If you want to increase the traffic to your website, you should make your website visible.
To make your website visible, you should rank at the top of the search engine result page (SERP) by SEO (On-page and Off-page).
Top ranking is a complicated part where you can get lost by the misconceptions about SEO
Yes, even in this digital age where information is available at your fingertips, there’s an excellent chance that you may get misguided on the journey of SEO.
For you to have a clear idea, let me state the myths and facts about SEO in 2021.
I assume you may have a rough idea about SEO to completely understand what I’m saying here in this article. If not you may continue reading to get more informational insights on SEO myths and facts.
SEO (search engine optimization) is a simple technique through which you can rank your website at the top of the search engine results page (SERPs), giving you more visibility resulting in more traffic.
Let me make it simple with an example.
Consider SEO as a black box. This black box is filled with unknown formulas, factors, guidelines, etc.
And this black box is where everything occurs. What goes into that box is your website and what comes out is the optimized result.
The process in between was always shaded and hopefully will always be.
When search engines optimize your website and find it relevant and appropriate to be ranked at the top, it’ll give you more visibility.
I keep stressing about visibility, again and again, because it’s no minor matter.
For instance, imagine a website that is ranked at the top of the search engine results page. When people search about a particular keyword ranked on that website, there is a high chance of having a visit to that specific website.
There are chances for heavy traffic, which leads to engagements, further into new leads, and sometimes may end up in profitable sales.
It all starts with visibility which ultimately begins with SEO.
The better and precise you understand SEO, the better for your website.
Table of Contents
Myths and Facts about SEO: Why SEO is Misunderstood Easily?
Before getting deeper into myths and facts about SEO, understand why SEO is misunderstood so easily.
It’s pretty simple when we are looking from a single point of view.
Just like any other aspect gets misunderstood due to lack of authenticity on the information.
SEO also gets misinterpreted easily due to the lack of correct information.
You must’ve known that several ranking factors are used as guidelines for ranking.
These ranking factors are never revealed ultimately.
It’s like magic. You can see the effect, but you cannot see the spell even though you know it’s there.
The other point being, SEO ranking factors are revised frequently. Maybe there will be a few which are essential and renowned, but most of them change.
We can see several scams nowadays that claim to manipulate SEO ranking factors.
The truth is that SEO is hard to understand fully and get a hold on without the proper knowledge and experience.
Several scams benefit from these myths. Such as, some companies or individuals will assure you that your website will be ranked at the top within one week, one month, etc.
But the thing that you have to understand is that no one can guarantee you a top ranking because it entirely depends upon your site’s performance and quality.
So you have to be careful when choosing an SEO expert and spending an amount on SEO.
If you want to excel in SEO, you should have a great SEO team that understands the changes and act accordingly, who can prepare strategies depending upon the changes and benefit your website.
All this can be only done by someone who has the experience and is up-to-date with SEO facts and the changing ranking factors.
Since it is very easy to get lost in the SEO myths available on various digital platforms, it’s better to get proper knowledge on myths and facts about SEO.
Let’s check out some of the top SEO myths that can cost you and your website.
Top SEO Myths
Let’s focus on some of the top SEO myths in this section. Keep your mind open while reading this section since these myths can sometimes be considered a fact and may confuse you.
1. SEO is dead
The most common SEO myth that we are prone to hear is that “SEO is dead,” which can also be considered an offensive statement when looking from a certain angle.
This “SEO is dead” myth means that SEO is of no importance nowadays.
Like seriously, How can SEO be dead?
It would be best if you understood that SEO is one of the top-ranking factors for any website.
There’s no denying the fact that even today, SEO is essential.
SEO is always the king for ranking websites due to the highly sophisticated algorithms and revised secrecy. Because these factors remain confidential, people skip SEO by making themselves believe that SEO is dead.
2. Long-tail keywords
The next one is where you have to give a little more attention. You can also consider this one among the fun facts about SEO.
‘Long-tail keywords are hard to rank.’
There is a bit of a tangled thread behind this; let me clear that first.
Long-tail keywords consist of 3 or more words, where short tail keywords are less than three words. I assume you may be aware of the general definition.
Besides that, there is another difference between a long-tail keyword and a short tail keyword: a long-tail keyword is a specific and detailed search, and a short tail keyword is less clear and is a general search.
For example,
iPhone 12 Pro max price in Europe ( keyword 1)
iPhone 12 price ( keyword 2)
Both of these are terms that were searched on google.
The keyword1 is a long tail, and keyword 2 is a short tail. Both are ‘keywords.
Google can rank both keywords. But due to increased relevancy and details, keyword1 has got more chances.
I hope you understand the tangled myth and the fact behind this myth.
Moving on to the next myth.
3. Duplicated content doesn’t get penalized.
Going back to the black box analogy that I’ve mentioned initially, I think you might’ve understood that what comes out of the black box is visible to the researchers.
Those websites that come out from the black box possess certain common qualities that can point out quickly. One among them is uniqueness.
When you can point out the uniqueness in every ranked website, how can duplicated content survive among them?
This duplication signals to Google that this content is only aiming for economic benefits and nothing else.
I’m not saying to forget about the economic aspects completely. Try excelling in your niche in such a way that all these economic benefits come in search of you.
Get that through the correct way, without plagiarism.
Remember, duplicate or copied content is going to get penalized by Google in the long run.
The next one among the common SEO myth is;
4. Page speed does not affect SEO
The page speed of your website is a ranking factor, including Mobile Page Speed. The page speed of your website affects the traffic of your website and contributes to search engine ranking.
Since people are growing less patient, loading speed affects the bounce rate directly.
In fact, according to various data suggestions, websites that take less time to load may reflect on a better SERP ranking.
The next one is;
5. Once at the top, forever at the top
Once at the top, forever at the top, which is utter stupidity to believe.
If your website ranked at the top, then bingo, your hard work paid off. You’ve got what you deserved.
But considering that it will remain on top forever is utter stupidity.
Sitting back and relaxing by thinking that you’ve ranked on the top and you’re going to be there forever is not logical, and that thought will make all efforts go in vain.
If you are ranked at the top today, it might change after two days, two months, two weeks because this is an ongoing competition where tons of people work in the same niche as yours.
Once Google finds someone who is doing better than you in SEO, Google will put them on top, naturally replacing them because google found their content more helpful and relevant for the public than yours.
That’s it. The journey never ends. You got to work on your off-page SEO always to make sure you stay at the top because people are targeting the same place.
Harms Caused By SEO Myths
When you learn about myths and facts about SEO in 2021, you must know about what’s happening around in connection.
Just imagine you started a website with great determination and are putting in a lot of hard work but not getting any result.
Feeling Stuck?
It’s because you are trapped in a realm of SEO myths that have disguised themselves as local SEO facts.
You’ll only find the result of your hard work when you start to differentiate between what’s right and what’s wrong.
These misconceptions can lead you to waste a lot of time, money, effort, and sometimes resources.
There are a bunch of examples that you can find in your surroundings.
Beginners often misunderstand that once you’re ranked top, you can be there forever.
Content writers often overweight quantity over quality of the content.
Googles Approach
Ever Since the invalid rumors started to spread about SEO so much, google itself took steps to eradicate these myths and replace them with correct facts about SEO.
They revealed SEO facts in every way possible.
In a webmaster hangout, Fili Wiese cleared the controversies and myths revolving around the algorithm penalties.
Facts about SEO
After covering numerous and common myths, let’s move to facts about SEO. You’ll have an exact idea about the do’s and don’ts of SEO and how to tackle SEO myths 2021.
The first and foremost thing that you should know about seo facts is that google constantly revises the SEO factors, which may contain different variables for ranking. So the elements are not dependable because it changes now and then.
Understand this fact with a simple example.
Consider your site is having thousands of backlinks but not getting expected results.
And another site that has only a few backlinks but is receiving tons of results.
This instance shows us that the quantity of backlinks doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters when it comes to backlinks is quality.
Having a relevant backlink from an appropriate website can do you more good than a hundred backlinks from irrelevant websites.
Referral Sites
By reading this article, you must’ve gotten a good idea about the myths and facts about SEO.
You can find many verified sites that can provide relevant and proven facts about SEO, like
Educate yourself about what’s right and wrong so that you won’t find yourself wasted among the rumors. Find what’s relevant and act accordingly.
Conclusion
I hope that all this information comes in handy for you. Differentiating the myths and facts about SEO are the only way by which you can have a successful SEO journey.
Start your SEO journey with relevant SEO knowledge and avoid your website/blog from getting penalized.
If you still have any confusion, you can always check out other articles in our blog section.
Feel free to leave your comments below if you would like to add anything to this article.
