Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is probably the best thing a website owner can do for a better ranking on search engines.

But if are a beginner in the field of SEO you can counter lots of myths regarding SEO.

In the world of SEO, myths abound. They’re often created out of a misunderstanding of what is true and what is not. 

In this article, we will debunk some of the most common myths that you might have encountered at some point on your internet travels by looking at them in detail and explaining why they are false.

Top 10 SEO Myths In 2022

If you are a newbie blogger, make sure you avoid these SEO myths. Let’s go through them one by one in detail.

Myth #1: SEO does not take much time

Many people say that SEO does not take much time and it can be done in a few days. It may be true for some people who have a fairly simple website or blog. 

But, SEO is a long process and takes a lot of time if you want to rank high on the search engine.

This popular SEO myth is driving too many people to invest in SEO and wrongly believe that they don’t need to put in much time and effort.

If you want your site to rank better on SERPs, then you need to keep updating it regularly with high-quality content. Without quality content, the search results may not favor your website.

Myth #2: Keyword stuffing is a good practice for ranking higher on Search Engines

One of the popular SEO myths is that keyword stuffing is still the best approach to rank well. 

Keyword stuffing is an outdated practice that was designed to manipulate search engines by cramming your website with keywords in the hope of earning higher rankings for your site on Google’s SERPs pages.

We cannot deny that this approach has helped some people to rank well, but it can be risky and spammy. 

This is because when you stuff keywords, your content will not sound natural and there will be a high risk of getting penalized by Google which in turn will affect your rankings in search engines.

Myth #3: Great content ranks automatically

If you are in the blogging industry you must hear the line “Content is the King”.

Yes, it is true and you can’t deny this fact. 

But it is not true always. It is not like that you have written a well-researched article on a topic and it will be guaranteed ranking on the 1st page of Search engines.

Just take the example of my Rytr vs Writesonic article, I’ve put everything while writing this article.

This article is almost 2500+ words, added all the essential information and screenshots, done proper on-page optimization. Still, it is not ranking in the top position.

So apart from writing a great piece of content, always focus on other activities like link building and content promotion.

Myth #4: Social signal has no importance

There are many reasons why social signals are important for SEO. The more people engage with your content, the more likely it is to show up in Google’s search results. 

Google considers social signals as a ranking factor and it might be one of the reasons why your blog is not getting any organic search traffic.

Social signals also help to quickly index your new blog posts. The first step of content promotion is sharing it on all the popular social media platforms. 

More social shares and engagement helps to include the trust of your blog on Google’s eye.

Google crawls and indexes content from the site, and the site’s speed, design, and content quality. A site’s popularity on social media channels like Facebook and Twitter also affects SEO as these sites can send traffic to your website as well as provide insight into users feedback.

Myth #5: Only do-follow links are useful

Some people think that only do-follow links are useful, but this is a myth.

We know that there are many types of links, for example, Do-Follow, No-Follow, etc.

No matter what type of link it is, traffic would be generated to your site if you build backlinks. And as long as you get referral traffic through a link, that link is very useful for your blog irrespective of the type of links.

Myth #6: Short form content does not rank on search engines

It’s not that short-form content does not rank on SERP. 

The truth is – it ranks well. 

However, the contents should be written in a way that they are able to grab the attention of the readers and also answer their queries.

Short-form content is a part of writing and it has some use cases. It is not a myth that short-form content does not rank on search engines. As we know, short-form content may rank on search engines but it still needs to be optimized for the best results.

It is not like only 2000+ words or 3000+ words articles rank on the first page. There are lots of niches where you have to write only 400-500 words article and you can see your blog in the first position.

While writing an article always focus to answer all the queries related to the keywords irrespective of the word count.

Myth #7: Guest blogging is dead

Guest blogging is alive and well. But it’s not what you think it is.

Guest blogging has evolved like a tool that content marketers use to help their brands stand out in the crowded space of the internet. It’s no longer just about getting your name, company name, or link in front of people who are reading other people’s content. That’s old-school guest blogging.

Content marketers are now using guest blogging as a way to get their brand in front of potential customers who are looking to solve problems that they have identified through other research. 

This type of guest blogging is called “contextual” or “inbound” guest blogging because it’s all about delivering relevant content to the right audience at the right time with minimal effort on their part.

Myth #8: Mobile friendliness does not impact ranking

Mobile-friendliness is one of the necessary elements for search engine optimization (SEO). It has been observed that in general, websites with mobile-friendly design rank better in SERPs.

Many people believe that having a mobile website or responsive design does not affect the ranking of a site in Google Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

However, they are wrong.

You can check the mobile usability stats of your blog from Search Console.

Studies have shown that sites that are only responsive, but not mobile-friendly rank lower than their counterparts. This is because these sites have an inadequate layout for the desktop view and require scrolling horizontally.

Myth #9: You need an exact keyword match for ranking in the top position

It is a myth that you need an exact keyword match for ranking in the top position.

In today’s SEO world, it is not as simple as it used to be.

The top-ranking keywords are now more focused on quality content with high-quality backlinks. You can target a broader search term and rank higher for it, as long as your content is relevant.

A few years ago, you could rank number one in SERPs just by having your website link to your desired keyword over and over again. However, today that is no longer the case.

Myth #10: SEO is all about ranking

SEO is no longer about ranking. The new definition includes managing content, links, social media, and other digital assets to make sure that the target audience can find your website or blog post.

The SEO industry is evolving rapidly to meet the needs of marketers in every sector. They are also investing in technologies to understand how people search for answers and what they expect to find on the first page of their search engine results page.

SEO is a sustainable marketing strategy that can yield a lot of benefits. SEO isn’t just about ranking higher in the search engines for your desired keywords, but rather it is focused on producing content that attracts more visitors to your website with relevant traffic from diverse sources.

Conclusion

So, these are basically the SEO myths that make me troubled in the initial days of my journey.

The main motive of this article was to show you the reality of all the popular SEO myths and this will ultimately help you to gain the correct knowledge of Search Engine Optimisation.

About Contributor:-  Atanu Das

Atanu Das is the founder of the blog BloggingFix.com, he loves writing content-related blogging and seo.