Debunking Common SEO Myths

Like other popular subjects, SEO is bugged with myths. Surprisingly, even old-time advertisers fall for them and adopt them into their strategies. The truth is, if not debunked, these misconceptions about SEO can do more harm than good to a website. Thus, website owners must be careful in choosing facts to believe. Here’s an attempt to debunk some of the most popular SEO myths:

New Websites Don’t Get Indexed

Google indexes a website regardless of its age. If a website contains keywords and other elements the crawlers look for, it will be indexed. This is the reason why new websites are vulnerable to penalty, simply because the algorithms apply to them even if they haven’t completely complied with the requirements. To prevent crawlers from indexing your website, include a “noindex” meta tag in the page's HTML code.

More Keywords, Higher Ranking

There was a time when crawlers relied greatly on keywords when indexing a website. Google, however, found out that many advertisers had been abusing this feature by stuffing their content with keywords, which is why new algorithms now focus on content. While keywords are still crucial, they no longer have the same effect on a website’s ranking than it used to.

More Links, Higher Ranking

Not necessarily. Inbound links are vital to boosting site rankings, and you can get more of those by ensuring your website is actually worth linking to. You can do that by writing great content and a smooth user experience for site visitors.