There is hardly any other marketing segment with as many myths as there are with SEO. Ever since there have been searching engines on the Internet, page owners have tried to optimize their websites so that they are ranked higher by Google and Co. However, you can safely forget some misconceptions – you can read which ones here.
Seo Myth 1: Search Engine Optimization Is Dead
Effective search engine optimization is itself a myth? SEO work is counterproductive because Google knows all the tricks and punishes them? Several myths are hidden here. First of all, SEO is far from dead, but the rules change over time. What is good and right today may be out of date in a few years.
As long as there are search engines on the Internet that list and rank their results one after the other using an algorithm, SEO is not in danger of dying. It is a persistent misconception that Google tries to punish search engine optimization itself. Whether a website is displayed as the top search result by the search engine depends on a number of criteria. These criteria are based on the simplest possible operation of the page with high relevance for the searcher.
Seo Myth 2: Better To Use Too Many Keywords Than Too Few!
The more often a chosen keyword occurs, the better? Conversely, this would mean: a post that largely only consists of the keyword is the good text from the search engine point of view. So it’s not that simple. Google is now also looking at how often certain terms occur in relation to the length of the text.
Completely illegible blocks of text that were only written for the search engine are counterproductive. Instead, what is the ideal density of the keyword in terms of overall length? Here, too, there are a number of assumptions – sometimes there is talk of two, sometimes three per cent or even more. However, a final statement cannot be made. The use of synonyms, good legibility and certain types of text are also influencing factors. Accordingly, a “keyword quota” turn out differently in a slideshow than in a blog post.
According to Google, the selected keyword must appear at least once so that the page can be found in this context. However, the focus is on good legibility. If keywords are used too often, this can be classified as spam – with negative consequences for the search engine ranking of the website.
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Seo Myth 3: Meta Keywords – The Key To Success
As the second myth shows, keywords no longer have the power they might a few months ago. This also applies to meta keywords that are invisible to the user in the code of the page. Many content management systems such as WordPress offer the function of defining a focus keyword for a blog post or a homepage.
According to the company’s own statements, the “meta keyword” has not played a role in the ranking on Google for several years. However, this does not apply to other information such as the meta description or the title – these are still read by Google. For this reason, it is particularly important to use the keyword here.
Seo Myth 4: Expandable Content Is A Veritable Seo Killer
Fold-out content is a popular way of keeping pages with lots of content organized. Not every reader is interested in the big picture and maybe looking for specific information. Especially in the mobile view, fold-out boxes can mean that the user is not overwhelmed by the multitude of information.
However, concerns that search engines do not record these fold-out texts prove to be superfluous: These are recognized and evaluated by Google and Co. It is true, however, that search engines rate these “hidden” texts as less important. Significant passages of text should therefore best be found in the normal running text – without the user having to expand a specific area first.
Seo Myth 5: Your Seo Work Is Immediately Reflected In The Results
A few optimizations here, a few adjustments there and your own page is already number one in the Google results? Unfortunately, it is not that easy and fast. SEO is a long-distance run and can require a lot of testing and trying out. Is Google just too slow? Yes and no.
Simple actions such as indexing a new page are very quick. However, it can take several weeks for the results of processes such as link building to become noticeable or for the page to be found under certain search terms. Because the search engine algorithm is constantly changing and optimizing, SEO work on a website is also an ongoing process that is never finished.
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Conclusion: Google Is Not King, But The User
There are numerous errors and half-truths floating around when it comes to SEO. For the ranking of a homepage and, as a result, also the success of a company and optimization of the internet presence for search engines is sometimes decisive. What counts is relevant content! The algorithms from Google and Co. are now mature enough to recognize when a website or blog post is relevant for readers and when not.
The first place in the search results is only expedient if the users get what they were looking for on the page: relevant information, interesting content. These are the basic ingredients for a company to be remembered by the target audience. The most important SEO rule is therefore always: Good and effective content is produced for people.