Did you know that businesses were estimated to have spent almost $80 billion on SEO in 2020 alone? In such a large industry, myths and misinformation can run rampant. It’s important to know what’s true and what you should ignore.
Luckily, we’re here to help you bust a few SEO myths. Read on to learn everything you need to know.
Google Penalizes for Duplicate Content
One of the biggest myths in SEO content marketing is that Google penalizes duplicate content, but this couldn’t be any less true. It’s a common practice and is done a lot in guest posting (if you’re interested in guest posts, this site offers services that can help).
Google’s algorithm focuses more on indexing the most relevant and high-quality pages so people aren’t repeatedly given the same information, but repetition is part of the internet and Google understands that.
Keyword Targeting Doesn’t Work
Believe it or not, keywords still matter. They might not matter as much as they once did, but they’re still shown in search engine page results, and search intent is something that Google targets more deeply with each of its updates.
For innovative marketing, you should still target certain keywords. What has become obsolete, though, are keyword ratios. Google’s Hummingbird update made sure of that.
Link Building Is Irrelevant
Link building is an important part of the marketing industry. It’s how Google ranks its web pages, and it isn’t going away any time soon. That along with the linking website’s domain authority contributes to your overall page ranking.
So, it’s important to ensure spam websites aren’t linking to yours, otherwise, Google might rank your website lower.
Too Many Keywords Result in Poor Organic Rankings
Bloggers and content creators are constantly asking themselves how many keywords are too many and whether or not they’ll be penalized if they use too many. While there’s no such thing as “too much,” there is a best practice when it comes to keyword optimization.
You shouldn’t stuff things in if they read unnaturally. It makes your content less helpful, which is going to push people off your site as a result.
Instead, push for variety. This means things like branded keywords, product keywords, long-tail and short-tail options, geo-targeting, and customer-defining keywords.
Put simply: the best keyword options are going to be the ones that make your content more valuable to the reader.
Don’t Give In to These SEO Myths
Now that we’ve gone over a few of the basics, you’ll know which SEO myths to avoid believing. Remember, there isn’t a set way to work with SEO.
Ranking on search engine pages is a guessing game at best. Depending on your target audience and what you’re ranking for, some things that worked for others might not work for you. Experiment with your methods, use what works, and leave what doesn’t.
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