6 Things About SEO Everyone Thinks Are True, But Aren’t

Learn the Truth About Search Engine Optimization in San Diego, CA

If you’re the owner of a website, you probably have heard of many different ways to improve your SEO and overall search engine marketing efforts. While there are many great recommendations concerning SEO on the web, some of the information is false. Here are six SEO myths that you should keep an eye out for, from the industry experts at Saba SEO.

Myth 1: Google XML Sitemaps Generator Will Improve Your Search Rankings

Contrary to what many SEO professionals and bloggers suggest, the Google XML Sitemaps generator will not improve your search rankings. This is a myth that was started by the enthusiastic marketing efforts of SEO professionals who were eager to sell their services to business people. Even though XML sitemaps will not improve your search rankings, they will make it easier for Google to access your website and gain new information. This allows Google to quickly index your website’s pages and make them available on search engines.

Myth 2: Meta Tags Are No Longer Important

Although meta tags are no longer important for keywords, they still serve a purpose. Meta tags will not improve your website’s search ranking, but they can provide valuable information about the content of your pages. In many ways, meta tags are similar to restaurant menus. If you are trying to choose between two restaurants, you will check the menus to see what kind of dishes each establishment offers. If one of the restaurants does not have an accessible menu, you probably won’t dine there. This same principle applies to webpages with meta tags–they are considered more reliable because of the available information.

Myth 3: Uncommon Extensions Improve Search Rankings

Since many websites use the standard .com website extension, some SEO professionals have suggested that using extensions like .biz will improve SEO results. In most cases, switching to these less common website extensions will not help your SEO efforts.

Myth 4: You No Longer Need to Include Keywords in Anchor Text

Some SEO professionals have suggested that keywords no longer have to be included in anchor text, or the text of a hyperlink. At best, this advice is misguided. Anchor text should have keywords, but they should also be diversified. This will increase the credibility and unique nature of your website.

Myth 5: Guest Blogging Isn’t Important

In 2014, many SEO professionals began to recommend that people should stop guest blogging to get links for their websites. This is a poor suggestion. As long as the guest authors on your website are posting top-quality content, guest blogging is an excellent way to build links and diversify your site content.

Myth 6: Paid Search Will Improve Organic Search Results

AdWords PPC will not improve your search ranking within Google’s organic results. Organic results come from Google’s index database and paid search is based on bids. Because of this, organic results and paid search are not directly related to each other.

There is a large amount of information about search engine optimization floating around the Web. Be sure to analyze all of the advice that you find to see if it will truly improve your SEO efforts. You can also reach out to Saba, Inc., a San Diego SEO agency with a proven track record of success. Give us a call today at (858) 277-1717. We offer free website audits and consultations!