Social Signals Impact Rankings & 4 Other SEO Misconceptions

It’s 2021 and we are able to efficiently launch a rocket into house, however we are able to’t cease the unfold of misinformation on the web.

Even in advertising, there are issues we’ve heard (and perhaps even repeated) that qualify as misinformation — nuggets we took as gold to information our SEO methods on the time as a result of everybody thought the identical factor.

Maybe it was as soon as true.

Maybe it was by no means true.

Maybe it is true… however not in the way in which you assume.

And even though SEO has grow to be a extra data-driven subject than ever earlier than, plenty of foolish beliefs nonetheless persist.

Let’s debunk just a few of them.

Here’s a fast roundup of the 5 greatest misconceptions about SEO I’ve seen spouted within the final 12 months, and why they simply aren’t true.

Recognize any?

Misconception #1: Social Signals Impact Ranking

Whether or not social alerts affect SEO has been a scorching matter for at least the last ten years.

It is smart that the extra followers you might have, and the extra visitors you divert to your website from social media… and due to this fact the higher your search rankings.

Right?

John Mueller is on the report way back to 2015 saying that no, social alerts don’t directly impact your rank.

This is as a result of followers could be purchased. Likes and feedback are vainness metrics. Content that’s simple to share will likely be shared.

When does social media affect your model’s visibility in the major search engines?

When:

• Individual posts or items of content material present up in search on their very own as a result of they rank on your model title or key phrases organically.
• Google acknowledges {that a} piece of content material on Twitter or Pinterest is related to go looking outcomes and consists of it within the index.

Misconception #2: SEO Is Dead

From Steve Ballmer’s prediction that the iPhone would flop to a New York Times op-ed claiming laptops would by no means achieve any recognition, there have been loads of unhealthy predictions made over time.

One of these has been that SEO was a dying fad and web sites shouldn’t pay any heed.

LOL.

The concept that SEO is lifeless has been round for the reason that early 2010s, principally seized upon by web agitators attempting to ascertain a brand new tackle a lot of the madness inside the trade on the time.

And should you bear in mind the Wild West that SEO was again then, you may perceive why some individuals believed it couldn’t probably final.

They have been half proper.

SEO just isn’t lifeless, however…

• The SEO content material gold rush is lengthy over. Content mills – which exist for the only real objective of churning out as a lot content material as attainable no matter high quality – are taking part in a dropping sport.
• Producing SEO-focused content material is an outdated technique. Articles written for search engine crawlers and filled with key phrases received’t win you any factors anymore. (In truth, it’ll harm you.)

But SEO will likely be lifeless when Google is lifeless, and the 6 billion searches taking place day by day say it’s not.

Misconception #3: Duplicate Content Negatively Affects Your Rank

In 2011, Google started rolling out the Panda update to scrub up all the low-quality, skinny content material that had choked up the SERPs.

It signaled the tip of the SEO content material gold rush and the start of a brand new period — one dominated by knowledgeable content material put out by authoritative authors and reliable sources.

Sounds nice, proper?

However, in some unspecified time in the future, misinformation about what high quality means to Google started to flow into. One of these SEO myths was that we must not ever, ever put up duplicate content material on our websites or we’d get penalized.

Not true.

According to Google’s John Mueller, it’s normal for sites to have a sure degree of duplicate content material. When a number of pages containing the (principally) similar data return from a website, Google merely doesn’t present them.

Users will see this as a substitute:

That generally is a unhealthy factor when it comes to your content material not touchdown in entrance of eyeballs, however provided that these omitted outcomes are supposed to be distinctive.

If you want a singular outcome, you could have distinctive content material. Otherwise, don’t sweat it if these touchdown pages all look comparable otherwise you’ve obtained just a few weblog posts protecting the identical matter.

Misconception #4: Content Is King

Since Bill Gates coined the phrase in 1996, we’ve latched onto the concept that content material is king as a result of it’s what drives visibility on-line.

Yes, having nice content material issues.

Yes, serving up superior content material wins eyeballs and conversions.

You should create the absolute best content material you could. But saying that content material is king is about as correct as a enterprise saying that its retailer signage is crucial factor in its complete technique.

It’s essential, however it’s lacking the purpose.

In the 2020s, content isn’t king.

Your viewers is king, and your content material must serve them.

Misconception #5: Keyword Research Doesn’t Matter

What’s the purpose of optimizing for one key phrase once you’ll rank organically for lots of?

I get that query so much.

Sure, the emphasis in SEO has shifted from key phrase stuffing and bizarre, SEO-laden headlines. We don’t shove phrases into sentences or sentences into paragraphs simply to get our key phrase density anymore.

But should you assume key phrase analysis doesn’t matter anymore, you’re doing your self a disservice.

Keyword analysis helps you:

• Understand what your customers are literally typing into Google. You can optimize for all of the key phrases you need, but when they aren’t the place your viewers goes, you received’t come up of their searches.
• Determine whether or not the key phrases you’re utilizing are acceptable for the search intent. Google pays consideration to individuals utilizing key phrases incorrectly and penalizes them accordingly.
• Identify low-competition alternatives to rank nicely and within the path of your viewers. Why compete for precious short-tail key phrases when you possibly can snap up long-tail keywords your rivals have missed?

Stop Believing SEO Misconceptions and Focus on Building a Great Brand

From superstitions about key phrase density to concepts in regards to the true function of content material, there are loads of SEO misconceptions on the market.

Some of them was true however aren’t any longer, given the way in which the sphere has advanced. A couple of of them have been by no means true – they simply sounded good, so we believed them.

Succeeding at SEO isn’t about shopping for into fashionable conspiracy theories or myths you’ve heard via the grapevine. It’s not about leaping on fad recommendation.

It’s about constructing a terrific model on a basis of superior content material and considerate key phrases.

Now that you simply’re empowered by the reality, go forth and create the worth customers are on the lookout for.

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Image Credits

All screenshots taken by writer, March 2021