10 SEO myths stopping you getting to page one
SEO rules are always changing, so digital marketers need to keep up to date with best practice methods to maintain a top position in search rankings. As SEO has evolved, there are many myths and mistakes which have become popular. Luckily it’s not hard to fix these issues and Google will often reclassify a website once errors have been changed. Here are the top 10 SEO myths that could be destroying your search rankings, and how to change them.
Myth #1 – Quantity can substitute for quality
Link-building is still an important part of SEO. Often websites make the mistake of having a large number of low-quality links directing to their page. Instead of building SEO, this flags up in Google as a site with has used an excessive number of low-quality backlinks. You must strive for a small number of high-quality links, for example industry-related websites or press releases.
Myth #2 – Cram keywords into a page
This is a huge mistake to make. Not long ago, you could use keywords throughout a page on your site and be successful. Unfortunately it’s not that simple anymore – Google became wiser and now recognises an unnatural pattern of keywords. A much better way is to use a variety of different phrases, text, keywords and associated phrases.
Myth #3 – It’s good to maximise use of homepage links
When you’re using external links to direct to your site, don’t always direct them to the homepage. If you have a site that’s easy to navigate, visitors joining from any page should be able to find their way to what they’re looking for easily. A really simple and effective way to increase your SEO and traffic using external links is to direct people to topical blog posts, or specified services pages.
Myth #4 – You can’t have outbound links on your site
Although a large number of outbound links can be detrimental to your SEO efforts, it can actually be helpful to have a couple – for example to social media pages and specific connections or references. This all contributes to networking and making contacts, sharing other relevant content, and building up a strong brand name. Limit your social out links using the “nofollow” attribute.
Myth #5 – Create links and promote your site in bursts
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not a helpful approach to suddenly establish a large number of inbound links to your site after it goes live, only to decline later on. Try to be consistent and create inbound links regularly to stop your site being marked as spam by search engines. A great way to do this is using social media platforms to share the blogs and other content from your site. Try videos, press releases and blogging to create high value content.
Myth #6 – Any links are useful links
Search engines are able to recognise irrelevant links more clearly over time. It’s no longer sufficient to have a number of links between unrelated sites. Google suggests that you link only to relevant sites that have good quality content and are related to your site in some way.
Myth #7 – Adding content to your site for keywords
It’s not just the sites that you’re linking to that’ll be scrutinised by Google, it’s your own content too. Google is hot on stopping sites from making irrelevant or extra pages that are saturated with keywords in an attempt to increase their SEO. Focus on creating helpful content that contains keywords naturally and allow your high-quality content to drive your SEO and help you to stand out from your competitors.
Myth #8 – Page speed is irrelevant
In addition to your content, loading time is another factor that search engines look at when ranking websites. Google even has a site speed test to allow you to check your speed and any issues. You’ll divert visitors away if you website takes too long to load, so increasing your loading time will automatically increase the number of visitors and boost your SEO.
Myth #9 – Text is the most important feature on your site
Text is important but search engines also look at a variety of other features of your site. Headers, image tags, meta data and descriptions are all factors that contribute to your on-page SEO and help your site appeal to visitors. Sites that appear natural and are easy to navigate will encourage visitors to stay on your site for a longer period of time and look at a larger number of pages.
Myth #10 – Being mobile responsive is a waste of time
After the lack of immediate change following Google’s so-called ‘mobilegeddon’ update, it’s tempting to assume that being mobile responsive is not as important as was previously being emphasised. The fact is, however, that this change is taking place over time as more and more users are searching on mobile devices. There has already been some change to mobile search results due to this and this is set to become even more important over time.
For more SEO myths busted and some friendly advice, get in touch with me today.
Author: Steve Pailthorpe – Follow us on Google+
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