More Or Less Known Myths About SEO - Semalt Expert
Many shops and website owners have no idea what SEO is. And they have a right to it. However, they want to appear in the Google search engine, promote themselves and earn money. Pages they own must rank high. However, when the topic of SEO appears on the horizon, several questions and doubts automatically arise that are not easy to solve.
There are many myths about positioning, which most often harm the industry itself, and certainly hinder the positioning process too. To meet expectations, in this article I will try to dispel a few more or less popular myths that I have come across in my work as an SEO Specialist.
Secrets of website positioning
SEO agencies are often perceived as mysterious institutions, where in the middle of a dark office there is a huge cauldron with a bubbling substance, and employees throw unspecified organic remains into it from time to time, while saying spells in a language known only to them ;) To get the expected positioning results, no cauldron, no spells, and no magic at all.
Website optimization is a long-term process, based mainly on the tedious and hard work of a team of specialists. Hours of data analysis and interpretation, solving ever-growing problems, and keeping up with Google's constant changes are just some of the tasks that make a website climb in the search results. The subject of SEO is (unfortunately) also subject to a lot of myths that do not reflect reality but still function in the minds of entrepreneurs and marketers. Below I dispel doubts related to SEO myths that are often repeated in my daily work.
Positioning of websites ends with reaching a high position
A high position in the SERP is just one of the goals to be achieved. Our work absolutely does not end with improving the position of the website. Increased page visibility, and thus more traffic, must result in increased conversion. We must make every effort to ensure that the user who comes to our site buys a product or service.
In addition, the Google algorithm does not sleep and at any moment it can lower the position of one site at the expense of another site. In addition, there is the competition that will definitely do everything to jump over you in the search results. Therefore, SEO specialists monitor the situation all the time, make changes and corrections, and enrich the link profile so that the website stays in a high position for a long time.
SEO and website positioning are two different things
I'm probably going to expose myself to a lot of SEO specialists here... When it comes to this particular myth, opinions are strongly divided, where you can hear that SEO is just one of the elements of positioning next to link building and analytics.
In the world, however, things are simpler and the concept of SEO is viewed more broadly, identifying with it all activities responsible for the position of the website, including the aforementioned link building. I will stick to the second version, thus dispelling the myth that SEO and positioning of pages are different things.
An agency can guarantee you a specific place in the search results
If you are an SEO specialist on a daily basis and you read this text, you must have smiled just like me at this moment :) Positioning in search results is aimed at promoting the website in organic results and placing it as high as possible, but the final success consists of so many factors and variables that there is never a guarantee of success. No self-respecting agencies offer a specific score for competing keywords, so if someone gives you a 1st place guarantee, you should be on alert.
First place in the SERP guarantees the most traffic
It happens that after optimization the pages got to the 1st place, but the traffic is unsatisfactory. Of course, in the vast majority of cases, the highest position in the SERP is equal to the highest number of transitions, but exceptions also happen here.
First of all, the appearance of the results is constantly changing. In addition to paid ads, map results and graphical results, one should not forget the zero position, which Google claims to provide the best answer to the user's query. As the satisfactory answer is displayed directly, users rarely visit the pages. Extended search results (photos, star ratings, prices, stocks, article author, etc.) are also very important with lower positions attracting more attention from the user than the "naked" first-place result.
Anyone can rank pages
Anyone can build a house. Anyone can do bookkeeping. Anyone can fix a car. I can cite thousands of such examples. Even you can try to make your website appear high on your own, but will your efforts alone be enough? To occupy top positions, it is not enough to want to...
You need knowledge, experience, intuition, the ability to accurately analyze and interpret data, the correct selection of keywords, a lot of necessary tools- in the vast majority, paid ones - like Semalt's Dedicated SEO Dashboard, and being up-to-date with all changes and innovations.
Patience and a large amount of free time are also of great importance ... Self-optimization of pages is possible, but it will be paid for with lots of trial and error, wasted time, or the need to reach deeper into your pocket to buy the right tools. Most entrepreneurs cannot afford this.
SEO is based on illegal activities
Totally absurd! Yes, if prohibited practices are used, then the whole process can be called illegal and it can bring deplorable results for the website, but actions following the guidelines for Webmasters developed by Google are absolutely legal, and what's more - expected! Valuable content instead of notoriously spammed key phrases, natural links leading to the website, support with content marketing, or other actions to help in positioning are the most correct action.
SEO will allow you to quickly achieve your goal
We would like to... There are still misconceptions that SEO will "already" have an effect, which is confirmed by, among other things, the expectation of new customers. SEO is a process that takes time and, in fact, the "moment" when the first effects will be felt is very difficult to determine. The analysis and introduction of changes to the website, both on a technical level (loading speed, mobile version, etc.) and a content level (content optimisation) or a UX level and the link-building process - all this takes time.
It should also be remembered that the work of specialists is "evaluated" by Google robots, and it depends on them when a given page will be indexed and after what time it will be pushed up. Thus, a website that is in a lower position does not have to record increases immediately after starting positioning. There are known cases that it does it even after several months, e.g. as a result of the so-called sandbox effect (a kind of "quarantine", where new websites positioning themselves on competitive phrases are additionally authenticated) ... So, patience is recommended ;)
Keywords in the domain guarantee 1st place in organic search results
It is clear from Google's direct message that the exact match keywords contained in the domain name have no impact on its final position.
SEO is overrated
A page's high position in search results is rarely the result of a coincidence, and certainly not when it comes to highly competitive, sales keywords. Sometimes valuable content will defend itself, but to a large extent without simultaneous work related to, for example, improving the quality of the website or adapting it to the real needs of the user, it is vain to think you successfully compete with others on the Internet.
Therefore, you can invest in paid campaigns, and promote yourself on social media, but to rank well in organic search results and take full advantage of it, professional SEO action is unlikely. So, answer the question, is SEO really overrated, or perhaps the needs of the market are making this area of internet marketing so noisy? :)
External links and content marketing are enough to "shoot the page into space"
Indeed, both a strong and natural link profile and content marketing are important factors that have a huge impact on achieving high rankings. However, based only on these two aspects, it will be very difficult for you to achieve satisfactory results.
SEO is a multi-way process and both on-site and off-site activities are equally important. Having interesting, absorbing content can attract users, but without technical adaptation of the page, it may not be enough for Google to display you high in organic results. On the other hand, having an impressive link profile, but a website that does not keep up with it, you will also not break through the competition, which is still striving for perfection.
Each page can be highly positioned
In theory, probably yes, but in practice, it is completely different. As I mentioned before, effective positioning is influenced by a lot of factors that we influence (SEO) and those from the side of Google algorithms to which we can try to adapt, but without a guarantee of success (update), because most simply, we don't know them all.
Sometimes a weak server, a terrible website version or several other things that interfere with effective positioning stand in the way of the project's success. All website migrations, or creating them anew, strictly for search engines, mean that we are not dealing with the initial product, so it is difficult to say at this point that it is the same website that we received from the client. What's more, in some cases even thorough and in-depth work does not give satisfactory results.
There is no difference between SEO and local SEO
Very often, SEO is equated by clients with local SEO. If you look at it from the point of view of the activities themselves, there will certainly be more convergences than differences, but looking at the subject more broadly, these two areas of internet marketing differ in specific elements.
First of all, it is about the strategy of action and the selection of keywords, properly selected for the target group of recipients. Therefore, local SEO must have a regional character, which translates not only into the phrases themselves, but also into appropriate linking from local pages, or expanding activities with visibility on Google maps. It is also extremely important to build brand recognition in a given area, which is not a priority for national projects.
Take care of the page position ;)
Myths about SEO exist and will appear as long as this branch of marketing is doing well. The most important thing is proper verification of false information. The complexity of the subject causes myths to grow, sometimes taking on a mocking turn. Remember to always use common sense and if in doubt consult an expert who will highlight the problem and help you solve it.