Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a changing landscape. The methods that were common practice and effective only 2-3 years ago are now probably a sure-fire way to destroy your website.

Google innovates and changes their algorithms so often because they want the best possible experience for their users. And we have to keep testing and adapting to keep up with these changes. But since you don’t need any real qualification or certification to be an SEO professional, anyone can claim to be an expert and make claims on what methods the algorithms are currently responding to the most.

That is how SEO myths are born. Of course, Google does nothing to condone or condemn these because they don’t want anyone to manipulate rankings in their search engine. In fact, it is safe to argue that they further propagate the myths, to keep people distracted, confused and overwhelmed, so as to dissuade them from even attempting SEO.

So what exactly are these myths? Well, there are dozens but in this article, we’re going to talk about the 3 biggest ones that you have probably heard or read somewhere.

 

Myth #1: SEO Is Dead

You’re likely to hear this from 2 kinds of search engine optimization professionals or “experts”: one who has been in the industry for several years and one who has been trying to get into digital marketing with a focus on SEO. They both have one thing in common: failure. They failed to either completely understand SEO, to develop the skill of actually being able to move websites in the search rankings for profitable keywords or to monetize SEO. Either way, the outcome was that they gave up and are convinced that SEO is dead and it’s going to be “all Ads in the future”.

SEO is very much alive. It is a living breathing beast that is always changing and if you want to be successful in it and have stable, safe and long-term rankings, you need to constantly innovate, have mastermind groups and push the boundaries. There’s no room for people who have a habit of putting up an Ad on Tuesday and expecting calls on Wednesday.

 

Myth #2: Social Media Activity Boosts Your Rankings on Google

Social media is great for business. As far as SEO is concerned, seeing links between your website and social media sites is Google’s way of knowing that your business is interacting with people and active in the community, not just a dormant website.

But it does NOT rank your website. In fact, it does not even significantly contribute towards it. A link from Facebook or Twitter to your website is worth extremely little. Why? Think about it, Google wants websites at the top that are experts in the field that the user is searching information for. Experts are generally people who are highly regarded and endorsed by several other professionals in the same industry. In the world of the Internet, a link is an endorsement. Anyone can post a link on Facebook or Twitter. There are no minimum criteria, except for having an account. As such, there’s no credibility and no reason for Google to give any value to that link.

 

Myth #3: There Are Over 200 Factors For SEO

You have probably read this somewhere or heard it when someone was trying to sell you their services (“It’s good for your SEO”). Perhaps, technically this is not a myth. There may well be over 200 factors that Google’s algorithm takes into consideration when assessing a website’s quality and rank. But when one ranks websites consistently by just focusing on 5-6 factors at most, one starts to wonder how important the other 194 really are.

The most common place you’re going to hear this is from people who are selling a service or a software and want to use the promise of a Google boost, to boost their sales. So next time someone tells you that you need to do what they’re saying because it’s good for your Google rankings, ask them where they rank.

 

Contributed by: Aaron Gruenke SEO Specialist, internet marketer and author.