SEO Myth Busting 101: What’s Really True?

This article is aimed at breaking down some of the most common SEO myths on the web. There are so many misconceptions that it can be difficult to tell which information is correct and just a bunch of nonsense. That’s why we’re here to bust some of the most common SEO myths on the internet, like “headers don’t matter.”

Most SEO “gurus” out there are trying to sell you something. They have a product or service they want to promote, so they try to entice their potential customers with dubious advice. One of the most common things that these gurus say is that headers don’t matter for SEO. Now, headers affect how search engines read your content, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t matter. If you’re going to choose not to use headers in your article, you might want to rethink what you’re doing with it entirely.

However, even though headers do matter, that doesn’t mean that you need to go overboard with them. Having too many headers makes it hard for search engines (and humans) to follow along. You want people to read it if you’re creating content, and too many headers can make that difficult. Six of one, half dozen of the other; if your article is well-written with concise headers that are easy to understand, then it’s doubtful that search engines will punish you for not using them.

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If you’re looking to avoid any SEO myths, then search engines understanding what content is about without having to label it as such shouldn’t be one of those myths you’re trying to avoid. If your headers aren’t descriptive enough or don’t make sense, then yes — it will harm your SEO. However, if they’re just not there at all, then you don’t need to worry about search engines being confused — as long as the content is excellent and valuable, they’ll rank you highly for it anyway.

While some SEO myths may be hard to understand, search engines putting weight on headers is pretty much a fact. If you want good, quality content (that’s adequately optimized), then it’s not something to worry about — but if your article doesn’t have any headers at all, you should rethink its structure. Quality content will always prevail over SEO myths — so make sure that you put your best foot forward when you’re creating an article or blog post.

What are these mythical internal links, you ask?

Internal links are links within your website, and when you link to another page on your site, it’s an internal link. For example, if you were to write an article on making money blogging and then mention some of the tools used in the “Beginner’s Guide,” that’s an internal link.

The general idea is that internal links help users understand how your website works. When you’re linking within your site, it’s no different than giving someone directions on how to get from point A to point B — only in this case, “point A” is one page and “point B” is another. Internal links are essential because they help search engines and users understand the structure of your website. However, it’s important not to overdo it.

Just wanted to add in a few more points before we closed off this article — interlinking between websites is very important for SEO and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you notice, when you’re at Google, searching for something, you may see some links to other websites on the SERP’s (Search Engine Result Pages) if it’s relevant to what you searched. So, naturally, if the content of your website is super helpful and provides value to users, they can link out to another site/article on Google, which will also help with SEO.

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And, lastly, a few more SEO myths:

“Using keywords in the URL will boost your rankings.”

Readers love quick snippets of information — so having a lot of multi-word headers makes sense. It’s also what Google wants to see because it gives them an idea of what the page is about — and that’s a good thing. However, what’s most important isn’t your headers — it’s the content beneath them.

“Longer content is always better.”

It would be great to write as much as possible and rank higher with Google, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Keep in mind that with longer content comes more responsibility, which means making sure that there’s no fluff or padding. More content doesn’t mean better rankings — it simply means providing more value to users.

“Always use header tags (H1, H2, etc.).”

Headers can be helpful in some instances, but you don’t necessarily need them — especially if you want to rank higher. You can also use bold and italic for your titles, as well as some other HTML tags.

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“Keyword density is important.”

Another widespread SEO myth out there is keyword density. The general idea is that if you place a certain number of keywords on your page, it will help boost your rankings. However, there is no set number for how much you should use — it all depends on the page’s context and what’s being said. The best way to see if your keywords are working is if Google shows them in its results — that’s about as good as it gets with keyword density.

“The first paragraph is the most important.”

While the first paragraph might be an excellent place to start, users tend to read more of the middle paragraphs of an article. This is where you want to demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about and that your content provides real value. Don’t assume that people will care straight away — it takes some work sometimes.

“Content is king.”

If people want to read it, you pretty much know that your content is good — but if no one wants to read it, then the value of said content is diminished. If there’s no audience for what you’re saying and you can’t get them interested in it, then why bother?

“Flash is bad for SEO.”

Believe it or not, most content that’s made with Adobe Flash helps with your rankings. That being said, the only drawback is if users can’t access your content, which would hurt your rankings. So, make sure that you have a good amount of text-based content on your site too.

“Keyword stuffing can boost rankings.”

While it may seem like a good idea to use your keywords as much as possible, the reality is that Google will punish you for overusing them in certain instances. Suppose they find that you’re focusing on one topic and one topic only, then it’s likely that they won’t rank you as well as a site that offers multiple perspectives.

“Outbound links help with rankings.”

While it’s true that outbound links can improve the value of your content, they won’t directly impact your rankings at all — so don’t go looking for them or anything. Just create excellent content and link to other resources when it makes sense to do so.

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“Google will penalize you for having a lot of outbound links.”

While Google has been known to punish some sites with too many outbound links, that’s not the case anymore — at least not for regular websites. If your content is high-quality, you will generally rank well — but don’t expect it to happen overnight.

“Only submit your homepage.”

This is another common misconception that people have about Google, which is that if they submit their homepage, then that’s all they have to do. However, there are many different ways of getting your site ranked on Google, some of which may be a lot easier than submitting your homepage.

“You should always submit your site to search engines.”

Even if you’re doing everything else right, there’s no guarantee that Google will even see your website and rank it. This is a prevalent SEO myth because people assume that they can force Google to see their site if they submit it enough times — which isn’t the case at all. Search engine submission can help, but it’s not always necessary.

“You should write about what you already know.”

This is one of the most common SEO myths out there, and it’s false. The best way to rank well on Google is to offer content that people want to read — which means that you should be focusing on what your audience wants to know, not just what you can come up with.

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“It’s easy to rank well on Google.”

Google is one of the most challenging search engines out there — so don’t think for a moment about how easy it is to rank well on it. Instead, focus on creating the best site that you can and making content that people want — then figure out how to get it ranked.

“There’s no such thing as over-optimization.”

If Google thinks you’re doing too much to rank well within their system, they’ll let you know. This is because over-optimization can hurt your rankings — and it makes sense for them to take such a stance, as Google wants to provide the best results for their users.

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conclusion:

SEO is complicated. There are many different techniques that you can use, but they’re more like guidelines than actual rules. It’s essential to experiment with what works best for your site and not focus on a checklist of steps that you must follow. And don’t be afraid to start over if something isn’t working out the way you wanted it to!

What are some SEO myths that you’ve heard? Let us know in the comments!