5 SEO myths busted by a marketing agency in Dorset
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a crucial part of any marketing strategy, no matter how big or small your business is. And once you have wrapped your head around it, it is something that can generate a lot of high quality organic leads.
But when it is shrouded by so many myths, knowing what to do and where to start can be difficult. In this article, we want to bust 5 of the biggest myths around SEO.
1. Myth: SEO is dead
As Google develops and changes it’s search engine results page, more and more people are losing faith in SEO and are therefore spreading the belief that it is dead.
More recently Google has started serving up their answers in response to a question. This means that the searcher gets a quick response and no longer needs to dig around. While this is likely to impact the amount of clicks you will receive, it is unlikely to completely stop all clicks to your content as Google will show results for that keyword.
You should remember that as long as search engines are serving up organic results, SEO will never die.
This myth shouldn’t stop you from starting to put together a SEO strategy. Our search engine marketing team can help you with every aspect of your SEO, from keyword research to getting backlinks.
2. Myth: SEO is a one time thing
It is common to hear a surprised gasp when we talk about maintaining SEO. A lot of beginners will think they need to optimise their content once and leave it to work. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Keywords that are being searched will change, so you need to change your content to keep up with that; otherwise your content will no longer be viewed as relevant by Google, and will stop being shown on the results page.
You also need to consider the fact that there will always be someone out there with more content on that subject than you, so the more you write the more authority you have.
Also by neglecting your SEO strategy, you are giving competitors a chance to overtake you in the rankings.
Once you start a SEO strategy, you should keep up with it. This is something that a digital marketing agency will help with. If you think you might need help maintaining your SEO strategy, email us info@cwmarketing.co.uk.
3. Myth: Meta tags don’t matter
Meta tags are used to give previews of the content in the search results. Meta tags have 3 elements to them:
- The title tag
- The meta description
- Meta phrase or keyword
The only necessary element is the title tag, the other parts are optional. However, it is best practice to write meta descriptions and use meta keywords because without them, Google is likely to pull content from the page as a preview on the search result.
The meta keywords aren’t used by Google as ranking factors, however the meta descriptions are, so you should spend time on writing them.
Not only are they used in the algorithm for ranking on the search page, but meta descriptions also make the search result more attractive, leading to more clicks.
As part of our search engine marketing service we can go through websites and add meta tags where it is missing, so that your site has more chance of ranking in the top positions of a search results page.
4. Myth: You don’t need to use keywords in your anchor text
Anchor text is the words that are used as the hyperlinked text.
Constantly using keyword rich anchor text (anchor text that includes the keywords you are targeting) can mean your site is penalised by Google. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use keyword rich anchor text at all.
The trick is to find a balance, and vary the phrasing of the anchor text throughout the page. Make sure that your primary and secondary keywords are used as anchor text, as well as any generic keywords, and your brand name.
Don’t be afraid to use generic words like “click here” or “read this” every now and then either.
Keyword rich anchor text will definitely help your rankings, so don’t believe the myth that you don’t need to use keywords in your anchor text.
5. Myth: Keyword research isn’t important
Keyword research is very important in any SEO strategy… otherwise how will you know what words you should be targeting?
If you are just guessing this, then you could be missing out on traffic from high quality keywords for your website. Keyword research will allow you to find out what the most popular ways of searching your topic are, so you can optimise your content to be shown as a result for those searches.
Once you know what your keywords are, you will then need to be careful not to over optimise for them; don’t shove them into a paragraph where they don’t fit, and vary the anchor text. Google can penalise you for excessive use of the keyword.
As a marketing agency in Dorset, we will always undertake sophisticated keyword research when setting out an SEO plan. As digital SEO specialists we are always happy to assist with and complete keyword research.
Need more help Busting SEO Myths?
There are many more myths about SEO that we haven’t touched on in this article. So if you think you could do with some help figuring out fact from fiction, get in contact with us.
At CW Marketing, we can help with any aspect of SEO, providing guidance, suggestions and implementation of any adjustments that might help improve the visibility and prominence of your content.
Give us a call on 01202 888200 or email us at info@cwmarketing.co.uk. For more top tips and marketing resources, like our Facebook or LinkedIn pages.