Get insight into some of the most common SEO myths that submarine good websites. Our ebook takes you through a humorously illustrated story of why you website might not be performing as well as you would expect. Surprise, surprise this poor performance might just be because you were listening to "SEO experts!"

1. StuntingYourWebsite'sGrowth

2. As a result, myths often creep in and begin to errantly guide the SEO
practices of less experienced practitioners.
Most of these myths are old practices and hacks that Google has long since
invalidated with updates to their algorithms, while others are simply an over
emphasis of smaller elements in the much bigger SEO picture.
Either way, when put into practice on your website, many of these myths will
mysteriously frustrate and stunt the growth of your organic Web traffic.
12SEO Myths Stunting
Your Website's Growth
SEO IS A HIGHLY COMPLEX AND EVER-CHANGING MARKETING DISCIPLINE.

3. So....What are the myths?

4. This is a myth perpetuated by the sales copy of snake oil-selling SEO charlatans.
Get Ranked #1 for Your Keywords is the tagline of thousands of these shady SEO
firms and consultants.
The truth is, it’s near impossible to rank #1 for the most highly competitive
keywords on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). And often the less competitive
keywords, where you can rank #1 position, aren’t worth the effort.
In addition, there is some research supporting strong click behavior and conversion
in a variety of positions all the way through the top slots on subsequent search
result pages.
There are also lots of opportunities to level the playing field leveraging the features
of universal (i.e., mixing Local, Image, and Video results) search, rich snippets, and
appended author profiles; all of which significantly raise click-through rates.

5. This myth is gaining strength, especially among less technical marketing
agencies.
As Google’s algorithm has become more sophisticated it has become less
susceptible to keyword tricks, but that doesn’t lessen the relevance of keywords.
Keywords and text are the still the most measurable indicators of relevance to
guide search engine indexing and results. Keywords are also the most reliable
indicator of consumers’ request for products, services, and information.
Therefore, keyword research is critical to learning the language of
your customers. Without this research and intelligence, you’re
simple producing content, products, and services in a vacuum
and hoping for the best.
You would be shocked at the number of times I have had clients
using, and consequently ranking well, for insider-type keywords.
The result? They were drawing in industry insiders and even
competitor traffic, but completely missing their potential
customer base.

6. The need to target exact keyword matches with your SEO is a very common misperception.
In my opinion, SEO keywords are better thought of as clusters of related concepts versus
discrete keywords. Trying to rank or create content for an exact keyword is both frustrating
and fruitless at the same time.
This is also the reason and source of the mountains of horrible SEO articles, littering the
Web, devoid of character, rarely ranking, and offering no value to consumers.
Avoid loading up your website with this kind of thin content, obviously meant only to serve
an SEO motive. A website full of exact keyword content is more likely to look like a content
farm, both to Google and to customers, than a website to serve customers.
Google hates low quality content websites produced by this kind of keyword-exact SEO
tactic and is highly likely to penalize the website.
Focus on putting yourself in the shoes of those doing the keyword searches. Then, create
content that answers their questions in the most authentic, simple to understand, and
complete way possible. This SEO keyword strategy is a winning formula for growth.

7. As search engine algorithms increase in
sophistication, they become increasingly less
dependent on clues provided by webmasters.
Google and the other search engines are using
meta data and meta tags less and less to index and
rank websites. Yet, the mythical importance of meta
tags, particularly meta keywords, continues
unabated.
In the interest of providing you, the reader, the best
value for your search, (as authors should strive to
do with any piece of SEO-related content) here’s
the truth, straight from the horse’s mouth--Matt
Cutts, Google’s Head of Search Quality team:
<iframe width="640" height="360"
src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RBTBEfd7z_Y"
frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

8. Before I dive into this one, I don’t want there to be any confusion
about the importance of on-page SEO. Well-structured Web pages
are highly valuable to Web visitors and search engines, however,
it’s not the end of the game.
Search engines look for hundreds, possibly even thousands of
indicators and signals to determine your Web pages’ quality,
relevance, and ranking position.
Therefore, ending your SEO strategy at the individual page level is
stopping short of giving your website the opportunity to reach its
full potential.
A healthy blend of on-page optimization and off-page SEO
techniques, like link building, PR activities, and social media
syndication, develops a strong holistic strategy for positioning your
website in front of customers.

9. This is another one of those SEO myths that are the result of overemphasizing a truth, to the
detriment of the whole.
Yes, link building is terribly important, but it’s only effective in to the context of a larger SEO
strategy.
For example, if you have ten pages and hundreds of links to each you’re very unlikely to
outperform a website with hundreds of pages and a handful of high quality links to the
majority of those pages.
The truth of this example is grounded in numerous elements of the bigger SEO picture.
Perhaps the most powerful of these factors is that search engines gain an understanding of
your website’s value and relevance based on both external signals like back links, and
internal signals like the breadth and depth of content.
The short lesson here is to avoid stunting your website growth with too much focus on one
good thing, to the detriment of other good things.

10. This is a myth born in the bowels of
business development teams with
advertising agencies.
To ignore SEO in the development of
content or design is to ignore the
preferences and expectations of your
customers. SEO should be an integrated
component of any content marketing or
design project related to your website.
SEO is more than just optimizing for
search engines--it’s optimizing for what
your customers are looking
(searching) for on the Web.
SEO can be a powerful part of the
creative process, putting consumer
intelligence into your content
marketing and web design.
Integrating keyword research and
analysis into the content and design
process will attract and convert the
traffic you gain from search queries
at a much higher rate than without
an SEO focus.

11. In the SEO process,
it’s wise not to confuse quantity over quality.
Flooding the Web with useless pages is not something that Google
or any other search engine likes.
Sure, temporarily, you might be able to sneak a few junk pages into
the SERPs or get an automated web scraper or script to bump the
number of ranked pages, but just know that Google will be gunning
for you!
Efficiency is the name of the game in SEO. Quality content is
enormously expensive, both in terms of money or time. Therefore,
your objective is to maximize the impact of each and every page
you have indexed--large or small in number.
8. THE MORE INDEXED
PAGES THE BETTER

13. I’ve said this a couple of times in this
article, but I’ll reiterate it again.
Anytime you litter the Web with websites
and/or pages for the sole purpose of
gaming search engines--you’re setting
yourself up to lose.
Techniques like Webrings and Link Wheels
are dangerous tactics from the Wild Wild
West days of old-time SEO. Search engines
have become much smarter at sorting out
related websites, and discounting links
between similarly controlled websites.
There are times when microsites make
sense, but make sure that your objectives
are business and consumer value related,
not SEO trickery.

14. This might have been true in the early days of social media, but since then,
Google and other search engines have recognized the power of the people to
sort out the best of the Web.
Today, social media and social signals, as they are often called in the SEO world,
are inextricably interwoven. For proof, check out this oft-referenced Danny
Sullivan article on what social signals search engines use in ranking web pages.
Here is a little more detail from Google’s Matt Cutts on the role of social signals
and search engine rankings:
<iframe width="640" height="360"
src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ofhwPC-5Ub4" frameborder="0"
allowfullscreen></iframe>

15. Search engines optimize results for users, helping them
efficiently and effectively find what they’re looking for
on the Web. SEO should do the same thing, but for
search engines, helping them efficiently and effectively
find and index what should be ranked in relevant
searches.
Therefore, using nothing more than simple logic, SEO is
a usability exercise, by definition. Organic search
remains one of the top means of navigation on the Web
and probably on your website, assuming you make it
available (as you should). And for good reason,
navigation is one of the most important usability
concerns of any UX expert.
The very core of SEO is about organizing content in a
logical and easy to find manner.
If you’re in UX, I would highly recommend adding an
SEO expert to your team. You’ll be amazed at how
happy your users will be about it.

17. I saved the debunking of one of the biggest
and worst myths for last: SEO is not a set it
and forget it practice.
SEO is an evolving process. The Web is an
ecosystem, always reshaping and reinventing
itself. In response, search engines and Web
users are always reacting and changing their
behaviors. Even your own website is most
likely a dynamic place that radically changes
over time, based on your reactions to the
market and customer needs.
This dynamism, this constant change, makes
SEO a process that needs continual
observation, testing, and revision for best
results.
Simply creating an effective SEO framework
today and walking away will leave you
scratching your head in a few months when
your website is mysteriously hemorrhaging
organic search traffic.

18. For the best SEO results: keep learning, observing, testing, and adjusting to
stay on the cutting edge of improving user experience on the Web.
More SEO Resources:
2013 Search Engine Ranking Factors
24 Eye-popping SEO Statistics
Social Media and Search Engines
8 Simple Tricks to Increase Your Search Engine Rankings and CTR
Google Penguin 2.0 Casualties: Why Sites Got Hit

19. That each page should be targeted at a particular keyword
market, have good on-page optimization, and quality
backlinks and social signals indicating that it’s a valuable
resource.
The more time you maximize this combination the more likely
search engines are going to position your page in a favorable
position to capture search traffic.