5 Common SEO myths you must ignore in 2022

Search Engine Optimization has gathered a lot of buzz on the internet recently. Every digital marketer from every nook and corner of the world is talking about it. But before believing in everything you come across on the internet, there is something you need to know. The Internet might have been a good source of information recently, but it’s a greater source of misinformation. 

According to a global survey done in 2019, 86% percent of people worldwide accepted to have been duped by misinformation. This is a considerable number. It means that there is a lot of misinformation floating on the internet about several topics. And SEO is no stranger to it. 

This article will debunk some of the most common SEO myths, to provide you more clarity.

Common SEO myths

Myths are not always malicious information meant to hurt someone on purpose. Sometimes myths are a popular belief of people doing things the wrong way.

And believe me, many people are doing SEO the wrong way. Therefore, in this article, we have chosen some most common misconceptions borne out of the improper application of this optimization strategy.

SEO needs to be done only once

Many people who are new to SEO have this misconception that it only needs to be done once. Yes, they think that they only have to optimize their website once, and when it starts appearing on the SERPs, their work is done. 

That is not the case, though. Instead, that is where your actual works begin. Once your website starts ranking, you have to keep up the excellent work to maintain its ranking. The reason behind this is Google’s ever-changing algorithms. 

Google introduces new algorithms at regular intervals to enhance its search experience. So, if you don’t keep your website optimized according to the new algorithm, you might get outranked by your competitors who do. 

Trust me; nobody likes that. Therefore, stay clear of such common SEO myths and keep your website optimised always.

Search Engines rank only fresh content.

People are often confused between creating fresh content and keeping their content updated. And end up believing in the fact that only new content gets ranked on search engines. This is not true at all. 

Instead, the opposite of it is true. Search Engines take time to recognize freshly uploaded content. As a result, these contents take time to appear on the SERP. 

So, what is updating your content exactly? Updating your content is dependent on two factors. The first one is updating your content according to the guidelines of the search engines algorithm, as discussed in the previous point. And the other is updating your content based on current trends and similar factors. 

For example, let’s consider that you write blogs about “summer wears.” Then you will be required to update it with new content as new trends are introduced in the market. If you fail to do so, other pages that are up to date will acquire your position.

So, don’t focus on fresh content alone. Instead, focus on keeping your website updated too. 

 It’s easy to rank for Long-tail keywords.

Long-tail keywords are search queries that are in the form of long and precise phrases. For example, instead of typing SEO services, you can be more specific and type: “Best SEO services in Surat” the latter is a long-tail keyword. 

The misconception is that the long-tail keywords are easy to rank for. It’s a myth, obviously. But how did it come into existence? Let’s dive into that. There was a time when Google used to rank websites based on the number of keywords present on a particular page. If your page had more keywords, it would outrank others. This strategy was called keyword stuffing.

This practice changed in 2013, though, as Google introduced its algorithm named Hummingbird. The primary purpose of this algorithm was to eradicate the strategy called keyword stuffing. However, it also changed how keywords work. Today, Google is smart enough to recognize that a long-tail keyword and the target keyword refer to the same topic. Hence, the keyword difficulty remains the same for both.

There are some ancient people who still believe in long-tail keyword supremacy. But they’re just living in a delusion. The truth is that if you are aiming for a popular topic, long-term keywords will have the same difficulty level as a target keyword. 

 No follow link help create website authority.

Do you also think that you can build backlinks through Quora and Reddit? If so, then you are not the only one who believes in this myth. The truth is that these websites use the no-follow tag.

A no-follow tag helps Webmasters understand whether a hyperlink is a follow link or not. In simple words, a link that “nofollow tag” will not add to your backlinks count that eventually boosts your website’s authority. The only reason behind introducing the “no-follow tag” was to take spamming out of the game. Once the people recognized the real purpose of backlinks, they started spamming their websites with links from all around the internet. 

Hence, search engines came up with the solution called “no follow tag.” However, these platforms can still be used to boost your traffic. If you have a great piece of content on your mind, then post it on Quora or other platforms like it. And also, add your website’s URL to it so that people will know where to find more content like it. 

Although these links will not count as backlinks, they can boost your traffic, which in return can help you reach people who might want to connect with you. 

Duplicate content gets penalized by Google

Duplicate content means when a similar or near similar piece of content surfaces on different websites on the internet. Now, the common knowledge of SEO says that duplicate content is a red flag. And it is followed by an imminent google penalty. But what if I tell you that it is not the case? Instead, duplicating your content on different platforms is actually a part of an SEO strategy; would you believe that?

Probably not, but it indeed is a content marketing strategy. Marketers follow this strategy called Content Syndication to publish their content on different platforms. In return, these platforms link to the article’s source, further driving traffic to it. 

Although it is said that Google has been updated enough to recognize syndicate content from the real one and thus ranks the original over the replicas. It at times happens that the syndicated content gets ranked above the original. You can avoid this from happening by employing canonical link building. 

Conclusion:

With every update in the Google algorithm, new myths about SEO will keep popping up. Therefore to remain ahead of the curve, you will be required to stay up to date with everything. Common SEO myths can be a bummer for your business. Therefore you need to stay clear of them.

But that is hardly fair on business owners, who already have their fair share of things to deal with in the business aspects. That is where experts like us come in. 

Metaloop Marketing is a digital marketing company that provides the best SEO services across India. Our experts are up to date so that you don’t have to. So what are you waiting for? Contact us today to get experts guidance on how you can improve the ranking of your website.