Current Myths About SEO

I wanted to put together a quick 5 point list about some of the Myths that I see out there today about SEO.

1. SEO is Dead – I love our industry but this is one of the latest catch phrases flying around the internet.  Folks are always looking for new catch phrases and marketing gimmicks and this is one of them.  It was born out of the recent Google algorithm updates which rightly targeted SPAM sites out there.  Now everyone is speaking of Content Marketing.  Well for those that did SEO correctly, they would know that Content was always a large part of doing SEO the RIGHT way!  SEO will never be dead, after all it is Optimizing your site for search engines.  Sure the search engines will change  their algorithms from time to time, but you still will need to optimize your site for those changes.  Links, Content, keywords, design etc will always be part of SEO.  The good thing about the current misconception is that it creates opportunity.  Everyone will now focus heavily on content and neglect the core SEO work which is good for you and me.
2. Results are Guaranteed – Be careful of this.  How can we guarantee a client results when we don’t know the exact rules of the game?  Google and search engines don’t tell us exactly how their algorithm works, otherwise everyone would just game the system.  However, from experience we have a very good idea of what works and what doesn’t and the necessary steps, but providing guarantees is a little dangerous and too commonly thrown about in our industry. SEO strategies also need to be CUSTOMIZED for each business.  No one strategy works for all.
3. Trusting Your Web Designer – I don’t want to hurt feeling here, but hiring your web designer to do SEO will not help you in the long term.  Look I design sites, but I know when a client comes knocking for a dynamic and powerful site, I step aside and hand it over to my designer.  The same goes for the folks who run client specific tasks like Pinterest campaigns for example.  Get the expert, not someone who knows a little and the pick up a little extra service cash
4. Listing Your Site With Hundreds of Search Engines – There is no need to do this at all.  They all get their data from 4 sources only.  Don’t let someone tell you otherwise or charge you dollars for something that is unnecessary.
5. Guessing Your Keywords – Knowing the right keywords is the foundation of your SEO campaign.  Please don’t guess even if you have been in business for 30 years.  Hire a pro to thoroughly research and identify ALL keywords and not just the most popular that everyone is chasing.