SEO Optimization Myth

Learning how to do SEO optimization for your website is crucial, no matter the industry. In 2016, 95% of people searched online for local business needs at least once, compared to 79% in 2012. Likely, you know that the internet is how people find what they need these days. What you’re not sure about is how to do SEO right. So like any good student, you go online and start learning. With the wealth of information out there, it’s easy to develop some misunderstandings around SEO optimization. It’s even easier to squander a bunch of money on useless tools. We’re here to bust the top 5 myths about SEO optimization, so you can rank higher on Google and get the right type of leads for your success.

  1. Myth 1: Anyone Can Learn SEO

    Sure, technically. Anyone could also learn to sell their house, but it doesn’t mean they’ll sell the house. The truth is most people don’t have the time to run their business and learn how to do SEO right.
    Some SEO services claim that it only takes 3-4 hours a month to do SEO optimization for your business. What?! Ask any successful marketing strategist what they can accomplish in 3-4 hours. Doing keyword research takes time, as does creating landing pages and content that are optimized with those keywords to bring the exact traffic you want. It’s true that anyone can write a blog or create an ad these days, but that doesn’t mean the blog or ad will rank or the right people will see it. Furthermore, it takes thousands of views to get a conversion. Still sound easy?

    MythBuster Recap: Learning SEO optimization requires a strategy, tools, time, and analysis to work properly. Anyone can learn SEO, but only if they’re willing to invest the proper resources into
    doing it right.

  1. Myth 2: You Need to Buy Ads to Rank

    Not necessarily. One of the biggest myths around SEO optimization is that you need to buy ads to become visible. In particular, Google Adwords and Facebook have convinced you that they’ll get you thousands of impressions a day if you just spend all your hard earned money on their ads. While you’ll get impressions, you probably won’t get conversions. Impressions are like a vanity number (look how many people came to my site!) But who cares if those people aren’t buying or don’t have a need? You’ll end up getting clicks, but not sales, leaving you shaking your head in bewilderment.

    Remember how we just talked about SEO keyword research taking time? Ads make you think that you can get instant results with little to no research. They’re a quick fix, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, they can end up being a waste of money with little to no return on investment.
    Instead, learn how to use the free Google keyword tool to find high volume, low competition keywords. If you don’t have time to do it yourself, hire an SEO expert (like Dotlogics) to do it for you. Ultimately, it’s an investment that will pay off more than paying for ads. SEO experts work with you to figure out your key market so you can publish content that has the best keywords to capture your audience’s attention AND convert leads.

    Mythbuster Recap: Paying for Google Adwords or Facebook Ads does not guarantee conversions on your website. Learn how to do your own keyword research, or pay an expert to do it so your content not only ranks, but converts leads.

  1. Myth 3: Keyword Ranking is About High Impressions

    Nope. When people search for a keyword on Google, they usually end up with millions of potential results. It’s like going to a large chain grocery store rather than a gas station mini-mart. The buyer prefers the big store over the mini-mart because they have more options, but that means more competition for the seller.

    Nope. When people search for a keyword on Google, they usually end up with millions of potential results. It’s like going to a large chain grocery store rather than a gas station mini-mart. The buyer prefers the big store over the mini-mart because they have more options, but that means more competition for the seller.

    When using a keyword planner or ad tool, those results will display as potential impressions – the number of times the ad shows or a web page displays it on SERP (search engine results page) for that keyword. For example, the consumer might type “cleaning services,” which produces 76 million results on Google. According to Keyword Planner, the impressions for that search are 65,000. In the case of this keyword, the competition is also high. High impressions + high competition for a keyword means that the user is less likely to see your content or page.

    Here’s a visual to understand how SEO optimization works when looking for keywords:

    1.Type in the seed keyword to see how many searches turn up.

    Myth 3: Keyword Ranking is About High Impressions

    2. Use free Google Keyword Planner to see the number of impressions for that keyword. Anything over 1,000 is substantial.



    3. In Google Search, type in the keyword using the quotation marks + allintitle: keyword + allinanchor + keyword to see how competitive that keyword is. Anything over 200 is highly competitive, but ideally, you want to shoot for lower searches to weed out the competition (10-100).



     The keyword search “cleaning services” is an example of high impressions, high competition. Alternatively, remember this rule: High impressions + low competition for a keyword means that the user is more likely to see your content or page.  Why? The user is more specific with their search terms as they know what they want. Since the phrase isn’t as competitive, your business is more likely to pop-up on the first page of search results.

    Looking at the earlier example, if using the phrase “maids new york” instead of “cleaning services,” we still produce 10 million search results, but only 1100 impressions and even better, only 9 specific keyword results. Bingo! Highly searched, low competition means people are more likely to see your page.

    Mythbuster Recap: High impressions alone mean nothing for SEO Optimization. High impressions + low competition for a keyword means that the user is more likely to see your content or page.

  1. Myth 4: Meta Tags Matter

    Before the year 2000, when search engines were still primitive, Meta Tags mattered. Now, they don’t make much difference as far as search engine optimization is concerned.

    Meta Tags are most commonly used to distinguish the keywords that are relevant to a page’s content. With the introduction of Google’s search engine, stricter rules for stuffing keywords into Meta Tags have made them useless in page rankings. It’s much more important that relevant and themed keywords are used in your title tags, heading tags and content.

    Mythbuster Recap: Meta Tags do not matter as much as relevant and themed keywords in your title tags, heading tags, and content regarding SEO Optimization.

  1. Myth 5: Our Business Doesn’t Need SEO

    Trends show that most people are looking online for local business needs. If this trend hasn’t affected your business yet, it will soon. Without any strong online presence, you’re missing potential money making opportunities.

    There are several factors beyond SEO that help to rank your page and convert leads. We’re not talking about SEO hacks here, but strategic thinking around your website’s design. How happy are you with the following key factors on your site?

    • Optimizing your site’s speed and responsive web design
    • Creating a powerful brand and image
    • Having clear call to actions to direct the user to a goal
    • Creating valuable content that users want
    • Creating rewards programs and clubs to get return users
    • Increasing social media efforts by sharing rich content from your site

    Click here to learn other reasons Why Shoppers Are Leaving Your Website: 8 Shocking Statistics.

    Mythbuster Recap: Any business that wants to thrive in today’s economy needs an integral SEO strategy for their website.

    Conclusion

    SEO optimization is not just about keywords; it’s part of an integral process of your entire business plan. Effective keywords can be the pillar of what puts your business on the map. Start by developing an SEO strategy for your website, learning what tools you need to achieve your goal, and carrying out your plan. If you need a hand, Dotlogics, an expert SEO web design company, is here to help.

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