Contrary to what many gurus will have you think, SEO is not an exact science. A lot of it is hearsay and speculation. As a result, many myths have begun floating around.
Some may be well known by most, but some are very pervasive, and you’ll even hear experts quote them from time to time. This is why it’s very important to stay abreast of the most recent changes when it comes to SEO, and constantly readjust your strategy. Let’s take a look at a few SEO myths that should be dispelled immediately.
A High Bounce Rate Will Destroy Your Search Engine Results
This is a myth that you’ll hear often, and it makes sense when you first hear it. After all, if someone visits a site and bounces out immediately, it must mean that it was bad, right? Well, not really.
A high bounce rate could actually be a good thing. Imagine a Wikipedia page getting penalised because someone found exactly the information they wanted and bounced out? Or someone looking for contact information who finds it on the first page of a website then leaves?
Google understands that bounce rates can be tricky, and while it was rumoured for a long time that they could affect search engine results, there is no verifiable evidence of that. Google doesn’t even have a way to monitor bounce rates in people who aren’t using Google Analytics. So, while bounce rates are something that you should understand, they won’t hurt or help your SEO.
Keyword Density Matters
It doesn’t. Aiming for a certain percentage of keywords is a waste of time. While your core keywords need to be featured in your content, it has to flow naturally and be written for humans first. Attempts at keyword manipulation will hurt you more than anything these days, so avoid it at all costs.
You should be concentrating on making sure that your meta tags and description are relevant and actually descriptive. They should also feature your main keywords but in a natural way.
Links don’t Matter Anymore
That is not true. While you can’t expect to get rankings from high PR irrelevant .edu site links like you used to, links are still a major ranking factor. It’s the approach that changed. Google emphasises high-quality content from relevant sources. And this is something you might have difficulty knocking down on your own.
This is why it is sensible to work with an expert team for building links. Firms like Vudu are a great example. They will be able to craft a content marketing strategy just for you and make sure that your content ends up in the right places. This is the best way to get organic links these days, and this will always pay off with Google.
These are only a few of the top myths about SEO you should forget right now. Instead, speak with someone who actually knows SEO, and do as much independent research as you can.
