7 SEO Myths, Debunked
7 SEO Myths, Debunked
Listen up, folks - I'm about to drop some knowledge on SEO that might just blow your mind. You see, despite the plethora of information out there about search engine optimization, most of what you know is probably dead wrong.
I mean, think about it - you can search for SEO news, tutorials, tips, and guides until your eyes glaze over, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're actually competent at SEO. In fact, based on my experience interviewing hundreds of candidates, I've found that truly great SEO marketers are few and far between.
Sure, many marketers recognize the importance of SEO and have dabbled in it to some extent, but that's not the same as being a true SEO master. I can't tell you how many content marketers I've spoken to who think that stuffing a website with target keywords is all it takes to "do SEO." That might have worked back in the day, but these days, SEO is way more competitive and Google's algorithm is much more holistic. It's not just about content anymore - search engines also take into account a website's design, development, and marketing.
But fear not, my friends, for I have enlisted the help of some serious SEO gurus to set the record straight. I recently caught a session with my boys Eli Schwartz and Bernard Huang at Demand Curve's Growth Summit, where they debunked some common SEO myths and shared what's hot (and what's not) in the world of search engine optimization.
7 SEO Myths You Should Stop Believing
Myth 1: You absolutely must have an SEO strategy.
Hold up - not so fast.
SEO isn't always a one-size-fits-all solution for every business out there. Sometimes, startups need to prioritize other channels before focusing on SEO. As Eli Schwartz says, "Don't just do SEO for the sake of it." For example, B2B companies might not find SEO to be a good fit, and neither will products that are too innovative. And if your competitors are already killing it with their SEO game, that doesn't necessarily mean you should be copying them blindly. Instead, focus on the user journey and build your SEO strategy around that.
Bernard Huang also notes that if you can't find a solid competitor who's killing it with organic search, then SEO might not be the right move for you. And if your Google ads aren't working, then SEO might not be the solution to your problems either.
Finally, Huang cautions that early-stage startups should be careful about investing too much money in SEO, as it can take up to six months before you start seeing any real traction.
So there you have it, folks - some SEO myths busted and some solid advice from some SEO masters. Don't say I never gave you anything good!
Myth 2: You need to target the keywords with the highest search volume.
People tend to aim for the highest volume keywords, thinking that since more people are searching for these keywords, the more traffic you can direct to your website by using them. But these keywords may be extremely competitive.
“Don’t look for highest volume keywords, but look for product need,” says Schwartz. “Users should know your value proposition. Focus on content that makes sense for your customers, and give your customers what they need.”
By targeting more-relevant keywords with lower competitiveness, you’ll have a better chance of ranking. Once you’ve nailed that, consider adding variety: use keyword phrases and local keywords, and try ranking for your subtopics.
Myth 3: You must secure high-authority backlinks, even if it means months of cold outreach or paying for them.
Backlinks matter. But the degree to which they matter is declining.
I’ve seen so many articles over the years talking about building-out a process of cold email outreach to other blogs with high domain authority, trying to solicit backlinks. There are agencies who will operate this process for you. And there are some who will even try to sell you backlinks. But in today’s world, because backlinks are declining in importance, these approaches no longer makes sense. I’ve personally grown a website from zero to the second page of google for my target keywords, with zero backlinks at all.
When asked if it’s better to invest in a few high-authority backlinks or a greater number of medium-authority backlinks, Schwartz and Huang both said that neither option seemed viable.
“In some cases, backlinks will help, like if you’re just getting started. But Google is looking for different factors, like backlinks, authority, how a topic is performing over time,” says Huang. “If you have no authority, backlink building helps. And once you prove that you have quality, useful content, get off backlinks and just put it on content.”
Myth 4: You need to fill your page with keywords to rank high.
15-20 years ago, you could easily conquer Google’s page 1 by squeezing keywords in every sentence. This resulted in a ton of awkwardly written pieces—but hey, who cares about readability and sentence structure when your keyword-rich article is at the top, right?
Thankfully, Google has vastly improved since then, and they’ve been quite transparent about a lot of the algorithms that influence their rankings. Instead of only looking at keyword density, Google (and other search engines) also take into consideration user intent, backlinks, relevance, and the kind of content that users really want to see. This makes ranking very hard—but you can’t go wrong by creating well-written content you won’t be embarrassed by.
“Companies should be writing content they’d like to show on social media, email, and other mediums,” says Schwartz. “Don’t just write content that’s stuffed with keywords. You should be proud of your content.”
“Use tools to understand what people are looking for, write it, put it up, and if it drives traffic, then great. Write for what people are looking for. SEO is a channel for acquiring users, so make content that makes sense for your users.”
Myth 5: Everyone’s doing video, so you have to do video too.
Sure, TikTok is all the rage at the moment, and all the platforms are pushing video right now. But that doesn’t mean you have to join the bandwagon.
“If video makes sense for the users, then do a video,” says Schwartz. “How to” content make for excellent videos, as well as reviews and “what is” explainers.
As you consider video, consider that people may be starting their search somewhere that’s not Google.
“The most interesting thing happening is that classes of searches are no longer starting on Google—people would, for example, go to Amazon and search there instead of on Google,” says Huang.
“Search will change—there will be other search strategies, and we need to account for that,” adds Schwartz. “One day, TikTok could launch its own crawler and you can see stuff that’s not videos. So focus on the users.”
Myth 6: You need to stick your what you’re good at.
Most SEO specialists have areas that they’re amazing at. There are SEO gurus, link builders, and content strategists. And while there’s nothing wrong with sticking to what you’re good at, it’s also worth noting that SEO trends and best practices change all the time—and they need to adapt accordingly.
“Experts tend to cling on to the fields that got them popular, and that’s when they see problems. That’s a mistake. You have to evolve with the times,” says Schwartz.
Myth 7: There’s a formula for SEO success.
A staggering number of people seem to think that there’s a 100% effective formula for SEO success, but that’s not true. Sure, there are best practices that you should follow, but a foolproof step-by-step guide to appearing on Google’s first page doesn’t exist.
There are countless factors that determine SEO results, and as painful as it sounds, your best efforts won’t always yield the results you want.
“SEO isn’t a bunch of checkboxes and keywords,” says Huang. “It’s a whole variety of different things. A lot of experts get lost in the trees and don’t see the forest.”
“Think of SEO from a top-down, logical standpoint,” adds Schwartz. “You need to look at the big picture.”
Are You Ready to Rank?
The trickiest thing about SEO is that the specific “patterns” that work are constantly evolving. The algorithm will change; best practices will emerge and recede.
The most frustrating thing about SEO is that whereas you can scale up leads from paid search within weeks, it can take months, if not years, to scale organic search to that same volume. This is why it’s often a channel that’s underinvested in by startups. But if there’s product-market-channel fit, SEO can be a tremendous lever for driving down CAC and creating a defensible moat.
Most of the best advice from SEO experts and the team at Google boils down to two things: prioritize the quality of your content and give your readers what they’re looking for. If you do this, you’ll have a good shot at being a high-ranking authority in your field.