The biggest SEO misconceptions?

As per me the biggest misconception

1- SEO optimization can improve your ranking overnight
2- Content is a secondary factors
3- Anyone can execute SEO role
4- SEO techniques always be the same for all website niches.

"Backlink does work" I think it is misconception now for SEO.

Savvy linkbuilder said:

Fellows, what is your list of the biggest SEO misconceptions? Here is mine:

- SEO is dead;
- SEO is the one-time process;
- SEO is the one-approach-fits-all process;
- Links don’t work.
Do you have something to add/remove from the list?

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Duplicate content doesn't ranks

There are tons of misconceptions every year about SEO, like SEO is dead completely, or it's not worth investing time and hard work, and it's always so confusing, what do and what not, but we must admit that SEO has changed a lot. all those past off-page activities don't work anymore, mostly off-page SEO is changing every year, what was important last year, doesn't worthy enough next year, it is very confusing to deal with OFF page activities, because no one is sure what's gonna work, and after google updates, it's even more complex to understand the SEO, maybe this is the reason why there are so many misconceptions about SEO.

[Myth] SEO is completely technical !!
Lots of it is ethical code problem !!

Savvy linkbuilder said:

Fellows, what is your list of the biggest SEO misconceptions? Here is mine:

- SEO is dead;
- SEO is the one-time process;
- SEO is the one-approach-fits-all process;
- Links don’t work.
Do you have something to add/remove from the list?

Click to expand...

Definitely that SEO is a one-time process, I saw people who think they can work on SEO just for a month and see great results, which is pretty ridiculous, I could even say. Also, that SEO can be learned quickly, and that everyone can successfully deal with it, as it's so far from the truth, it requires some real knowledge and impressive skillsets. And, to finish, would also like the add the statement that with Black Hat SEO can be achieved better and fastest results and that this SEO aspect is all that you need for high ranking.

adsn said:

[Myth] SEO is completely technical !!
Lots of it is ethical code problem !!

Click to expand...

I don't think its a myth or misconception

That having keyword-rich content is the only thing needed to rank. Same goes for people who think it's as simple as slapping a couple backlinks on your website.

If only it were that simple...

Spamming domains as negative SEO

Sincerely,
The Data Scientist

CyHead said:

1. SEO experts don't exist - it's all a bunch of random, sometimes educated guesses.
   
   
2. SEO is controllable - it's not, you can invest millions and still not get back your return - there's no guarantee that the work you pay for or put in will result in increased traffic.
   
   
3. The value of SEO - Over the last 12 years, Google has been clawing back at the results to prioritize SEM over SEO. They make no money on SEO, but they make tons of money on SEM - so Google ads push down results ever lower- to the point that it's easier to just buy in on keywords, than it is to invest organically ranking for them.
   
   Google keeps making changes that incentivize buying ads, rather than trying to rank.
   
   
4. Controlling a keyword - too much variability - just because you rank #1 for a search term, doesn't mean others will find you. Google keeps localizing results, which means people in different cities will see different organic search results.
   
   
5. I rank #1 or #2 so I'll get tons of traffic - again not really the case, because #3 - google is pushing ads, so even if you rank first or second for a high volume term, if others buy SEM ads, you're getting a fraction of the traffic for that keyword - the rest pours in to the advertisers.

SEO isn't dead, but it's 1/4th of what it was a decade ago - and that's by design - Google has a financial incentive to deprioritize search results, and prioritize SEM.

If you want to be really good at SEO, get really good at SEM.

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Nice man! Very informative, thanks.

On page SEO is low priority.

RoyDanino said:

Half of the commenters here invented their own misconceptions just to refute them.

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I'm thinking same

miftarek said:

"Backlink does work" I think it is misconception now for SEO.

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I don't think its a misconception. Because backlinks still work. If it is high quality and indexable on google.

starcity83 said:

On page SEO is low priority.

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Yeah you're right... Agree!

The biggest SEO misconception that I can think of on a practical basis is that people just need to "target the keywords the right way."

The problem with this is you're focusing on keywords.

This will be an issue because people search in Google in different ways for answers to a question they have.

And keywords are just one manifestation of this.

You have to dig deeper in the search process to get your content in front of the right eyeballs.

When you're stuck on keywords, you then go down the rabbit hole of keyword density and all that stuff, and you may end up settling for, maybe, 30% of the otherwise 100% results you could've been getting.

So is there a better way? You bet there is a better way.

Study the keywords you're targeting.

What is the search intent behind them? What kind of experience are people looking for when they find content that meets their search intent?

If you start thinking along these lines, the quality of your content starts to change, and the journey that people go through to find your content also starts to change.

This may be the gamechanger you're looking for if you want to earn more money with your online publishing efforts.

blackbeans said:

The biggest SEO misconception that I can think of on a practical basis is that people just need to "target the keywords the right way."

The problem with this is you're focusing on keywords.

This will be an issue because people search in Google in different ways for answers to a question they have.

And keywords are just one manifestation of this.

You have to dig deeper in the search process to get your content in front of the right eyeballs.

When you're stuck on keywords, you then go down the rabbit hole of keyword density and all that stuff, and you may end up settling for, maybe, 30% of the otherwise 100% results you could've been getting.

So is there a better way? You bet there is a better way.

Study the keywords you're targeting.

What is the search intent behind them? What kind of experience are people looking for when they find content that meets their search intent?

If you start thinking along these lines, the quality of your content starts to change, and the journey that people go through to find your content also starts to change.

This may be the gamechanger you're looking for if you want to earn more money with your online publishing efforts.

Click to expand...

Yeah... most of the SEO guys ignore this and focus on backlinks.