6 Widespread SEO Myths and Misconceptions in 2021, Debunked

With all the trends and new practices that emerge in SEO services with every new innovation and development, it is hard to tell what is actually true at times. While it is true that search engine optimization is an ever-evolving field, some practices are able to withstand every change that comes, while others fall away as mere fads. 

While this can make it challenging for a business to determine what practices you need to employ, fear not. We have created this list of myths and misconceptions in SEO, debunked by our expert digital marketers at Magnitude. With no further ado, here they are:

FALSE: You need to submit your website to Google

There was a time when webmasters were required to submit their websites to search engines so that their bots could crawl through the websites and decide how to rank them. Search engines have now gone a long way, and they are perfectly capable of determining the relevance of your website without you having to submit it to them. Google itself discontinued this practice in 2018, so there is no need to pay for visibility in this manner.

FALSE: Meta keywords matter

Not to be confused with meta descriptions, meta tags used to be an important aspect of SEO. This resulted in websites spamming and using keyword lists of unreasonable lengths to try and improve their rankings. With the rampant abuse of this mechanic, Google and many other search engines dropped it as a factor in ranking. 

FALSE: Keyword stuffing helps

Keyword stuffing is the act of repeating keywords in your content to make it more noticeable to search engine protocols. While this used to work before, search engines are working harder than ever to create algorithms that not only see through this practice but de-prioritize websites that use it. 

At the end of the day, providing readable and usable content is more effective since this is what search engines hope to provide their users. 

FALSE: Longer titles are better

Any titles longer than 60 characters are often hidden by Google, which means your precious subject matter would be invisible to the user. It is important to create titles that are as concise as possible, delivering the message in fewer words and characters. 

FALSE: You can recycle content

It was not uncommon in the 2000s for websites to copy or publish duplicate content, as this can help with keyword repetition. This practice fell out of vogue in 2011 when Google introduced an update to their algorithm that weeded out websites that merely copied and duplicated content. This was aimed at showcasing as many unique results as possible to users, increasing the chance of their inquiries being met with relevant answers.

FALSE: Any backlink is important

One of the measures of relevance Google takes into account is the number of websites that link to yours. This was quietly abused by plenty of websites for a while until Google introduced updates in 2012 that measured the quality of the backlinks in addition to their quantity. 

For example, a single backlink from Buzzfeed is more valuable than a hundred backlinks from back-alley blogs with no content. 

Final thoughts

As we have mentioned before, the field of SEO services is constantly changing. Some practices may become permanent fixtures in marketing, while others fall away in popularity over time. What is important is to have the ability to discern which practices can help you in the long run. All this means is practicing methods that don’t abuse loopholes in the protocols and focusing on more organic attraction. 

If you’re looking for a marketing agency that provides all the best SEO services in Greenwood, give us a call at Magnitude Marketing. We help brands grow revenues and profits through strategic digital marketing.