7 Common Misconceptions Business Owners Have about SEO

For business owners, especially in today’s age, it’s all about building a profitable brand online. However, any time they try to do this or search online on how to increase traffic, rankings, etc., it’s always the same answer: SEO.

While it is certainly true that search engine optimisation (SEO) is crucial for online success, all the hype around it has led to some myths and misconceptions about it as well. So, before you worry about how to do SEO for your business website, you need to get rid of a few misconceptions first.

1. SEO is Difficult

People who aren’t familiar with SEO and its principles instantly assume that it is no less complicated than quantum mechanics and, consequently, beyond their reach. While we won’t say that SEO is easy, it is certainly not that difficult or impossible to master.

Just like any other skill, you will have to put in the time and effort to learn about its basics and then start using its strategies in your business. Moreover, as search engines change their ranking algorithms, as users online change their preferences, the best practices for SEO can change rapidly with time as well.

However, once you get the hang of it, it’s not entirely impossible to employ effective SEO strategies for your business.

2. SEO Is All about Link Building

This is another common SEO misconception that not only makes your SEO efforts ineffective but can actually hurt your business as well. Link building is an important part of building your website’s authority and increasing your rankings.

But that is not all there is to SEO. Because of this misconception, many businesses started focusing all their efforts on just link building. Some companies even resorted to purchasing spammy or low-quality links just to increase that link count.

However, search engines can quickly catch such activities and penalize those websites. Therefore, you don’t need to focus all your efforts on link building. You can work on producing better content, guest posting, or work on other on-page SEO strategies.

3. SEO is Expensive

When you’re running a business, you have to keep track of all your expenses and avoid any unnecessary expenses. And SEO can seem exactly that: an unnecessary expense. Sure, if you look at it in isolation, SEO costs can seem arbitrary and useless.

However, the truth is that SEO is more of an investment that reaps great results down the road. For instance, simple strategies like maintaining high-speed and mobile-friendly websites and targeting long-tail keywords can result in a high return on investment (ROI).

Moreover, if you’re still worried about the cost, you can consult with an SEO agency and opt for a package that best suits your budget and start from there. Once you are satisfied with the results, you can opt for other services as well.

4. SEO Doesn’t Require Content

This is perhaps the biggest misconception that business owners have. They think that content is wholly unnecessary as long as they have a good pitch and their products are properly displayed online.

However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Content plays a big role in SEO, and in fact, according to Bill Gates, content is king. When users come to your website, they are looking for high-quality and relevant content.

Ultimately, it is content that creates these users into potential customers or leads for the business. Content can help you get better authority, drive traffic, and increase rankings on search engines.

5. Lengthy Content Is Better for SEO

Now, this doesn’t mean that you should be pumping out 2000 and 3000-word blogs one after the other. After all, if the content is king, then longer pieces with more and more content should be even better, right? Not quite.

This is another misconception that lengthy content is always better for SEO. The idea is to not just think about your rankings and, rather, think about your users. You could publish an article of 10,000 words, but if none of that provides value to your visitors, those 10,000 words are essentially useless.

So, regardless of the length or word count, you need to think about providing high-quality, relevant, and useful content for your visitors.

6. SEO Has Immediate Results

When you are spending money on SEO, of course, you will want immediate, overnight results. You will want to see your page ranking on number one on search engines and loads of traffic coming onto your website. However, that is not how SEO works.

It’s a slow process that takes a bit of time. If you’re working with highly competitive keywords, it can take even longer to notice any results. That’s why you need to be patient and give it some time. As long as you’re patient and consistent with your efforts, you can expect to see some results in a few months’ time.

7. SEO Is All About Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing was a good tactic for SEO, perhaps a decade ago. However, a lot of things have changed since then.

Search engine algorithms have evolved, their bots have grown smarter, users online have different tastes, and there’s a lot of competition. With all this, keyword stuffing is a strategy that has simply become a misconception. While using keywords certainly helps, they have to be used strategically.

Final Words

The truth is that the world of SEO and digital marketing at large is always changing. As consumers and different users online evolve themselves and their preferences change on how to consume information online, the best and worst practices for SEO will also keep changing. Something you might assume to be effective today could turn into a myth or misconception tomorrow.

That is why you have to adopt a flexible and proactive approach when it comes to SEO. The easiest and most effective solution is to work with a company like Web Integrations, a  professional SEO company in Glasgow that keeps their finger on the pulse with all that is happening in the SEO world and can help your business with your SEO strategy accordingly.