If things seemed blurry before, it’s all clear as day now: SEO is mandatory for your online success. In fact, the area of Search Engine Optimization is so important, endless consulting companies claim to have found the Holy Grail to virtual popularity and, ultimately, increased sales.
But are things really that simple? Can anyone just magically make your domain the no. 1 search result on search engines?
No.
Just as it usually happens, the subject of SEO is also surrounded by so-called miraculous techniques that bring you visitors overnight. Sadly, even experienced marketers may fall in the trap of spending time and energy on strategies that simply don’t work.
Today, it’s time to take a look at the most popular SEO myths and bust them for good.
MYTH: Content is king.
FACT: This might be the biggest myth regarding SEO. While there’s no denying that high-quality content is crucial to successful SEO strategies, it’s not all that matters. Unfortunately, many websites have amazing content, but low traffic and ranking on Google. You could write articles for years and literally nothing happens! It’s not just about originality – it’s about mixing strategies up a bit.
MYTH: Meta tags do wonders for your ranking.
FACT: Meta tags are HTML tags designed to show a ‘preview’ of your webpage when it’s displayed in search results. They are made of three main elements:
- Title tag
- Meta description
- Meta keywords/phrases
The title tag is mandatory to display a web page correctly, so you have to think it through every time. Meta description and meta keywords are optional elements. If you don’t have a description, Google will just grab a random text paragraph from your article to display in search results.
Meta descriptions may do some good for how visitors view your website, but meta keywords aren’t seen nor indexed by Google or Bing. In other words, don’t stress too much over it.
MYTH: Image optimization doesn’t really matter.
FACT: When uploading an image on WordPress, you have the option to write a title, caption, alt text and description for it. Often, we leave those marks blank because, honestly, how much could it matter?
Well, it does – at least if you want a higher Google ranking. Search engines can’t actually see what your image is about, so the only way to ‘get a look’ at it is if you fill those fields for every picture. Also, note that a unique image can rank higher than a basic stock photo you see everywhere.
MYTH: SEO means ranking 1 on SERPs.
FACT: A large number of SEO companies promise to bring your website to the first position. I’m not saying that they can’t do that, but even if they can, being no. #1 in Google rankings isn’t everything one could wish for.
Studies proved that a website displayer on top of SERP has an increased traffic of 25-30%. However, that amount isn’t based just on reaching the first position. What really matters is to create a balance between high-quality content, good display, innovative optimization and yes, ranking high in Google.
