The search engine optimization (SEO) space never grows dull since you can always learn something new here – updates, tricks, and ideas to incorporate into your campaigns. This industry continually evolves so nobody ever knows everything there is to know. However, the fundamentals do remain the same as everything else changes and grows. Most people don’t know how these work though because of the myths that uninformed people circulate. Understanding these myths will help you understand the concept’s simplicity.
It’s Easy
Some people insist that SEO is so easy that anyone, even the most inexperienced person, can do it. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite true. What is true is that you can learn a lot of concepts in a short amount of time but there are so many variables to remember that it could take you years to do so.
It’s a Gimmick, Trick, or Scheme
Some people’s conversations would make you think this is a gimmick. They often present it to you in a sequence of tricks designed to help you rank higher in the SERPs. When done ethically, you can’t game your way to the top of Google. True, organic improvement to your website comes from providing website features and content that your visitors find important. Spam, hacks, and short-term tricks won’t do this for you.
It’s too Technically Advanced for the “Normal” Person
There are a lot of technical components to SEO (e.g. robots.txt file editing, canonical tags) that look intimidating, but you can learn these in just a few hours – even if you don’t have any coding experience. Everything here is very learnable if you have a desire to master it.
Link Building is Similar to Spam
Many people will try to convince you that link building is nothing more than spam. However, this isn’t true. Link building is only spammy if you poorly execute it without any strategic planning. Those who really know how to do link building well know that it isn’t about getting your link on as many off-site pages as possible. Instead, it’s about creating relevant, valuable content that people want to read. You can then include natural, informative links within that content that will give you a boost in SEO since your website will be seen as relevant. When you do this, you’re adding value to the web. A fortunate side effect of this will lie in giving your own domain authority a boost too.
Google Penalties are a Major Threat
Some people write about Google penalties in a way that makes you think they’re handed out quite frequently. In reality, Google usually only penalizes people’s truly egregious behavior, which is something most webmasters know to avoid anyway. Of course, you will commonly see automatic penalties and temporary ranking drops, but these are far less severe. If you know and follow Google’s best practices, you don’t have anything to worry about.
You Don’t Need to Spend Much Money on SEO
Many newcomers think that the less money you spend on SEO the better you’ll do. Unfortunately, a low budget usually means amateurish work and minimal strategic execution. Since you don’t want to sit back and watch how this impacts your website, you should find a more cost-effective strategy to get a higher ROI here.
Keeping up with this industry is interesting even though it’s time consuming. When the interest pales in comparison to the learning curve, it’s time to reach out and hire a professional to take care of this part of your business for you. This is something we enjoy doing at I SEO U. We look forward to disproving misconceptions and improving your SERPs today.