SEO is the backbone of content marketing. Search Engine Optimization is the technique of creating quality content using different strategies to attract organic traffic from Search Engines and gain quality traffic to your website.
Over the course of time, SEO practices have evolved a lot. Earlier, the internet was simple and new and thus was SEO. However, today, websites have become sophisticated and the internet has become a revolution. To keep up with ever-changing trends, SEO has also become a much more convoluted process. As not everybody understands the intricacies of the SEO process, there are many rumours about SEO practices abuzz. In this article, we will bust some of the common SEO myths of 2022.
So, if you want to rank better on search engines, don’t fall for these SEO myths. Let us take a deeper look into the most popular SEO myths of 2022.
1. Don’t worry about SEO, just create great content
This is perhaps the biggest SEO myth out there that most new marketers fall for.
What is the use of creating amazing content if no one will ever see it? Writing good quality content is a prerequisite. It is the bare minimum that you should be doing without anyone having to tell you so.
But you need to know how to market and reach that content to people who will benefit from it. For example, even a scientist who makes an incredible discovery gets it patented and posts research papers about it so that the rest of the world can find out about it and make use of the invention.
Coming back to content, creating good content is not enough. You need SEO to reach the right audience for your website from search engines.
2. Google loves fresh contents
This is again a popular SEO myth. Google would never prefer new content just because it’s new. Google prefers innovative, unique and helpful content.
There is no guarantee that if two blogs of a similar niche have articles on similar topics, the newer one will rank higher just based on its date of publishing or domain age.
The only thing Google cares about is that your content is factually correct and updated. Google dislikes non-credibility so just make sure the content is authentic. You don’t need to repost your old blogs or archive them!
3. SEO can be done once and the rest will take care of itself
If only SEO were that simple. SEO is constantly changing as Google changes its policies with new updates and as the needs of the audience mould and evolve.
For example, even if you did extensive SEO research and utilized all the right techniques for your website 2 years back and relaxed thinking your work is done, you have some unfortunate news for you. Your website won’t retain the high ranking that it might have initially boasted because Google has come with many more new updates in the last 2 years. For instance, Google now prioritized mobile-friendly websites.
So, it is an SEO myth that SEO is a one time job. SEO is a continuous cycle. So be vigilant and keep an eye out for new updates from Google and optimize your website regularly.
4. Link building is dead
Another common SEO myth-Link building is no longer useful.
Links-both internal backlinking and external backlinking are still considered by search engines like Google as an important ranking criterion.
Including links from quality, websites increase your website’s credibility and it is an SEO factor that positively affects your ranking.
Contextual links are the most important links of all. Even if you are publishing a guest blog, use contextual links. Forging good relationships with associated brands can make it easier to establish a mutual link building relationship with them.
So, to conclude, Link is still very much alive.
5. Keyword research is a waste of time
So you did keyword research and still did not get as much traffic as you expected on your website? AT this point, you might be tempted to make the conclusion that keyword research is a waste of time.
However, this SEO myth is far from true. In fact, one of the many reasons why your website hasn’t attracted quality leads could be that you did not research the right keywords. It is important to find the most suitable Focus Keyword for your content.
Keyword research is one of the most useful tools for attracting organic traffic from search engines. Why are keywords so important? Keywords are simple queries that the audience is actively looking for. So, if you create content that already has an audience, you just need a way to reach them.SEO Keyword research is this bridge between your target audience and you.
6. Using repeated keywords can increase your search traffic
While this was an SEO strategy that worked once upon a time, it is no more than an SEO myth now. After Google came with its Hummingbird Update to filter out websites that were trying to use keyword repetition by spamming it or using it unnaturally to get higher rankings.
In fact, if you make the mistake of stuffing your content with keywords unnaturally, Google will penalize you. So, don’t fall for shortcuts like this and focus on using good quality SEO keywords and long-tail keywords.
7. Domain Authority Google favours top brands and authority sites
Every time you make a search, a few notable website names are always seen on the top results. So does this mean Google favours only top brands and popular websites?
Not really. The reason these websites often show on top is that Google considers their content credible and authoritative. Also, these websites are constantly working on improving SEO to remain on the top. So, even fairly new websites can achieve high rankings on Google if the content contains what the audience is looking for.
So, don’t be demotivated thinking Google will ignore your content! It is an SEO myth that google favours top brands. Google gives fair opportunities to everyone.
8. Social media can have no impact on SEO
This is a prevalent SEO myth in the Blogging Community. Social Media has become indispensable in our everyday lives. Google is smart enough to realise the power of Social Media and so, since 2015 Google updates, it is safe to say that Social Media plays a role in Google rankings.
Blogs with more shares on different social media platforms are considered useful and reliable by Google. In fact, if you have positive shares on your website, they are seen as positive votes.
9. You can pay an agency 10000/month and rank #1 for any keyword
This is SEO myth is like the “Get rich quick” scam of the SEO industry. There is no way any digital marketing agency can promise you to rank 1 on Google. SEO rankings are not-predictable. The best any agency can do is work on optimizing the SEO to improve rankings.
For instance, our digital marketing services provide high returns and we work hard to attain the best results for our clients but we can not promise a guaranteed ranking on Google. Anybody who says otherwise is trying to fool you.
10. Linking to other sites can kill your PageRank and authority
This is yet another dormant SEO myth. Interlinking between websites strengthens the authority of both websites, not the other way round. You may be wondering, what if you link to another website and traffic from your website transfers to that website and your rankings drop?
Well, if you make links to other blogs in your niche, they will do the same to your website and if done right, you will gain more traffic to your website than you share with other websites.
So, don’t be afraid to post links to content that is related to your post! Linking to good external websites can enhance your SEO.
11. Paid efforts improve organic results
If someone says this, they clearly don’t have their SEO basics clear. SEO and Pay-Per-Click links/paid search are two different things with no correlation to each other. While SEO aims to attract organic traffic and leads to a website, PPC links behave according to your bids and investments.
Albeit search engines can be helpful in improving conversion rates of organic results. This depends on the kind of advertising you choose and how much you pay for it though.
In the end, paid search does bring in more traffic and visibility to your website but it is not the same thing as organic traffic. Once you stop paying for ads, your link will no longer rank high and traffic flow to your will cease. However, your SEO ranking retains itself as long as you are constantly optimizing your website’s SEO regularly.
12. Long format content guarantees top rankings
While long content is considered useful and informative by Google, it does not guarantee a high rank. You can’t simply write a long article just to meet a certain word limit and expect your post to be on the first page of Google results.
Your content should be of good quality and provide value to the user. Is your content just wordy or does it actually gives comprehensive information solving the user’s query? The effect of a long format on SEO depends a lot on the user’s search intent.
However, long format content does not guarantee a top ranking.
13. Meta tags don’t matter
Meta tags are still relevant today. Meta tags give a very brief overview of a page’s content.
The reason why this myth is widely circulated is perhaps that Google has the right to change your custom tags according to their standards.
However, 87% of the time, your custom titles are retained and shown to search engines. The motive of customizing your meta tags is to give crawlers an idea about yoru website that intrigues them.
14. You need to blog every single day
Don’t fall for this baseless SEO myth. There is no magic number of posts that you need to whip out every day. This SEO myth might stem from the fact that Google cares about content freshness.
However, fresh content does not imply new content every day.
Creating new content every day is not feasible and can lead to a creative slump. Your goals should be more in line with content quality and conversion rate optimization rather than just meeting an expected number of posts just for the sake of it.
15. If I reach page one, my job is done
The hustle never stops. Especially not when you are on the top.
Search engine rankings are not permanent. Even if you have managed to reach the rank 1 google, you can easily be de-ranked if a competitor comes up with better, more relevant content. Similarly, your first spot is in danger if you have not updated your content to match new information.
So, audit your content regularly and update it! Be aware of new updates and optimize your content(old and new) for them. Algorithm updates happen any time and you want to make sure that they don’t harm your ranking.
Conclusion
To conclude, SEO is a vast specialization. It is easy to get confused amidst all the information(correct and incorrect) lying around on the web. This is why we hope this article on SEO myths 2022 was helpful in getting a better understanding of SEO myths and differentiating them from good SEO practices. If you need a starting point, check out our article on How to write SEO friendly articles for your blog.
