“Lightning never strikes the same place twice.”

“Flies live for 24 hours.”

“Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis.”

“Bananas grow on trees.”

All of these things are silly myths we believe. Myths are slightly misunderstood truths. Bananas don’t grow on trees, but rather they’re an herbaceous plant, which is still kind of a tree. Now this myth won’t lead you to waste any time or money, but SEO myths will. Your local SEO expert is here to debunk 10 of the top SEO myths!

Myth 1: SEO is dead

SEO is still very alive in 2023. As long as search engines exist, are being used and show results that you can alter in some way, SEO is here to stay. SEO is a powerful digital marketing tool that changes as Google updates its algorithm, so you have to understand what works and what doesn't. We will continue to see SEO alive and well, even within the next five years.

Myth 2: SEO is a one-time thing

SEO is NOT a one-time thing. You have to actively optimize your site to rank where you want it to. It’s rare that a site can be neglected for years and still pull in traffic. It’s unlikely that will happen, so you need to get ahead of competitors and keep your content new and interesting.

If you don’t have the time for SEO, a local SEO expert can take over this task for you. That way, you can allocate more time and focus on other aspects of your business while still seeing the benefits of SEO!

Myth 3: Google only ranks new content

Google ranks all kinds of content, but it’s important to keep your content relevant and fresh for your users. Sometimes answers don’t change. For a query like “how to tie a shoe,” freshness isn’t necessarily relevant because that answer remains the same. So, you’ll sometimes see Google ranking pages that haven’t been updated in years as a result of that search.

Updating and republishing content is a great strategy. You can take your old content and refresh it with new keywords and fresh verbiage. This can keep your content on the first page and in the top results. You need to have the best answer or solution to rank against your competitors.

Myth 4: Long-tail keywords are easier to rank for

Long-tail keywords are keywords or phrases that are longer than most others. They are searched less, but when they are searched they tend to have a high conversion rate because they’re so specific. Now, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes typical keywords and long-tail keywords get the same results, because they’re essentially the same search. For example, “bake a potato” and “what are the best ways to bake a potato” may rank the same.

Myth 5: Duplicate content will penalize you

Duplicate content is where near identical content shows up in more than one spot on your site or across multiple sites. A slightly different URL can take you to the same place. It won’t penalize you, but it can cause SEO issues such as undesirable URLs in search results, backlink dilution, a wasted crawl budget or syndicated content outranking you.

Myth 6: Social signals help rankings

Social signals can help with ranking, but they don’t directly impact it. More shares of your content on social media will lead to more backlinks, which is a contributing factor in Google’s ranking algorithm. It’s a known fact that pages that rank well get more traffic. So you’ll want to continue sharing your content on your social media channels to drive traffic to your site.

Myth 7: PPC doesn’t help you rank higher

Paying Google for ads doesn’t directly influence ranking either. Google won’t rank you higher because you’re paying them. PPC does indirectly influence your ranking because it helps attract backlinks. Your PPC campaigns need to be strategic for them to work, you don’t want to spend a bunch of money for only a few backlinks.

Myth 8: PageRank doesn’t matter anymore

PageRank is the name of Google’s algorithm used to rank pages; it measures the importance of web pages. Although you may not be able to see it, it’s still a ranking factor. Having high-quality links to your website matters.

Myth 9: SEO is only about rankings

First is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the coconut dress. We’re sure you remember that rhyme from your childhood. Everyone wants to be number one, but sometimes ranking as number one isn’t the best. The first result doesn’t always get the most traffic. Think about how many times you’ve read a smidgen of the first result and scrolled down to another, better result. Focus on traffic, cover your topics in-depth and build more backlinks to gain authority.

Myth 10: Keywords aren’t important

Yes they are. Pages can rank for thousands of keywords, but keyword research ensures you’re using the right keywords, which are the most popular ones people are searching for on a given topic. This will help you attract organic traffic to your site.

Your local SEO expert can help you better understand SEO

SEO can be confusing. A lot of moving parts play a role in a successful SEO strategy. You could try to do it yourself, but an SEO agency will have an abundance of knowledge on the topic and they know that it takes time for the results to show. Contact us today to learn more about our services!