Common Misconceptions About SEO

Search engine marketing isn’t a new industry anymore, but it is an industry that isn’t well understood. When potential clients come to us, they often have an idea of what SEO is and how they think it should be done. It’s common that they have read outdated information or have been misinformed. Here are some of the biggest misconceptions we hear in the industry.

To me the biggest misconception is still the thought that it can be done cheaply and easily. The number of people who still think along the lines of “I’m offering you $500, that should guarantee me the first spot on Google for every term related to my industry, right?” Sure man, that’s probably worth a few million dollars if you have a bunch of number one rankings in your industry…I’m sure no one has put more time, money or resources into SEO than that. As the plaque on my wall reads, “You can’t buy a Super Bowl commercial with a sack of change.”	Adam Henige G+ | Twitter
A large misconception that people still have about SEO is that changes will happen overnight. Many clients seem to think that after we implement keywords into their site that they should be on the first page the next day; however this is rarely ever the case. SEO is an ongoing process that takes time and more importantly a number of long-term techniques. There are a ton of variables that go into SEO and keyword manipulation and tangible, easy to see onsite work make up only a small portion of it. Basically, don’t think of SEO as a quick fix because in reality SEO requires patience and continuous effort to see real results.	Emily Clemons G+ | Twitter
Many of our clients don’t realize the extent of changes we potentially have to make to the various accounts and properties they already own and work with on a daily basis. SEO isn’t just about waiving a magic wand at the internets and all of a sudden you rank #1 for your keywords. There is A LOT of work that goes into tweaking website copy as well as code, updating / modifying Google Analytics (and other) accounts, integrating social media accounts, and numerous other actions that many people would never think could make a difference. What I’m trying to say is, if we ask you for your username and password for various accounts (or for Administrator rights) don’t get all freaked out…we’re just doing the very best job for you that we can. 😉	Jerod Karam G+ | Twitter
A common misconception I have faced over the years is that the home page should represent all of the target keywords a client wants to rank for. While the home page often is the most logical page to use for the most important keyword targets, it is critical to map keywords with target pages in your navigation and spread out your “keywording” so that Google has a clear understanding of what content means. It is very important to align service and page product content to these separate keyword clusters.	Joe Ford G+ | Twitter
I don’t think a lot of people associate user experience (UX) with SEO. I think there is this idea that SEO is only about link building and Google rankings, but it’s also important to remember your audience. UX is pretty important to the SEO world, especially now more than ever. There should be a balance. Users want information fast—difficult navigation, poor content, and slow pages will increase bounce rate and send users on their way.	Kyna Garrett G+ | Twitter
That SEO isn’t an ongoing process. As many have said before, it isn’t a one size fits all or one and done kind of deal. With how much Google algorithms adjust, customer preferences change and industry standards update, there’s always going to be something new to manage and tweak on the SEO side. It’s a long-term strategy approach that’s going to change just as much as the industry does.	Laura Moceri G+ | Twitter
The biggest misconception in my opinion is that SEO is strictly site audits and link building. Social media is become more important for SEO, especially with the addition of tweets showing up in search results now. This is still relatively new, but has the potential to be extremely powerful when it comes to SEO. Additionally, if you consider the “content is king” idea, said content is primarily shared and spread around via social media platforms.	Lexie Kimball G+ | Twitter
Whenever anyone proclaims “Insert SEO term here is dead” an angel loses its wings. Usually it’s based off of no hands on experience and is just a sad attempt to drum up interest and clicks. In particular, link building and the current and future importance of links. While none of us have a crystal ball to make 100% accurate predictions of future ranking signals, it’s very unlikely that links are going to be removed as a search engine ranking factor any time soon. I’ve heard a lot about links losing their value and how now is the beginning of the end for link building. I’m inclined to make the reverse argument that links have grown and are growing in value, as high quality and relevant links are valued higher than before, and it often takes a great deal of research time and effort to get the links that pay big dividends.	Michael Hall G+ | Twitter