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12 misconceptions about SEO: don’t be misled
SEO, in many online marketing articles, you’re bombarded with it. But what is it really? And more importantly, what is it not? Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the set of activities within search engine marketing designed to give a webpage a higher ranking in the organic search results. SEO marketers use a range of techniques to structure and group keywords in order to “guide” the ranking. Because so much is written and spoken about SEO, it is often difficult to know which techniques actually work and which do not. Below, we list 12 misconceptions about SEO.
1. Meta descriptions influence your Google ranking
This is no longer true. In the past, the meta description was one of the factors that determined your ranking. Many fraudulent internet marketers abused this, for example, through Meta-Tag Stuffing, where you would repeat your text in the meta-tag or even place completely irrelevant content in the meta-tags. Since a Google algorithm update in 2004, Google has penalized these so-called Black Hat SEO techniques to prevent abuse. So, does it not matter what you put in your tags? It does. Make sure your tags are qualitatively rich and relevant so visitors are more likely to click through to your website. Click-through rate is indeed something Google takes into account.
2. Internal links are not important
SEO is all about external links to your website. That’s true, but search engines also look at internal links and the authority of those references. If many internal (but also external) links point to Page A, Google understands that the page is important, and the domain authority is further spread through the links from this page. However, make sure the internal links are relevant. A page full of low-quality links will quickly be picked up by the search engine and immediately penalized with a drop in ranking. Quality is more important than quantity. So, make sure to educate yourself on how to structure a good internal linking system.
3. Google Ads automatically improve your organic ranking
This is not true. Unless you become a major shareholder in Google tomorrow, you won’t see an automatic increase in search results, even if you pay for Google Ads. Think of organic search results as an independent newsroom, separate from the advertising revenues of a medium. Good SEO can, however, reduce your cost per click for Google Ads by making your landing page more relevant, thus improving your quality score.
4. You need to manually submit your website to search engines
In the late 90s and early 2000s, having a business website was more of an exception than a rule. Search engines used to have submission forms to add your website to their index. Today, your website is automatically picked up by search engines; Google will encounter your website sooner or later. You can give this process a boost via the Google Search Console tool.
5. My website is dropping in the search results: it’s a penalty from Google!
Not necessarily. Organic results in search engines constantly change positions. There are about 200 factors that influence this: website authority, internal link structure, the level of competition, and more.
6. A mobile website is not important for SEO
It actually is. The increasing use of mobile devices has not gone unnoticed by Google. Since 2015, Google has considered mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor. Those who have a website without a mobile version will be penalized more and more. Google has recently rolled out Google’s mobile-first index, meaning it now determines rankings based on the mobile version of a website, not the desktop version. A website optimized for the smaller screens of mobile devices is definitely useful for SEO.
7. Blogging is not necessary on your own website
Wrong. A blog is the ideal way to showcase your expertise to the outside world. Blog articles are also perfect for attracting traffic from social media and other websites to your own. This also increases the number of links, which is beneficial for SEO. Additionally, it’s a great way to create landing pages for high-search-volume keywords, driving more interested visitors to your site. Should you blog? Absolutely!
8. Many pages and lots of text improve SEO
Not necessarily. A search engine doesn’t index every page of a website. Additionally, quality plays a bigger role than quantity. Always keep this question in mind: am I providing the information that my audience is actually looking for? A few pages with relevant content are much more SEO-friendly than dozens of pages with thousands of words of irrelevant content.
9. SEO actions deliver instant results
Wrong. SEO is not like SEA (Search Engine Advertising), where you get immediate results. SEO is a long-term investment and, moreover, is not an exact science. Anyone wanting to succeed in SEO must view it as an ongoing process of optimizing and optimizing again.
10. Images do not influence SEO
Search engines look at the text; they don’t understand what’s in an image, right? To a certain extent, this is true. Although search engines like Google are getting smarter and their software is gradually becoming able to recognize images, they still don’t know exactly what’s in a photo. You can solve this by giving the image a clear name (not something like img5418.png, for example) and using the alt-tag. This tag allows you to describe what’s in the image in text form. Beyond the SEO value, this tag has other practical benefits. With a precise alt-tag, your image can gain a more prominent place in Google Image search results. Additionally, this text allows people with visual impairments to understand what’s in the photo via screen readers. So, definitely do this!
11. Link building is overrated; content and on-page optimizations are the way to go
Not entirely. Link building is one of the most important ranking factors for Google. Links create cohesion on the internet. The more quality links you get, the more relevant your website is considered by Google. This helps make your website visible to both visitors and search engines. Just remember, it’s about quality, not quantity. Always check the domain authority of your link partners before engaging in collaboration.
12. Page speed is not important
A fast website provides a better user experience and more conversions, but it can also earn you extra points with Google. It is, in fact, one of the most important factors used to determine rankings today. Google uses its own websites as the benchmark, with a loading time of a maximum of half a second being the target to aim for.
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