SEO Mythbusters!

With so much information out there, it’s hard to know what to implement and what to ignore when it comes to search engine optimisation. And since SEO is constantly changing and evolving, we thought we’d bust some myths when it comes to the internet’s most loved buzzword, SEO.

Let the debunking begin.

1. Social media has ZERO effect on my SEO

Just because Google won’t factor your number of likes into their algorithm (yet!), social media does however build your audience, refers people directly to your site, and therefore produces an ongoing stream of traffic to your site which signals to Google that your content is valuable to people.

2. I can just rely on my “magic” keywords

Magic keywords are a wonderful idea, and if they truly offered long term SEO, we would all save ourselves a lot of time! But the truth is, humans search for things in a variety of ways and to add to this, English is a very complex language – there can be six or seven ways of saying the same phrase! So the real magic lies in well written, well rounded content accompanied by long tailed keywords.

3. I don’t need a secure site for good SEO

The difference between a site that starts with HTTP and one that starts with HTTPS is that the latter with the additional S stands for “secure”. For atleast six months now, Google has been factoring this element into their algorithm. This means if you have a HTTP site, you may have noticed a decline in your ranking when this was implemented.

4. SEO is for the search engine ONLY – not the users

As we mentioned before, SEO is constantly evolving, and it has improved dramatically in favour of the user. It’s not just all about page ranking these days, it’s about leading people to relevant content. But it’s really upto you to make this work for you, Google, and the user, by firstly optimising your site, and then having great content to keep them there and further boost your ranking.

5. SEO and inbound marketing aren’t linked

With social media now working in favour of your SEO, the two are very strongly linked. Inbound marketing is all about reeling in the new potential clients with your engaging content and marketing materials, and by promoting this via social media (Facebook, LinkeIn, google+, Instagram, Twitter) your traffic will increase and your SEO will hopefully get a nice boost as well.

Want to know more about SEO and how to use it properly? Ask the SEO experts!