These SEO myths did the rounds in 2015, 2018, and ugh… Here they are again! And I will say this: I can’t stress enough how search algorithms are changing all the time. If you got your SEO advice from an article written in 2015, I can say with 99% certainty that information is likely misleading. (Honestly, if you’ve discovered this article in 2030 somehow, you might as well disregard it!)

So let’s move onward into those SEO myths that commonly crop up!

Myth 1: SEO is a one-time task

If you were thinking “doing SEO” meant a one off exercise… Think again!

While it’s true that several things should be in place on a website just before, and after a launch, there’s more that can be done on an ongoing basis. Specifically, adding SEO-friendly content over time content will provide new avenues of entry for potential new customers. This may look like adding blog entries or knowledgebase articles. These not only highlight your expertise, but also position you as one who keeps up to date.

The other thing is, your competitors will be doing activities to enhance their position on Google as well. This may include getting backlinks; Which are essentially links to your website that act as votes of confidence to the search ranking algorithm.

You can obtain backlinks by creating content that’s so good that everyone will link it! You can also get backlinks by guest posting on other websites, or getting your link inserted in existing articles… But this is a topic for another day!

Myth 2: More keywords mean better ranking

This SEO myth is something that may have possibly worked in 2010. But it’s 2024 now y’all! Technology moves quickly, and search engines like Google usually stamp out tactics that are trying to game the system.

The way it used to work is that you’d try to cram as many keywords as you can (or instances of a particular keyword) on your web page. But it also meant that you could get away with any dog-barf content (or lack thereof) as long as keywords were present. This no longer works. And the reason is because search engines now (in theory) want to rank web pages that provide helpful solutions and good user experiences. Keyword stuffing is also considered to be a black hat SEO strategy. This is a kind of strategy that has the potential for more harm than good.

Myth 3: SEO is all about ranking #1

Speaking of user experience, that’s actually the point of deep diving into your SEO. Search engines like Google want to make sure that their results not only match a searcher’s query, but they also made the search worthwhile.

And yes, even though you can get on the top listings off search results with Google Ads, the ad-ranking algorithm takes into account any effort you put in for organic SEO. This means that if you try to skip SEO entirely by paying for ads, your link might not show at all!

Myth 4: Social media doesn’t impact SEO

Social media does impact your website’s ranking in search results… Just not in the way you might think!

Being present and popular on social media does actually help with brand awareness. And with increased brand awareness, comes increased search volume for your brand name and/or product and service names!

Myth 5: Backlinks are no longer important

Actually, yes backlinks are still important. (I wouldn’t have mentioned them earlier if I didn’t think they were.)

It seems the problem with backlinks is when you get too many low quality ones. Especially when you buy them. Backlink quantity over quality is one of the smellier SEO myths that needs to get in the bin. Google doesn’t like it. Again, because it looks like an obvious thing to gain the system, rather than provide something helpful.

So yes, backlinks are still relevant in 2024. And quality is better than quantity when it comes to getting other sites to link to yours.

Conclusion

I hope you learned something new and helpful about these SEO myths! Although I am very passionate about SEO and getting it right, sadly it is not among my core offerings. (I will get the basics up on any website I create for you though.)

➡️ With ever-changing algorithms, in my opinion, I think it’s important to keep up to date with SEO best practices. This especially true if you’re very hands-on with your website’s SEO, or you’re looking to outsource some help! If you’d like to keep your SEO knowledge fresh, I highly recommend subscribing to Kate Toon’s website: The Recipe for SEO Success.

This is not a sponsored link! I just really love Kate Toon for getting SEO advice.

Happy website building!