SEO Reality – Avoiding bad SEO information 

  • Like anything in life if you want to become an expert at something you need to take the time and do your research.  Fortunately we live in a time where we have instant access to tons of information online on any topic including of course all things related to search optimization.  Much of that information however is just pure myth however with the SEO reality being far from it. Let’s try to separate some of the fact from the fiction regarding what search optimization can do for your website.

Myth:  It’s really easy to get more user traffic

SEO Reality: Blogger Needs More Traffic

Why do you hate me internet?

  • Although that may be true in some very specific cases, such as scoring some backlinks from a strongly authoritative domain and getting a high octane shot of link juice, broadly speaking good SEO takes significant time and honest effort.  You need to be actively engaged in providing a service people want, curating optimized informative website content, and monitoring, repairing, and preventing any website architectural issues that could negatively impact your search engine ranking and user experience.
  • Getting your page on the first position of Google overnight is virtually impossible.  In most cases, anyone that guarantees this as a service is likely just running ad campaigns that appear above organic search results or being patently fraudulent. Unlike true SEO, paid Adwords campaigns require you to constantly bid for a place among paid ads.  So yes for the right price it is possible to appear on page one quickly but as an advertisement only which can get expensive.  Another disadvantage of this is that once you stop paying for ads you are right back where you started with no organic traffic.  Improving your onsite SEO and achieving real results in boosting organic or natural traffic can take weeks or even months; the benefits however can be well worth it.

Myth:  Instantly get to the top position in a Google search

SEO Reality: Get Me Number One on Google

Thaaanks…

  • When we talk about true organic search engine results, this is 100% not the case. Even the most professional and knowledgeable SEO professional, with years of experience cannot guarantee this. Search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask) use very sophisticated algorithms to determine what ranks at the top of their search results.  What is certain however, is that a good digital marketing and search optimization approach can absolutely adapt a website to be more favorable for users and search algorithms and increase search engine ranking among keywords you want to rank for and ultimately increase user traffic.

Myth: A visually appealing website means an optimized website

SEO Reality: A Website is never done

Being OCD is a win in this industry.

  • Having a good looking website doesn’t necessarily mean that your website is optimized for search engines. The factors that search engines look at are many and the majority of those factors are hidden from view for the average user.  Although it is true that a website built with a good user experience focus will be a website that people will want to use and visit more often but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easier for users to find you when using a search.  For that you need to do the work and optimize your content and site architecture and keep your site free of technical errors by crawling often.

Myth:  It’s extremely difficult to begin the optimization process

SEO Reality: SEO Is Not Rocket Science

E = Keywords Squared

  • Not true.  The SEO reality is anyone can start optimizing their website or blog and get more traffic all it takes is a little know-how and the right tools.  Most SEO experts agree you should begin by first generating a comprehensive sitemap of every page on your website along with a detailed report of any architectural errors, content issues, missing html tags, page load time issues, etc. and get to work.  CrawlMonster allows you to do all of this by crawling your entire website end to end, giving you suggestions on what SEO issues you need to fix, and offering guidance on how best to go about repairing those issues.  You can sign up for free.