SEO Myths

Totally Forget These SEO Myths

SEO has transformed heavily over the last ten years. Every year we see updates including this year with Google’s Penguin update. This update in 2016 made catering high quality websites in search results of part of its core algorithm. There were also increases in SERPs (search engine results pages). Also Google launched a project to limit ads on a page for more organic results. The prioritization of link-building and keywords have been replaced by marketers and SEO agencies with more relevant and organized content pertaining to the correlation subject matter. With setting a priority on this content is now what matters. Search engine optimization had changed so vastly and at such a speed that it has left a lot of marketers puzzled with determining what’s actually effective through all the static of advancement.

Like with any endeavor efficiency reigns supreme. The following guide will give you a detailed listing of common SEO myths and will leave behind the ineffective nature of following myth based success. This way you won’t be wasting a single moment for SEO in 2017. Let’s begin.

You don’t need to submit your website to Google to appear in search results or in a website ranking. While this is something you may do if desired it has no real effect on your market base finding your we3bsite. A new site can submit its URL to Google directly but a search engine like Google can automatically pull up your site on a search without you submission. Even if you submit your site to Google a submission does not guarantee the amount of action that your site will receive. Your potential clients will find your site regardless making the marketing aspect of your product that much more imperative to your success.

Previously using as many links as able without analyzing the linking domain was how SEO usually worked. This made your site rank higher. While that doesn’t work exactly the same today building links is still important in regards to ranking factors.

More important now is the relevance of the links you are providing rather than the amount on a page. Less is more if you know exactly how to build links properly. Often this presents the question of “which should I invest in, content generation or link building?”  If you have the budget the best thing to do is hire someone to write for you.

While you probably haven’t noticed the difference in most WebPages URL address, there is a distinct difference. For example some websites start with “https://” while others start with “https://”. Most likely you haven’t paid much attention to this but in fact it has a very significant meaning in the security of the information you put on a page.   When browsing on websites that require giving over sensitive information such as credit card info the “s” at the end of “https://”. To put it in layman’s terms the info that you provide to a website is encrypted because of that extra s. This means that hackers can not access your data because of that extra layer of protection. SSL is the technical name of that little “s” SSL or, Secure Sockets Layer. August of 2014, came the time when HTTPS really made its mark. This is because Google started integrating HTTPS into its website ranking system algorithm. This began holding more secure sites with HTTPS higher in ranking over HTTP web addresses which were later flagged as potentially unsafe by Google starting in 2017. This was a long-term plan leaving websites refusing to encrypt and update to this system falling behind in their website listing. Basically if your website has not switched over yet it could potentially be hurting your exposure.

Inherently there is a strong tie between click-through rates and search result placement. This makes ranking not the ultimate end goal that it used to be. Studies of shown that users favor the top three results. That also can be seen with user interaction and links that are at the top of websites pages.

And with search results now being appended with rich text/snippets, results that appear below the top three search results are getting much higher click-through rates. Even before all of that was applied, rankings did not guarantee success. Theoretically, you could rank quite well for a term, get tons of traffic, and not make a dime from it. Obviously this is not the desired outcome. The big misconception is that higher rankings mean more search traffic. It is true that people will see your listing, but it does not mean you will get more click-through. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. Trying to rank with key words unrelated to your field it not good. To address this, make sure you pick and choose your keywords carefully by conducting keyword research for SEO to avoid added derailment static.
2. A boring Meta description is not going to entice a user to click or explore your page. Make sure to create a description that compels someone to view your page.
3. The top result isn’t always an organic listing. This is especially true when product listing ads steal away clicks from organic search results). To combat this, consider paid search on queries that are mobile-oriented with four ads on top.
4. The top result could be a Featured Snippet, which can garner more clicks than a #1 listing. To address this problem, make sure your content is ranking on Page 1 and is well structured.

Meta descriptions are what can typically be seen before actually entering a page which includes a small description correlating with the subject matter. These can be on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs), where they’re used as preview snippets. Because of this you would think that Google would take this into account when formulating their algorithm. Google announced in 2009 that Meta descriptions did not have an effect on ranking. Although meta descriptions may not affect rankings, they do affect click-through rates, which are important. Having a relevant, compelling Meta description can be the difference between a searcher who clicks through to your page and one who clicks elsewhere. Bing and other search engines actively do include Meta descriptions in their ranking making the importance for a good Meta descriptions for those search engine that much more important.

Working in ecommerce the goal is to create enjoyable experiences for your users and viewers while translating that into revenue. Previously to help generate these leads a substantial amount of marketers turned to pop-up ads to generate exposure. Pop-up ads were effective as they were visually stimulating and eye catching.  They began to become more stigmatized as time went along and web users requested cleaner formatting. Even Google had to weigh in on it all by announcing in August 2016 that they would begin to penalize websites that use what they call “intrusive interstitials. The key word here is “intrusive.” Google doesn’t penalize all popups –just the ones that get in the way of a user’s ability to easily access the content on the page when they search on mobile. Such pop ups include pop-ups that a mobile user has to dismiss before being able to access the main content of the page. Other pops ups that would be considered tasteful would be ones including banners that use a reasonable amount of screen space and don’t disrupt the mobile user experience are good.  You can create tasteful pop-ups  with HubSpot’s free conversion tool that are not affected at all by Google’s penalization, even for mobile users. Popups can be a healthy part of your inbound strategy when used in a constructive non-disruptive format. Try to make the popups as cohesive as possible by connecting them with the context of the content the user is already viewing to distance you from creating irrelevant junk on a page.

It is not necessary for Keywords to be repeated verbatim throughout a piece of content. Particularly for headlines you want to utilize keywords that make the most sense for your audience. The goal here is transparency. Simple, short,  to the point content that clearly explains what the piece of content is about. This rule applies not only to headlines, but also the content on the page. The goal should be to inform the reader, not to inform the search engines. Keyword-stuffing is the act of shoving as many keywords onto the page as possible. Keyword-stuffing is 100% against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and is a dangerous game. Because of Google’s algorithm getting more advanced each year, you are likely to get your website penalized.

With the homepage being the first impression that your company makes to a new user, a good homepage is very important. It’s best not to over-clutter. Simple clean content is best. It’s also important to avoid a page void of content all together. Think of your homepage as the golden gateway to your business. This is your opportunity to make a first impression and convey what you’re all about. If you go the more simple route its best that there is some form of insinuation of what your all about. Depending on your company sometimes just a simple login for the homepage is acceptable because its to the point and avoids extra clicking. The visitor should come feeling invited and enticed and leave feeling satisfied with their time spent on your site and not overwhelmed.

Previously you were still able to have a high ranking without using extra text and image files names. Excluding images on a page will prevent your pages SEO from its highest potential success rate. Images can’t be seen by search engines on websites, so it is important to give the image an alternate text and relevant file name to allow Google the knowledge on what the image is about. Without this text, you lose a huge opportunity to be as visible as possible online. It also helps to reference the image in your texts. This helps Google find your content online much easier. Its best to always reference your images in your text, close to where it is on the page, using keywords similar to the alt text/filename of the image. Providing descriptive titles and captions for your images is also important. The image types Google can index include BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, and SVG, so be sure to only use these image file types on your website to make it possible for Google to index them. When saving the images its most efficient to save them with names in your pictures folder pertaining to what the images is to stay organized.

“Mobilefriendliness” become part of Googles web ranking system in 2015 with an update to its algorithm called “Mobilegeddon.” This of course creates higher value to mobile-friendly websites leaving websites that aren’t in the dust. Hubspot did a study recently with 15,000 of its customers. What this study revealed was that websites not having mobile optimization saw on average a 5% decline in traffic flow. Its incredibly important to not be antiquated in your business model and this requires a full spectrum of website availability spanning from PC optimization to also mobile. With mobile optimization your website is formatted best for a mobile device for a more manageable user experience.

Breaking these 10 SEO myths will make your websites more accessible to users and all round more user friendly. Understanding these SEO truths creates a more effective environment for your search and marketing strategy to make sure you really get the most from your online presence. The better a users experience with your web identity the more success your company will have. Its very important to stay up to date with SEA techniques and endeavors because the tech world never stops growing and evolving to best fir the market and customers needs.