7 SEO Myth's That Can Do You No Good!
The golden question has always been ‘How does Google's search engine operate'? Google uses about 200 ranking factors in their algorithm, some of which is still under wraps and unknown. This causes for a lot of speculation in the SEO world as to what's true and what's false? To save you the hassle of trial and error with your own online business, we've complied a list of the newest SEO myths that you should avoid.
1. Keywords Have lost value after the Hummingbird update
The Hummingbird update by Google changed the style of keywords searches to maximize the users’ experience. Yes, this is true, but if you continue to see keywords in first page search results, it means keywords still influence the search results ranking. Rand Fishkin, The founder of Moz states that we should focus upon serving the unique value instead of creating content.
2. XML Sitemap Boosts Your Search Rankings
If we analyze five top ranking factors in 2015, you would not find an XML sitemap anywhere. Personalized mobile experience, social signals, brand mentions, citations, holistic marketing approach for inbound links have been the SEO 2015 go to. XML Sitemap supports the search engines in crawling and indexing the fresh web pages faster, but it doesn’t contribute in search rankings.
3. Meta Tags have also lost value after Hummingbird update
Some may argue this, but we've seen the results ourselves! While, Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team has confirmed that Meta tags are not the ranking factor; still, you should optimize these website elements. Why? Because meta tags still tell the users and search engines about the context of your website while continuing to make the search results more attractive to your users; as a result, you get more clicks.
4. There's a Limit on Keyword usage
Nope! The crazy myth about the penalties for exceeding the keywords density limit (2-3%) has been crushed by the repeated statements of Google executives but this myth is still for some reason live. The proper use of keywords with the intention to serve maximum information is not confined to a limited amount of keywords.
5. Paid Search boost Organic Results ranking
Numbers of advertisers spending handsome amount on paid ‘pay per click’ don’t necessarily get the benefit in organic results ranking. Google maintains this separation. Pay per click advertising / PPC Services help you to get extra clicks, but it is not search results ranking factor.
6. Link Building Has Lost Its SEO Power
Search engines have become many times smarter during the last few years because of recent support from AI machines, but still authentic link building strategy has been proven to show results. Data driven tricks to attract links have become an essential part of SEO strategy and will remain
7. Guest Blogging is Dead.
You yourself will be convinced that this is a total myth by simply visiting websites like CNN, Mashable, New York Times and Businessweek etc. where numbers of outsiders share the quality content. Quality guest blogging is live and it will remain so to support the SEO efforts. There is no technical difference between guest-blogging content and any other type of content. The term simply means that a guest has now contributed a piece of content to your blog. What you should avoid is terrible content and that is what Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team had stated in 2014. It is only low quality content that is being punished by Google's Panda update not the good stuff.
