Search engine optimization (SEO) is a constantly evolving process. Most people won’t remember the way SEO was done a decade back. While not much time has passed since SEO became a must for websites, the changes it has undergone are gargantuan, and that might be an understatement. With the frequent changes, there is always the risk of disinformation and misinformation, and this is the case when it comes to SEO as well. You are as likely to find inauthentic information about SEO online as authentic. Hence, you need to be careful about what you believe.
A significant step towards ensuring this is familiarizing yourself with some of the most common SEO myths. To make things easier, here’s a look at some myths about SEO that you should put to bed in 2018:
You Need More Content
‘Content is King’ with regards to digital marketing. That said, simply increasing the volume of content you publish online isn’t going to propel your site up the search rankings. You have to create quality content and make sure it is in line with the relevant SEO components. For instance, you have to use certain keywords or else your content won’t rank. Simultaneously, you have to maintain a fine balance between creating content for machines and for humans. The fact of the matter is that you can get by on a limited volume of content, provided you create it keeping SEO guidelines in mind.
Your Site’s Security Doesn’t Matter
This is perhaps the most common myth about SEO going around today. Google now assigns more value to websites whose URL starts with ‘HTTPS’ rather than the conventional ‘HTTP’. The ‘S’ denotes that the website has SSL encryption, which makes the visitor’s interaction with the site secure. Security is a pertinent factor for SEO success today. If your website doesn’t have SSL, the browser will warn visitors to not visit the site, and you can assume 99.99% of them won’t return.
Meta Descriptions Impact Rankings
There was a time when Google considered the meta description a key component of a site’s SEO. However, this is no longer the case. Now, you may wonder that if your meta description will not affect your site’s ranking, why should you even bother writing one. Well, for one, Google penalized duplicate content, so you have to come up with an original meta description. Secondly, even if you don’t add a meta description, Google will pull one form the text on the page. In other words, meta descriptions are for humans, and not for bots!
Keyword Stuffing Still Works
The oldest black hat technique in the book, keyword stuffing could get you results in the past. However, Google wizened up and now you cannot get away with stuffing keywords. You have to use keywords organically, and in a way that they fit naturally within the content you post. Otherwise, even using the top keywords won’t benefit your website in any way.
So, when you start formulating your SEO strategy for the next year, leave these myths behind in 2018!