8 SEO Myths You Should Know In 2022
Before the 1990s, SEO as we know it today didn’t exist. Nevertheless, this practice has evolved over time and today, appearing on the first page of a search engine is slowly turning into a silent war between competitors who do not even know that the other exist. With the evolution of SEO comes several SEO myths which can harm your web presence. In this article, we discuss 2022 SEO Myths you should know and avoid.
8 SEO Myths To Know When Doing SEO For Business
SEO Myth #1
SEO is about repeating the set of words you want to rank for
It is very easy for “keyword” to come to mind when we think about SEO. However, keywords aren’t all that SEO is about. Saying SEO is all about keywords is a dangerous SEO myth. Thinking it is all about keywords can lead you to something called “keyword stuffing” which will affect your ranking in the long run.
Using the right keyword wisely is a big part of SEO but so also is ensuring your website is fast, user friendly and contains consistent quality content that puts your audience and not the search engine first.
SEO Myth #2
SEO is something you do once and for all
If you think you can go back to sleep because your website now ranks number one for a particular query, then I’ve got some bad news for you; you will be kicked to page two in a matter of days. SEO requires maintenance if you wish to remain on the top of search engine result pages. If you relax on your optimization efforts, someone else will take this position from you.
SEO Myth #3
Backlinks can make up for lack of content
The fact that backlinks tell a search engine how much of an authority you are makes many new webmasters pursue them while paying no attention to the actual content on their sites. Having no content on your site or having content that does not prove valuable to your supposed audience won’t improve your search ranking. Search engines need to show the actual content on your site on SERPs and not the links you’ve gathered. Acquiring reputable backlinks helps in your optimization effort. But it is useless when you have no content thus it cannot make up for lack of content.
SEO Myth #4
A backlink is a backlink
Another common practice among new webmasters is trying to acquire backlinks from any source possible. This can actually hurt your search ranking. All backlinks aren’t healthy. Avoid links from spammy and low authority sites. Avoid spammy comments in the name of backlinks. These can hurt your site and sometimes attract penalties from search engines. Only aim for backlinks from trusted domains that are considered an authority in your niche.
SEO Myth #5
Generic TLD boost ranking
Top-Level Domain (TLD) are simply the parts of a domain name after the dot (.) such as com, org, net. We find most of the big websites using the .com which is a generic TLD and over the years, many people have come to believe that a generic TLD will actually boost their search rankings. No it does not and you can have any TLD that suits your business. SEO for business is in no way affected by the TLD you choose.
SEO Myth #6
Running paid search ads will help show your site in organic search results
This is false. Search engines may show advertisers’ content in a “sponsored” section directly above organic search results. However, this doesn’t make an advertiser’s site to rank better than it would have among the organic results. Two different algorithms handle organic results and sponsored campaigns so running an ad with a search engine doesn’t improve your SEO or organic visibility.
With multiple paid advertising channels, you may find yourself asking the question “Is SEO still relevant in 2022?” Yes it is and can never be compared to Paid Advertising. The two are different and they both have their own advantages.
SEO Myth #7
You only need to optimize a post once
As clearly established in SEO Myth #2, SEO is never something you can do once and for all. This is true even for posts that are up to six months old. You may optimize them before publishing but searchers' intent changes with time. You need to understand your audience and know what they are looking for. You can now update older posts with new keywords and update facts that are no longer valid. Search engines love fresh content and an old post that's repurposed might just be a source of extra traffic.
SEO Myth #8
Everyone can do SEO and you don’t need an SEO expert
It is easy to think everyone can do SEO. “SEO for business is all about keyword” you may think. Well, we debunked this in SEO Myth #1 and here we tell you not everyone can do SEO. SEO is technical and isn’t all about keyword. It takes an SEO expert to optimize a site and have it rank above millions of competitor websites.
SEO is technical but as a business owner, you do not need to learn the 1s and 0s. We at Reveur Marketing can take care of your optimization needs thus letting you bother about other things that matter. Get in touch today! We would be happy to see you on page one.
