21 Spectacularly Wrong but Common SEO Myths

21 Spectacularly A Bit Wrong but Common SEO Myths

Let’s start with the basics...

PPC

SEO

Some of the main aims of SEO...Improve website technically by:

● Fixing any issues with elements that Google (Bing, Yahoo etc.) use for crawling

Improve website visibility by:

● Improving content quality, relevance, uniqueness & value

Improve website usability by:

● Improving elements such as website speed and device compatibility

Improve website authority by:

● Acquiring backlinks, mentions and social shares from around the web

Why is SEO important?● Allows Google’s robots to find and index a website into it’s

search results

● It ensures that the search engine knows exactly what a

website is selling/promoting/writing about

● Users can find your website when carrying out closely-

related searches

● It is the most cost-effective way of ensuring long-lasting,

organic coverage in the search engine results

● There’s no point having a great website if nobody can find

it!

There’s a lot of bullshit mythology in the world of SEO

Client Misconceptions

“SEO is easy and quick”

(“How long until we rank #1?”)

Manage expectations

● NOBODY can promise results of any kind when it comes to SEO

● We are not Google! There is no magic formula

● We can only follow best-practices, test and learn

● SEO needs to be worked on over a long-term

● It can take months/years to achieve real success

● Promising #1 rankings dangerous and will lose you trust/credibility if/when not achieved

● Open and honest approach is best

“We did SEO once, we don’t need to do it again”

SEO is an ongoing activity

● Search engine algorithms change all the time (hundreds of times per year!)

● Competition is not standing still

● Technical elements of website can break

● Content needs to be kept fresh

● Backlinks lose impact

“Let’s launch the site, then do some SEO”

SEO should be involved early in the process

This will ensure best practices are implemented from the outset, in place for first crawl

● Keywords● Meta titles and descriptions● URL’s● H1’s and other headings● URL mapping & 301 redirects● Google Analytics inc. Goals and Events● Webmaster Tools● XML Sitemap● Custom 404● Robots.txt

“But we do PPC, so we don’t need to do SEO”

PPC

SEO

PPC

SEO

PPC and SEO can complement each other● Increases visibility of your website on search results pages

● Protects your brand SERP

● Use different messaging styles

● Attract different stages of buying cycle

● Share keyword data, test keywords on PPC

● Push down negative PR

● REDUCES SPEND IN THE LONG RUN

Rankings

Ranking for the big keywords is the key to success

What for?

High relevance > High volume

● It’s often better to focus on targeted/longer-tail keywords

● Ensures greater quality of traffic

● The content users find on your website will meet their needs

● Reduces bounce rate, increases engagement

● = Usability points!!!

You need to rank #1 to be successful

Organic search click-through rates

http://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/google-organic-click-through-rates-2014/

You need to offer a good experience

Primark Not Primark

Search results act as your ‘store front’

Googling ‘mortgage advisor newbury’ - top 3 organic results

Think of the user first

● No point having a shop in a great location if it frustrates people

● They may not come back, or may not interact at all

● No point having a number 1 ranking and not enticing them in

● May work for brand loyal customers, unlikely to attract new ones

● Work to improve user experience

● Create well-written meta to increase CTR from SERPs

Do PPC and you’ll rank better on SEO

No evidence to prove this theory

Likely that companies doing PPC:

● Have bigger marketing budgets● Are bigger brands● Therefore have more authoritative websites● Meaning they find it easier to rank

Doing PPC also:

● Makes you improve landing pages to increase Quality Score● Likely to be a relationship between how this is scored with ability to rank

organically

Link Building

SEO is all about getting links

● Google’s algorithms traditionally built on link signals

● This became exploited for a number of years, and lead to many spammy practices, including:○ Links from spammy website and networks○ Over-optimised/anchor-text links○ Unnatural link profiles

● In 2012 Google introduced the ‘Penguin’ algorithm, which penalised websites partaking in such unnatural link practices

Google Penguin put a stop to that

It all went wrong for Interflora

so does this mean…?

Link building doesn’t work anymore

2015 Ranking Factors survey would say NO

Links are still important

● It’s just the way that link building is done has changed

● Manipulative tactics of old now dangerous and should be avoided

● Penguin 4.0 and real-time updates will make this even more important

● Naturally acquired links still the biggest signal of trust and authority for Google

● Quality, useful content, PR, building strong relationships

Link building only works if you use keyword anchor text

Link anchor text should be diverse

● Aim for a high proportion of brand variations and URLs

● Think how Google would think - natural links would not be perfect keyword

matches

● If not, expect Google Penguin to come knocking!

NoFollow links won’t help me

What is NoFollow?

Of course there are still benefits!

● Naturally placed on good websites, nofollow links can still:

○ Refer relevant traffic

○ Provide awareness of your brand

○ Potential sales/engagement

○ Potential for further backlinks/social shares

SEO has been replaced - by content marketing!

Google Panda

● First introduced in 2011

● Focused on providing quality content

● Penalised low quality, ‘thin’ or ‘farmed’

content

● An ongoing algorithm, one of Google’s largest

● Likely we’ll also see this run in real-time soon

● With Penguin, lead to more ‘content

marketing’ approach

Aims of SEO, revisited...

Improve website technically by:

● Fixing any issues with elements that Google (Bing, Yahoo etc.) use for crawling

Improve website visibility by:

● Improving content quality, relevance, uniqueness & value

Improve website usability by:

● Improving elements such as website speed and device compatibility

Improve website authority by:

● Acquiring backlinks, mentions and social shares from around the web

Content marketing has always existed!

● Both Panda and Penguin algorithms have refocused the aims of some SEO strategies

● But there has always been a need to create good content

● Creating content for the sake of creating content is pointless

● Ends up becoming another overused tactic

● SEO has numerous aims, not forgetting the technical and usability elements!

Your content needs to achieve a keyword density of X%

Keyword stuffing - in action...

Write for users first

● Content should be written naturally

● First and foremost users should be able to understand it - do not write for bots

● Keyword stuffed content poor for usability, likely to be penalised

● Keywords should appear but naturally

Duplicate content = penalisation

What actually happens...

What actually happens...

Duplicate content doesn’t lead to penalisation

● It can however be ignored completely by the search engines

● Difficult to compete if other, more authoritative site has the same content

● Also works internally, important to have each page unique

● Divides backlinks and therefore authority being passed to the page

● Can generally be resolved with a canonical tag (internally)

● Google can be informed & use the Digital Millennium Copywright Act to resolve

High bounce rate = WORST THING EVER

But...

What type of site are you?

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/decrease-website-bounce-rate-infographic

Assess the situation of bounce rate first

● High bounce rate generally not good

● However every type of site is different so not black and white

● Tips to lower bounce rate include:

○ Improve page speed○ Enhance usability○ Improve content

Technical

Exact-match domains mean top rankings

Another exploited tactic, biting the dust

They can do well...

EMD’s can’t be used for short term gains

● Exact match domains need to have already established good authority

● Once commonly used > Now setting them up for SEO purposes likely to result in a

penalty

● Google prefers real brands

● If content on the site caters to a keyword it doesn’t matter what the domain is

● Strong authority, good usability etc more important

The keyword meta tag tells Google what you want to rank for

The keyword meta tag is pointless

● Has absolutely no impact on rankings for the keywords you use

● Can give competitors visibility into your keyword strategy (view source)

● Always leave out/remove and keep this info for yourself

Well developed website = well optimised website

Not a case of ‘build it and they will come’

● Whilst a website may look great, doesn’t mean it is ‘SEO’d’

● Google is clever, but not magic. Technical SEO signals are required

● Will developers have added XML sitemaps? Meta titles & descriptions? Canonical

tags? Redirects?

● Back to myth #3 (We’ll do some SEO after Go Live)

● If not done throughout process, SEO may have a lot of work to do with development

afterwards to fix issues

When I move my website all will be fine!

or: I’ll launch a new website and my rankings will improve straight away!

If not done properly it can go very wrong!● Carrying out an SEO friendly website migration:

○ Crawl current site○ Figure out what you want to keep/what you want to scrap

■ Check backlinks for each URL■ Check Google Analytics for visits/engagement

○ Get list of all pages on new site○ URL map pages with most relevance and authority○ Ensure 301 redirects and implemented○ Check for no broken links○ Migrate Google Analytics/Webmaster Tools accounts○ Remove ‘no index no follow’○ Careful monitoring post-live is needed

404 errors are terrible and must be sorted right now!!

Other 404 page examples

No need to panic!

● Bigger issue is when a dead page DOES NOT use a 404 (resulting in Soft 404)

● Regular 404 errors are an expected part of websites

● Situation needs to be assessed - if being caused by broken links then these should be

fixed

● Redirects can be used if relevant

● If page no longer exists in that form a 404 error page a good option

● Make fun and engaging, give users the option to go elsewhere

And finally… the classic myth

SEO is Dead(apparently)

WRONG - it is just evolving

“Old” SEO

● Technical elements

● Rewriting content with keywords

● Link building

SEO today ● Optimising for various devices

● Improving user experience

● Creating a brand

● Increasing PR coverage

● Engaging with audience (social

media)

● Content and keywords for all stages

of buying cycle

● Technical elements

● Rewriting content with keywords

● Link building