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A study conducted by MILL for business revealed that the number of websites increases by 547,200 every 24 hours, worldwide. In this intensely competitive digital marketing landscape, how do you manage to drive relevant traffic to your website? The simple answer is by leveraging Search Engine Optimization (SEO) the right way. Effective use of SEO helps your website and content rise above the noise, and attract your intended target audience.

Another research conducted by Bright Edge identified that around 68 percent of online experiences start with a search engine. Similarly, another study by HubSpot Marketing discovered that leads acquired through SEO have a close rate of 14.6 percent, thus making SEO an effective means of lead generation.

However, it is critical to note that excelling at SEO isn’t easy. That’s why if you really want to get serious about SEO then you should consider hiring an SEO expert to help you with your rankings. There are many SEO related myths that can stop you from achieving your desired digital marketing goals. But, don’t worry, we won’t let you get tricked by those SEO myths.

Here is a list of the 6 important myths related to SEO that you need to know

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Myth #1: More Keywords Means Higher Search Engine Ranking.

Many marketers often use a lot of keywords in their blogs to get a higher ranking. But when it comes to SEO practices, this isn’t the case. In fact, websites tend to lose their uniqueness and might even come off as spam, when the keywords are used too much.

For instance, if a website uses the keyword “the biggest sale” in the following way:

We are offering you the world’s biggest sale ever. The biggest sale starts in the month of November. The biggest sale offers exciting deals and prizes for our customers.

This would not result in higher search engine rankings because it looks like you’ve overused the keyword in the content just for the sake of search engines. Apart from this, overstuffing keywords might make your content look unattractive, thus making your audience irritated. This, in turn, will result in increased bounce rates, thus affecting your SEO rankings negatively.

Here’s what you need to know to achieve keyword optimization for higher SEO rankings :

Conduct thorough keyword research,
Select a focus keyword for each web page.
Write more than 300 words.
Add long-tail keyword variations of your target keyword to show what your content is about.
Place keywords in the right places, such as title, first paragraph, meta description, image alt tag, etc.
It is best to update your content regularly.

Myth #2: Videos Aren’t Important for SEO.

Text-only websites, with no visuals whatsoever, are boring and unattractive to the naked eye. They also happen to rank poorly on search engines. This is because people nowadays are more interested in watching videos rather than reading large blocks of text.

Besides this, videos leave a lasting impact on the audience. Videos, when used the right way, have the power to improve your SEO efforts, and take your SEO game to the next level.

Wondering how? Here are a few video marketing tips that can help you achieve your SEO goals:

Publish videos on your website
Your video should include meaningful content.
Avoid adding very long and boring videos.
Insert your focus keyword naturally in the title of your video.
Don’t forget to add your primary keyword in the description of your video.
Upload a compelling video thumbnail to achieve a higher CTR rate.

Source

Myth #3: Website Pop-Ups Affect SEO Rankings Negatively.

Google said that they will start penalizing websites that use “intrusive interstitials”. And so, many people started believing that any and all pop-ups can negatively affect their SEO ranking. However, that’s not true!

Past studies and expert observations reveal that Google only penalizes pop-ups that annoy the website visitors, and interrupt the user experience. Pop-ups that stop your visitors from viewing the relevant content can also result in lower SEO rankings.

On the other hand, pop-ups, like slide-ins, banners, or newsletter signups aren’t penalized as long as they aren’t interrupting the user’s experience.

Myth #4: Meta Tags Are Not Linked to Your SEO Rankings.

Many marketers believe that Google’s recent algorithm doesn’t value meta tags. But first, you have to understand what meta tags are. Meta tags are snippets of code that guide search engines to what your web page is about. The 3 elements are what meta tags include:

The title tag with a word limit of 55 to 60 characters. This is the title tag that appears on search engine result pages.
Meta description of around 155-160 characters explaining what the content is about. This comes below the title tag.
Phrases or meta keywords

Meta tags provide information about the content of your page, thus making them a vital part of SEO. Therefore, if you’re looking to achieve higher search engine rankings, then you should optimize your Meta tags.

Myth #5: Website Load Time and SEO are Not Linked.

Some startups believe that SEO alone can take your digital marketing game to the next level, but that’s not always the case. The factors that contribute to higher SEO rankings, like your website’s load time, are also significant.

A study by Google revealed that the recommended load time for a website should be less than three seconds. This is because any delay in your website’s load time can force the visitors to switch to other sites, thus increasing the bounce rates, and lowering search rankings.

So, if you want to achieve higher SEO rankings, you should definitely optimize your website’s speed. Here are a handful of expert tips and tricks that can help:

Use compressed visuals on your website.
Optimize your HTML.
Don’t forget to remove any duplicate entries or unused code.
Make sure that there are no HTTP 404 errors.
Set up caching correctly.

Myth #6: Links Aren’t Important From an SEO Perspective

It is a known fact that links are an important part of SEO, yet some people don’t agree with this. Back in the old days, it used to be that the more number of links your webpage had, the higher it would get ranked on search engines. The assumption was the more links, the better the content.

But now, relevancy and authority are key when linking content for SEO purposes. This is because if your links aren’t relevant, then they won’t be of much value for your audience, thus impacting your website ranking.

Therefore, if you’re looking to achieve higher SEO rankings for your website, then links should be placed naturally in your website’s content.

The Bottom Line

Successful SEO implementation depends on different important factors. SEO is all about experimenting, and figuring out what works for your audience. But by following the advice given in this article, you will know which SEO tactics to experiment with, and with SEO tactics to stay away from.

AUTHOR BIO

Mary Warner is an enthusiast blogger. Her compelling research and communication capabilities exchange offerings that have value for the reader. Her passion for writing has been an ever-evolving affair. She loves to share her views related to the latest trends in all things marketing, technology, and e-commerce.