With all the information available on the wider internet, it’s easy to be misinformed. Since SEO is constantly evolving, it’s hard to figure out which best practices do and don’t work anymore.
For many digital marketers, there are swarms of search engine optimization myths that seemingly won’t go away. If you’re unsure of what is worth your time and resources, here are a few myths that you can certainly leave in the past.
1. SEO agencies don’t work.
Could this one be spread by businesses that don’t want to face still competition? Whatever the origin, it’s untrue that you can’t get more bang for your buck from SEO services. Whether you’re a dermatologist promoting a whitehead removal product or are trying to promote a research paper on academia.edu, an SEO agency can help you achieve all of your goals. Just look at sites like linkgraph.io. Their flexible, intuitive toolkits make it easier than ever to rank higher than you ever have before.
2. Keyword targeting is irrelevant.
If you’re not using smartly targeted keywords, you’re doing your entire business quite the disservice. Keyword targeting is still a major component of SEO. However, there are practices like keyword stuffing, on the other hand, that are definite no-gos. Keyword stuffing is seen as a black hat practice by the major search engines. If you’re trying to cram as many keywords as possible into a page, Google is definitely going to notice.
3. Metadata doesn’t matter anymore.
While the direct value of metadata has definitely decreased a bit in recent years, it’s still incredibly valuable. From title tags to meta descriptions, crafting keyword-rich metadata that is relevant and targeted helps search engines understand the focus of your web pages. If you’re leaving metadata off of your pages, not only will search engines notice but customers will too.
4. Anchor text isn’t effective.
Just like the myth that keyword targeting isn’t useful, anchor text still has a defined spot in any quality SEO strategy. In fact, your anchor text is one of the easiest ways to inform a search engine about a link’s destination. Your internal linking needs to use smarter anchor text to interlink your pages and external links should have focused anchors that clearly state the purpose of destination pages. There are plenty of ways to leverage anchor text to your benefit. Keep in mind that your anchor text choices should be diversified. Getting overly repetitive doesn’t help anyone.
5. You don’t need to optimize rich media.
If you’re not adding image alt tags, descriptions, and media keywords, you’re missing out on a major ranking opportunity. While not every site user will see this added data, search engines certainly will. Go through all of your link graphics, images, and videos to ensure that you’re adding in the proper information. Link graphics, in particular, will also need anchor text to help search engines with some of the heavy lifting.
6. Site updates are reflected instantly.
As powerful as Google and its search companions are, they can’t do everything all at once. So, although you recently posted a killer new blog post that you’re certain is going to take the SERPs by storm, you still need to have some patience. Google takes time to index on occasion. If you’re finding that your pages still aren’t being indexed quickly enough, you can use webmaster tools to request indexing. Though this also isn’t a guaranteed way to get your pages immediately indexed, it can certainly provide the search engines with an added nudge in the right direction.
Once you’ve dispelled some of the most common SEO myths, it becomes that much easier to find out what does work and how you can leverage it. Ditch the SEO superstition and revamp your strategy for success.
