Search engines like Google now have algorithms that can tell if a site is useful. First place in the search results is only useful if the page has the information, content, and interest that users were looking for. That’s why the most important SEO rule is always make content that works for people, not search engines.
But there are a few myths and misunderstandings about search engine optimization that are either no longer true or were never true in the first place. Others may harm how well your website performs, while some are fairly simple. So, to clear things up, here are some of the most common SEO myths busted by the experts at OptiWeb Marketing, a well-known SEO company in Montreal!
Myth 1: SEO is Dead
Is it advisable to engage in SEO work now that Google is aware of the techniques used by websites that do not adhere to the guidelines? First, SEO remains a viable strategy, albeit with altered rules. SEO is not in danger as long as there are search engines that list and rank their results using algorithms and don’t charge for ranking.
Some people think that Google tries to punish websites that do their search engine optimization. However, several criteria determine whether a website will appear as the first search engine result. These criteria are based on the page having the simplest possible process and being relevant to the searcher. Because of this, good search engine optimization also means that the user experience is better. Google only penalizes websites that try to trick the search engine in order to move up in the results.
Myth 2: It’s Good to Stuff Keywords in Your Website Content
The more frequently a keyword shows up in content on your website, the better, right? Thoughts on term stuffing? It’s possible that you haven’t been following the changes in search engines. Google is now looking at how useful articles are for its users instead of how often, densely, and nearby keywords are used.
Recent SEO trends in 2021 say that blocks of text that can’t be read and were only written for search engines don’t work anymore. Furthermore, quantity isn’t critical anymore. In order for the page to be found in a specific context, Google says the chosen term only needs to show up once. Good readability should be the only thing that matters. Your page might be classified as spammy if keywords are used too frequently, which would hurt your search engine score.
Myth 3: Meta Keywords Are The Ultimate Key to Success
The trick of adding keywords, as we talked about, is no longer as important as it once was; it’s as This is particularly true for meta keywords incorporated into the page’s code, which the user cannot see. n by the user Several studies by SEO firms have shown that meta keywords have not had any effect on Google rankings for a number of years. Google still reads other information, like meta descriptions and page titles, so this rule doesn’t apply to those. They are just one of many ranking factors.
Myth 4: Long-Form Content Is An Effective SEO Hack
Many people use fold-out content to keep pages with a lot of content in order. People who read may not be interested in the big picture; some may be looking for specific information, especially on a phone. Folded content is meant to keep the user from getting too much information at once.
But worries that search engines won’t record these fold-out texts turn out to be untrue: Google and other search engines have recognized and analyzed them. In fact, “hidden” text is regarded as less important by search engines. Because of this, important parts of the text should be found in the regular running text so the user doesn’t have to first open a certain area.
Myth 5: Good SEO Work Gets Reflected Immediately In Results
You could make a few changes here and there and your page would be at the top of the Google results, right? However, achieving high rankings is neither simple nor quick. SEO is a race, not a sprint, and you may have to test and try things a lot of times before you get it right.
Is Google just too slow? The answer is both yes and no. It’s possible to do simple things rapidly, like finding a new page. While link building can show results right away, it can take a few weeks for the page to show up in search results or be found that way. Because search engines are constantly changing and improving their algorithms, SEO work on a website is also always going on. If your website doesn’t rank #1, you still need to make improvements. Maintain your current #1 ranking. If you don’t, your competitors will finally figure it out and pass you.
Myth 6: Using Several Headings of One type, For Example Several H1 or H2 Headings, Will Get You Penalized
A lot of the time, SEOs change titles to try to get better rankings. Then, keywords are crammed into the headings, or everything is marked as an H1. But there is a valid fear that such an approach will get you in trouble. That, too, is not likely to happen, just like hoping that this method will trick search engines.
This is due to the fact that Google primarily uses headings to understand the content structure. Using multiple headings of the same type is therefore not a problem at first. But it doesn’t make sense to put everything under an H1, either. That would weaken the structure, and Google might ignore it. Google will likely drop a keyword if you use it too often. There is no punishment, but these strategies are not likely to lead to a lot of success either.
Myth 7: If Google Crawls A Page More, It’ll Rank Better
Better rankings don’t come from crawling; it’s just a technical requirement for ranks to happen in the first place. The search engine must first see, understand, and classify a page before it can store and rank it. “Crawling” refers to the first step, which is to see. For the content to be classified in the next step, Googlebots examine the individual subpages. That means a page can’t rank if it can’t be crawled.
It’s not like you have to trick the crawl rate up to get a better rank. Google can usually understand the situation on its own. Crawling speed is sometimes adjusted due to server issues, which Google often detects. When it comes to crawling, two things are critical: making sure there are good internal links so that the Googlebot can get to all the important pages and stopping useless things like endless calendars. If things change quickly and require crawling, sitemaps or Google Search Console can also assist. After that, you will always find the most recent content.
