This is an offshoot topic to the article we posted previously: 8 SEO Tips to Improve Your Website Search Rank. We’ve heard a few different beliefs about SEO that simply aren’t true. To clear up any misconceptions, we thought it would be a good idea to gather them into an article. Make sure you are avoiding any tactics that could penalize your search engine rank and implement your SEO strategy wisely.
Feel free to contact me if you have more questions about SEO, or are interested in adding this to your website package!
Googling my own business will improve my rank
This does not help your website’s search engine rank. If it was that simple, businesses would be doing this in their spare time or hiring companies to do this for them. If you are logged into your Google account and do this it will appear higher. This is because Google knows you are interested in the site based on your history. Your website may appear to have a higher rank, but only to your logged-in Google account.
I heard I can get my website on the 1st page of Google instantly
If any SEO company tries to make this promise to you, they are lying. The only way you can get to Google’s #1 position is by paying for ads. If you do this, you will be in the ads area of a search. Some people automatically scroll by these designated ad areas knowing they are paid ads. That is not SEO.
What you’re working on in SEO is your organic search traffic. If you do a quick search for ‘how long will it take my SEO to get to #1?’ you will find thousands of articles saying that it varies, takes time, and is never a for sure guarantee. However, I want to be clear that investing in SEO can absolutely improve your rank. I just want you to be aware that you aren’t guaranteed the #1 position. Many things attribute to your search engine result’s success. A few of these attributes are competition for chosen keywords, domain authority, quality of content, quality links leading to your site, and more. Learn how you can improve your search engine rank by reading my article 8 SEO Tips to Improve Your Website Search Rank.
If including keywords in my website increases rank, can’t I paste them at random within my copy?
Do not do this, because Google will penalize you. This is referred to as a term called keyword stuffing. Yes, keywords are important to include in various parts of your website’s page to increase your rank – but it needs to be done strategically. Google wants to make sure your site is easy to read and has valuable information. Not only does reading text with odd repetitions of the same exact phrase seem spammy, but Google does not approve.
If building links increases search engine rank, should I pay a company to Link to my website?
I strongly recommend not doing this because if Google finds out, they would penalize your rank as it goes against their guidelines. Also, Google takes into account domains that are associated with a high spam percentage. If you try paying for links and those links are coming from websites with a high spam %, it will not benefit you.
If I have a large following on social media, doesn’t that help my SEO?
Google does not consider your social media signals (likes, shares, comments) when it comes to ranking your website. I’m not saying social media isn’t important. Having a social media presence can be beneficial in other ways. These social channels have their own rank in search engines, are a great way for people to learn about your business, and can serve as a way to increase outreach.
I have Google Analytics set up, therefore I have SEO
Having a Google Analytics or Google Search Console account does not help your SEO. These are only tools to help you learn more about how your audience is interacting with your site and learn what the results are of your SEO strategy. I have a lot of people that ask to have this set up, but I don’t think they fully understand what these are used for.