What is the Truth: Analyzing SEO Misinformation

There seems to be nothing more mysterious in the digital world than the letters of SEO. Navigating the world of search engine optimization can be frustrating and confusing. While some websites seem to flourish, others flounder. Even by doing your own research, there is a lot of misinformation on the world wide web that can be so confusing. So, while everyone can benefit from the driving power of SEO, let’s take a look at some misinformation that is out there and how to identify misinformation in the future.

The Power of Backlinks:

While content is exceedingly powerful at building an online audience, backlinks direct users to your website and it are a vital component of SEO. Building links is an underrated tactic used in SEO. Links are a signal to Google that your site is a quality resource worthy of citation. So, sites with more backlinks tend to earn higher rankings. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to build links to your site.

There are some services out there that will sell you backlinks, but the better and longer lasting results will come from natural link building. Organic link building is a difficult, time-consuming process since not all links are created equal. A link from a well-established and authoritative website like the Wall Street Journal will have a greater impact on your rankings than a link from a small or newly built website. It takes time and energy, but it can be done.

Meta Keywords are Outdated:

Google algorithms comb webpages for keywords that users search to point users to that webpage. However, when Google was first starting out, they gave preference to keyword density because a webpage with a multitude of query terms was likely relevant to the searcher. This started the use of Meta keywords by many SEO experts who wanted to stuff pages full of keywords. Meta keywords are a type of meta tag in the HTML source code of a webpage.

However, Meta keywords no longer have any relevance on SEO and do not influence organic rankings. Google has altered how keywords affect ranking – instead of a simple formula for the volume of keywords, websites need to produce relevant, high-quality content that might include keywords or might not.

Search Engine Submissions:

When you first launch a website, you will probably start receiving requests from “SEO site submission” companies to pay them to submit your site to search engines. While at one time this was a valid strategy with Google, search engines are now powerful enough to see your website not only as soon as the site is live but as soon as the domain is registered.

Google Penalties:

What many people mistakenly call penalties are actually changes to Google’s algorithm. SEO rules are constantly changing which often shakes up rankings by valuing and devaluing web pages in different ways. The next time a webpage drops in rank, you may want to investigate manual actions in your Google Search Console before jumping to conclusions about penalties. While not all drops in rankings are a result of a penalty, there are some penalties you should be aware of. Here is a list 13 penalties, or manual actions, and how to fix them.

How to Identify SEO Misinformation

This is not an exhaustive list of SEO misinformation, but it is a good start. The rules are constantly changing and as you search for new SEO news and updates, here are a few techniques for sorting SEO truth from fiction:

• Look for fact-based insights: If an opinion isn’t backed by facts and data, you shouldn’t trust it.
• Recognize context: Sometimes, articles will use quotations from experts in the field to back up their opinions, but it’s important to investigate the main sources of those quotations to establish credibility. Oftentimes, quotes are taken out of context and manipulated to prove a completely different point.
• Talk to SEO experts. If you continue to be confused about who and what to trust, you can rely on Webster Digital Marketing to provide valuable insights and advice.

Let us take the Guesswork out of SEO

Webster Digital Marketing can take the burden of understanding the constant changing rules of SEO to boost your online presence and rank on search engines. We would love to work with you to improve your online presence! Contact us today to learn more.