The popularity of search engine optimization (SEO) has increased over the years. More and more businesses now understand its concept and the value it brings to their enterprise.
However, myths and misconceptions are still common among those who are new or not yet familiar with SEO. Their comments are quite alarming.
“SEO is a scam. It’s not real.”
“Anyone can do search engine optimization. You do not have to be an expert at it.”
“SEO is a quick fix. Tell me what you need, and I’ll give you results in a couple of days.”
These misconceptions are often the reason why entrepreneurs refuse to apply SEO driven content marketing into their strategies. They are hesitant and afraid because they hear a lot of negative things about it. Many of them do not even bother to verify the rumors.
To stop all this confusion, here are the most common misconceptions entrepreneurs have about SEO.
“SEO is a quick fix. It’s a one-time thing.”
There is nothing quick about search engine optimization. It is a long and consistent process. You cannot optimize your website, create SEO-driven content, and build links today and then expect results in a day or two. You cannot stop with the first step. You have to regularly update your content and link, among other things. Results can take weeks or months, so you shouldn’t give up right away if you do not see changes after a couple of days.
“Anybody is capable of doing SEO. It’s easy.”
No, SEO is not easy. Not everybody can do SEO. There are techniques and strategies such as using the right keywords, link building, meta descriptions, and user experience. You need to know how to do these strategies right if you want an effective SEO campaign.
“All you need to do is buy links.”
Natural link building is an essential SEO technique; buying links is not. Natural, organic link building is all about earning links, not buying them. Paying for links and practicing black hat SEO can get your website banned from search engines (specifically Google).
There are proper techniques for building links that can help increase your website ranking, and buying follow links is not one of them.
“You don’t need SEO because you have an efficient content marketing team.”
Content marketing is a significant factor in search engine optimization, but using it to replace SEO will never be a good idea. You can create all the fun, informative, and engaging content you want, but nothing good will come out of your campaign without SEO. Your website won’t rank significantly on search engines. Content marketing and SEO go hand-in-hand.
“SEO is all about keyword stuffing.”
Using keywords and phrases in your content is one way of optimizing your site for search engines. However, there is a correct way of inserting keywords into any content (i.e., main content, meta descriptions, and title tags). When you stuff or “force” keywords or phrases repetitively in your content, what you’re doing is keyword stuffing. It is not the right thing to do. It is not what SEO is about. You can actually get penalized if your content is keyword-stuffed.
These are just some of the misconceptions that entrepreneurs have about search engine optimization. Every year, one or two are added to the list. If you want to understand SEO and learn how it can leverage your business or organization, talk to an SEO specialist. Ask about myths and misconceptions as well if you want to eliminate any doubts you have.
About the Author
Shawn Byrne is the founder and CEO of SEOPhoenix.net. Shawn started his career in I.T. troubleshooting workstations, servers and networks then went on to doing SEO as a side project and quickly found success in ranking websites. It was easy for him to grasp not only the algorithms but also the technical side which most SEO strategists miss and neglect because of its complexities. SEO Phoenix then grew based on its own rankings and referrals.