rankings. The reality is that it takes time to refine and fine-tune your SEO efforts so that you can consistently reach the top of the search engines ranks. The results of SEO are not immediate, but they can be achieved through the course of time with hard work and
consistent SEO work.
3. Security Doesn’t Matter for Ranking
Another common myth is that your websites security shouldn’t be an issue for SEO. The definition of security is using HTTPS rather than HTTP, and it is absolutely vital to
ranking high in search engines this year. Google has gone on the record stating that between two equally ranked websites, the one with SSL certified security may receive the
higher ranking than the site that is not secured.
This push for more security has steadily increased over the past few years. Secure websites receive a boost in rankings, which makes users much more comfortable on the site and gives them piece of mind when it comes to the safety of their online information. This makes them far more likely to trust you on search engines.
4. SEO is a One-Time Thing
Some people think that if you do an SEO campaign once, and either nothing came of it or it gave you good results, then that’s all there is to it. Certain people can get
dejected by campaigns that do poorly and then they want nothing to do with SEO again.
Others who have run a successful campaign think that there is no need for
continued monitoring or improvement. The reality here is that without constant improvement, monitoring, and refining, your SEO is doomed to fail.
To avoid this, utilize Google Analytics to check on how your SEO is performing and make improvements based on that data. You can also search the internet for various website auditors and SEO checkers to see exactly what needs to be improved.
5. Google is the Only Search Engine
This one is a very understandable misconception to make. Google is a behemoth of a company and has risen to become the dominate search engine today. However, it isn’t the only one you should focus your SEO efforts on.
In fact, many different social networks are utilizing search engines of their own, not to mention the fact that Yahoo and Bing still have a large number of monthly users. Make sure that you are not missing out on this potential traffic.
While there are many misconceptions surrounding SEO, I hope this at least clears some of them. Knowing the myths and avoiding will aid you in optimizing your SEO so that your website can find continued success in the rankings and for generating new traffic to your site. This in turn can lead to an influx of potential customers that will lead to the growth of your business. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what we all want?
