SEO optimisation is all about getting organic traffic to your website. It’s the main reason why businesses have been focusing on churning out blogs multiple times a week. While SEO content writing is about including certain keywords and phrases to increase visibility, that is not all there is to it.Â
Most people are unaware of the problems they’re making, making their rankings drop instead. So, we’re debunking 10 SEO myths that might be responsible for your website’s downfall.Â
Â
SEO Myth 1: Keyword Research is Not ImportantÂ
Most people think that focusing on a relevant keyword would be enough to write content. However, that would mean that your page would rank for that certain word or phrase, which would minimise your potential visibility.Â
Incorporating keyword synonyms can increase your rank for supplemental searches. Checking the terms’ traffic volume can help you determine if they are of value or not. Besides, even though Google continues to function based on algorithms, keyword targeting can do wonders for your visibility.Â
Â
SEO Myth 2: The Higher the Number of Keywords, the Better
Now that you have done your research, you’re probably thinking about condensing your writing with as many keywords as possible. That’s where most people go wrong. Keyword stuffing, that is overloading your content with significant terms, is a black-hat SEO tactic that will earn you a penalty from search engines.Â
You want your keyword density to be less than 3%. They should flow naturally throughout the article and not feel forced.Â
Â
SEO Myth 3: Readability doesn’t Matter, only Keywords do
This may feel similar to Myth 2, but it is important to realise that SEO optimisation is not just about keywords. When a reader comes to your content, the writing should draw them in and keep them intrigued enough to stay longer on your page. If your visitors click away because of the lack of coherence, you won’t be able to generate leads as well.Â
A writing tip would be to include a more active voice than passive one, as it will help keep the reader engaged. Another tip is to keep the sentences simple and paragraphs small to increase readability.Â
Â
SEO Myth 4: Reusing Same Content Will Help You Rank BetterÂ
Recycling existing content can certainly help your marketing strategy. However, each piece of content should have a unique perspective and include updated information to answer recent trends or questions/queries. Having the ‘freshness’ aspect will indicate the quality of your information.Â
Repurposing content for SEO is a strategy in itself and needs to be tactfully done to achieve the desired results.Â
Â
SEO Myth 5: Content-heavy Homepage Will Bring in More AudienceÂ
Unfortunately, an overcrowded and complex homepage will overwhelm your audience with unnecessary information. You want to create specific pages for each service/product/query so that visitors can find information faster and create better conversion rates. By distributing your relevant terms across different web pages will help you rank better and prevent you from dumping your keywords into the homepage.Â
Home pages should have about 500-2000 words.Â
Â
SEO Myth 6: Longer Contents Will Make Your Visitors Stay LongerÂ
According to recent research, humans have an attention span of less than 8 seconds! That means, they want answers quickly and won’t read beyond what they’re looking for. So, your content needs to be to the point but still contain in-depth information. It will also increase the notability of any Call-to-Actions (CTAs) in the content.Â
Â
SEO Myth 7: Posting-Frequency Doesn’t Matter if You Have AuthorityÂ
Considering that you are using the right keywords in the right amounts and have the relevant content with the right length, you might think that posting once in a while should be enough. Sadly, that’s a myth.Â
You want to drive organic traffic to your website, and posting a minimum of 2-3 articles per week would generate better leads. And with more materials, you can target more keywords. Most blogs publish at least one piece of content daily.Â
Â
SEO Myth 8: Including Images without Optimising Should be Enough
Most content creators religiously include images within their content for Google to display their pages as rich results. Some may even include the alt text with just the bare minimum of words and think that it should work. But according to website accessibility, alt texts should be descriptive as possible, for both people with visual impairments and Google to understand.Â
It is important to put equal effort into optimising images as your write.Â
Â
SEO Myth 9: Every Backlink Is HelpfulÂ
Backlinks are links in external websites that direct the audience to your page and are extremely important in SEO. However, backlinks in dodgy websites can create misconceptions about the trustworthiness of your content. Moreover, being linked to multiple spam websites can increase your chances of getting penalised by Google.Â
Â
SEO Myth 10: SEO is all about Getting Your Content to Rank First in SERPÂ
While having your website top SERP should be your goal, it doesn’t mean you’re failing if you’re unable to achieve so. It takes time and consistent effort to get your pages to rank higher, so you shouldn’t expect fast results. Remember, any company that promises significant results fast might be using black-hat techniques.Â
Be patient and do not cancel your SEO campaign if you think you’re not seeing relevant outcomes. This might mean that your SEO is working, but you would just need to tweak the campaign a little to improve the results.Â
Don’t Believe Every SEO Trick You See | SEO Sydney
SEO optimising is an art, and you might see wonderful results if you’re doing all the right things. But we know it can be easy to get overwhelmed, especially if you’re a beginner. Consulting with an expert will make sure you are learning the right facts and not falling into the same trap as many other businesses out there.
