5 Search Engine Optimisation Misconceptions

While many webmasters and companies are starting to understand Search Engine Optimisation, there are still a large number of misconceptions about how SEO works, and how the Search Engines trawl web pages. For companies wanting to boost their rankings online, these misconceptions can be a death knoll, leading to mistakes and poor strategies that will never bring the results that are so highly sought. Rather than try and do what you ‘think’ is right, it would be far more effective to hire an expert who has a solid understanding on how to get results online.

To cut through the myths and help you better understand how SEO strategies work, we have put together list of the most common misconceptions.

Top Search Engine Optimisation Misconceptions
The most common Search Engine Optimisation misconceptions are as follows:

1. If you have enough keywords, your site will gain presence online
   One of the most common mistakes that webmasters without SEO experience make is assuming that the more keywords are used, the more chance the website has to gain exposure. In reality, this practice is known as keyword stuffing, and the Search Engines do not like to see this at all. Google penalises websites that have too many keywords, which means that your rankings will actually drop rather than increase. Keywords need to be used very carefully, with plenty of primary, secondary and long-tail keywords used organically within the content – using the same keyword over and over again not only hurts your rankings, but it also puts off your potential customers.
   
   
2. SEO is all about on-site work
   Another common misconception is that all SEO work is done on the website. While it is true that a large portion of work is done on-site, there are many strategies done off-site. Link building is a crucial part of SEO strategies, and this is done off-site. Simply put, SEO can be seen as a holistic approach rather than a limited, static approach. This means that the work doesn’t stop once you have added keywords and internal links – that is just the beginning of the work that is required to get effective results.
   
   
3. SEO stops as soon as the website is optimised
   Many companies assume that SEO is a once-off thing that stops as soon as the website has been optimised. In reality, it is a dynamic practice that can take a good few months to show visible results. Websites need fresh, updated content and continuous work in order to grow online, and as keyword trends change, so should campaign goals. You may be ranking well for ‘antique dressing tables’ today, but you may find that your rankings could boost even more with ‘vintage dressing tables’ next month. In effect, Search Engine Optimisation never really stops.
   
   
4. Negative online publicity is still good promotion
   In today’s world of social media, online mentions play a big role in SEO. After all, if a negative blog post mentioning your company is shared on sites such as Reddit and Digg, and also Tweeted and mentioned on Facebook, pretty soon the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) will be flooded with negative links. One of the most damaging misconceptions is that all publicity is good publicity, and that you will be able to get backlinks that will boost your rankings. In Google’s eyes however, this is not true at all. Google knows the difference between positive and negative reviews, and every time you have a negative mention in the SERPs, your trust and reputation online is damaged.
   
   
5. Links are the be all and end all in SEO campaigns
   Many webmasters assume that getting links is the only way to boost rankings and increase reputation online. In reality, Search Engines such as Google also look at content, and keywords within the content. Sitemaps are also considered, along with internal linking and navigation. Together with linking, these factors influence your Search Engine Optimisation success.