7 SEO Myths Hampering Your Marketing Strategy

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when someone says SEO?

Is it:

1. Google Rankings?
2. Keyword-Rich Articles?
3. Search Algorithms?
4. Backlinks?

Or any other “SEO-generic” aspect? 

Well, these aspects may be necessary, but they have taken such a toll that now SEO is all about keywords and rankings. 

Now, let me break it to you – ranking and keywords are essential for SEO – but it isn’t what SEO is all about! SEO is an intricate art of understanding search engine algorithms and ensuring your online content is relevant and searchable. 

Let us back up these statements with a few statistics:

1. By 2020, at least 50% of all searches will be voice-driven and image-based searches.
2. 72% of marketers strongly believe that the most effective SEO strategy is to generate relevant content.
3. 75% of online users reported that they never scroll past the first page of search engine results.

SEO is an ever-changing, ever-growing field that is bound to keep growing in the future to come. It is, therefore, essential to know the in-outs of SEO strategies. In this blog post, we’ll talk about the seven most common SEO myths that hamper your marketing strategy. Let’s take a look.

1. Myth #1: Keyword Research is a Waste of Time

Keywords are essential, yes. But, without the right research, it doesn’t matter what keywords you choose. Your blog, website, or any other piece of online content won’t rank. 

So, how do you choose the right keywords?

Answer: research.

No Google rankings can change the importance of relevant keyword research. With the right keywords, your online content, you’ll get:

1. More clicks
2. Unforced keyword insertion
3. Valuable content

But, a lot of research is also bad for your SEO rankings. Over-optimization can affect rankings, but whether you are #1 or #5 on a Google search, what should matter is the quality of content you put out there. So, inaccurate keyword research can bring down relevancy level to an all-time low.

1. Myth #2: More Webpages = Higher Rankings

“Nothing can guarantee a top Google ranking.”

Google rankings depend on a lot of factors, and these factors can be categorized into three broad categories:

1. Domain-Level Factors
2. Page-Level Factors
3. Other Factors

We illustrate the effect each of these factors has on Google rankings below:

Source

So, the number of webpages don’t have a significant impact on Google rankings. Sure, you may give valuable content and have more instances to use high-volume keywords. But, you can also increase rankings with a minimum number of webpages. You have to make sure you are giving all the essential information on the website and webpages.

1. Myth #3: The Guest Blogging Era is Long-Gone

Not true. There are many forms of blog posts, but whether a blog is a guest post or a website blog, it doesn’t really matter. The guest blogging era is here to stay. If you post a guest blog that has scammy content, it will anyway not increase post ranking or brand awareness. 

So, it doesn’t matter what kind of blog you write or the backlinks you include. But it’s the content quality and keyword research that makes a marketing strategy successful.

1. Myth #4: Rankings are SOLELY Dependant on Long-Form Content

Blogs with a LOT of content (above 2,000 words) is bound to drive more traffic. But if the content is not high-quality or well-researched, then it will not be a hit among its readers. Long-form content can indeed improve search engine rankings, but it is not all that simple.

SEO strategies highly depend on high-quality content. When talking about Google Hummingbird ranking algorithm, search engine ranking depends on several factors, a few of them include:

1. User’s Intent
2. Gaining Editorial 

So, it isn’t a false notion that long-form content can improve rankings, but getting a top ranking is not true. Also, with low-quality content, there is no way the search ranking will improve. 

1. Myth #5: Anchor Text Needs to Have Target Keywords

 

Keyword stuffing is one of the main reasons why search engine rankings hit the floor quickly. 

Anchor text is used to link different web pages by making text clickable. Research by Research Gate concluded that a combination of anchor texts is a better approach to using single kinds of texts that consider the relevance between anchor texts and the destination pages.

The goal of any search engine algorithm is to give you relevant results that’ll have all the information you need. So, it isn’t necessary to use keywords in anchor texts ALL THE TIME. It doesn’t affect rankings directly.

1. Myth #6: Meta Tags Are NOT So Important

Wrong. Meta tags may not directly affect search engine rankings, but they are useful and important in showing users relevant results. According to an in-depth article by Kristine Schachinger, 

“Meta tags are just one piece in a large algorithmic puzzle that most major search engines look at when deciding which results are relevant to users who have typed in a search query.”

So, it is crucial to understand that all parts of meta tags are important. There are three elements of Meta tags, namely:

1. Meta Title
2. Meta Description
3. Meta Keyword

Now, make sure you spend your time in drafting the perfect title, description, and keyword. Doing so makes it easy for search engines to choose your content as a “relevant piece” for users searching for a relatable query. This way, your ranking can get affected – just not directly.

1. Myth #7: Focusing on ONLY Paid Search Will Also Improve Organic Results

No. There is no correlation between paid searches and organic searches. So, it is not possible to impact your organic results through paid searches. 

According to MarketLive, the conversion rate of users to paid ads is 35%, which is way higher than organic traffic.

Paid ads are mainly a means to create and build your brand identity – to get your brand on the map! 

There are various benefits of paid search, and it is essential to remember that it’s the organic results that count. So, don’t solely focus on paid searches. Focus on these searches, but keep a level head when it comes to choosing strategies for both searches – and don’t give more importance than the other. 

Conclusion: Create, Monitor, & Implement The Perfect Marketing Strategy!

Along with knowing the common SEO myths, it is also important to create, monitor, and implement your marketing strategy perfectly to achieve your end goals. But how do you do that? By adopting a management tool. For example, robust marketing project management software like ProProfs Project helps you not only manage multiple marketing strategies but also collaborate with different teams to plan the perfect marketing strategy execution. You can also monitor team/strategy performance and bill clients automatically. So, choose the right software to implement the perfect marketing strategy!