The world of SEO is forever changing, and to stay up to date with the times, SEO specialists and SEO agencies need to constantly re-evaluate effective SEO strategies.
Due to the fast-changing nature of SEO precipitated by search engine algorithm changes, what is common practice and knowledge today may easily fall into obscurity by next year.
This can lead to a lot of myths and misconceptions running rampant in the SEO world regarding what is considered best practice for optimising websites.
Boyd Digital are experts in the SEO world and have been optimising websites since 2011. With over a decade of experience in the constantly changing SEO landscape, we are well versed in current and past trends.
Our knowledge of current and past trends allows us to identify the most common myths and misconceptions to educate our audience and customers.
With that in mind, let’s explore those myths and misconceptions.
Myth One: Meta Descriptions Are A Ranking Signal
A meta description is the text that is used to describe the purpose of a website or website page to a user in search results. See the highlighted example below:
This description is often mentioned in a lot of guides to optimising your website for search engines. While it plays a vital role in describing the page for users and therefore serves user intent, it is not used by Google as a ranking signal.
For those unfamiliar, a ranking signal is a factor that Google will consider when ranking your website or web page for a certain keyword. There are in excess of 200 different ranking signals and meta descriptions do not impact your website’s ranking for a keyword.
In fact, recently, it was reported that Google rewrites meta descriptions around 70% of the time. This means that the work you put into forging a meta description may be all for nought if Google decides to use their version for SERPs.
With that understanding, it is important to include meta descriptions in an SEO strategy as long as it is understood that meta descriptions are not used as a ranking signal.
Myth Two: SEO Works Immediately
Search engine optimisation takes time. Any experienced SEO specialist will inform you that ranking your website and pages for organic search terms won’t happen overnight, certainly not for highly competitive keywords.
A fully-fledged SEO strategy can take a minimum of 3-4 months to begin implementing and between 6 months to 12 months to begin seeing the fruits of your labour.
The most important aspects of an SEO strategy are:
- Publishing consistent, high-quality content
- Gaining relevant, high DR backlinks
- Improving and maintaining website technical health
For brand new websites, there’s also the ‘sandbox’ to contend with.
The sandbox is a waiting period imposed upon new websites while Google figures out:
- If the website is spam or not
- If it has a legitimate purpose
- How best to place it in search results
While Google refutes the existence of a sandbox officially, most new sites will struggle to rank within the first six months of its existence.
Having a skilled team of SEO professionals, such as the team at Boyd Digital, is essential for supplying an effective long-term strategy.
Myth Three: Traffic Volume Is A Better Metric Than Traffic Potential
A huge misconception is that traffic volume is a better metric to assess the viability of a keyword when compared to other metrics, such as traffic potential.
Traffic volume, which measures the organic search volume a keyword will receive on a monthly basis in a particular country, is important to consider.
However, traffic potential gives you a better idea of how much organic traffic a website or page will receive by ranking at the top of SERPs.
Ranking for a keyword with a good traffic volume but low traffic potential may not be as beneficial as ranking for a keyword with slightly less traffic volume but with a huge traffic potential.
Traffic potential is calculated from the total amount of traffic your website can get from both your primary keyword as well as any secondary keywords you’ll rank for.
For example, if you choose to try and rank for the keyword ‘tomato seeds’ and manage to rank in the top SERPS, then you’ll also rank for semantically related keywords as well, even if you aren’t targeting them.
This could end up being dozens, hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of related keywords with low search volume that’ll contribute to your organic search volume.
That is why it is essential to employ professional SEO services to know what keywords to target for your niche.
Myth Four: SEO Is A One-Time Job
The last big misconception we’ll bust is that SEO is a one-and-done kind of job, which simply isn’t the case. A lot of customers or clients looking for SEO have the opinion that after SEO has been ‘applied’ to their website, they’ll be good to go.
SEO is an ongoing process. Google and other search engines change ranking signals and the importance of ranking signals often. This means websites need to be continually optimised to be effective.
Think of SEO as building a house. To keep a house in good shape, you’ll need to perform regular maintenance. A website is very similar from an SEO perspective.
Work With The Professionals
If you are looking for SEO services, then you are in the right place. Boyd Digital offers bespoke, professional, effective, and reliable services for all things SEO.
Reach out to us now if you are interested.
You can also check out our blog for more information related to SEO work and Boyd Digital.