In the industry of search engine optimization, things continue to change all the time. What might have been a reliable piece of advice last year could be irrelevant this year. You have to stay on your toes if you want to keep up with the fast pace at which everything is moving. Most significant changes occur when Google releases a new update to their algorithms. But SEO experts are always discovering and discussing best practices within the industry. Things are always changing, and there isn’t always one right answer. So there are a lot of myths floating around. Here are some of the common ones this year, and what the real truth is.
Keyword Targeting Isn’t Important Anymore
After Google had updated to Hummingbird, some people decided that targeting keywords was no longer as important as it used to be. However, others have suggested that it has only changed how you should target keywords. Instead of thinking about a keyword ratio, you can focus on what searchers are looking for and why. What do they want when they search for a particular keyword, and how can your content provide that?
You Can Do It All Yourself
Many people think that anyone can learn to do all their SEO on their own. And while it’s true that anyone has the ability to, not everyone has the time. If you want to improve your search engine rankings, you’re going to need to hire someone. Choose to do it all yourself, and it could take you months just to learn all the essential practices and terminology. By the time you’ve got it all under your belt, things will be on the move again, and you might be struggling to keep up.
Stop Guest Blogging
Not too long ago, a few people decided that there was no value in guest blogging. But more specifically, they meant that low-quality content by other authors wasn’t a good thing to have on your site. Guest blogging can still be valuable in many ways, but you have to get it right. Your content still has to be high-quality and relevant to your site. It should contain excellent links in the proper context.
Longer Content Is Always Better
A lot of people have touted the benefits of using long-form content on your site. However, uploading long articles isn’t going to get you much more attention automatically. There’s more to it than that. Just producing longer content isn’t enough. You still have to consider all the other rankings that Google takes into account.
Link Building Is Bad
Some people have fallen for the idea that building your links isn’t a good thing to do. They are half right because link buying is bad practice. You shouldn’t be purchasing links to try and improve your search engine performance. This practice will only hurt you. But link building is still highly relevant, so don’t stop doing it.
There will always be different myths about search engine optimization floating around. Just remember that, just like anything else on the internet, you should double check before believing anything.
