Companies can safely forget these five SEO myths
Search Engine Optimization—Where Is It Headed? There’s hardly any other marketing discipline where so many myths and misconceptions circulate as there are when it comes to SEO. Are keywords still important today? How do search engines handle expandable content? Or is SEO long dead? Florian Kiel, Head of Performance Marketing at the agency Cormes, has the answer.
Myth 1: SEO is dead!
Is effective search engine optimization itself already a myth? SEO work is counterproductive because Google knows all the tricks and punishes them? There are several myths hidden here. First of all: SEO is anything but dead, but the rules change over time. What is good and correct today may be outdated in a few years' time. As long as there are search engines on the Internet that list and rank their results one after the other using an algorithm, SEO is not in danger of dying. It is a persistent misconception that Google itself tries to penalize search engine optimization. Whether a website is displayed as a top search result by the search engine depends on a number of criteria. These criteria are based on whether the site is as easy to use as possible and highly relevant to the searcher. Good search engine optimization therefore also means an improvement for site users - Google and Co. therefore have an interest in ensuring that SEO never dies.
Myth 2: It's better to use one too many keywords than one too few!
The more often a selected keyword appears, the better? Conversely, this would mean that a post that largely consists only of the keyword is a good text from a search engine perspective. So it's not quite that simple. Google now also looks at how often certain terms appear in relation to the length of the text. Completely illegible blocks of text written just for the search engine are therefore counterproductive. Instead, what is the ideal density of the keyword in relation to the overall length? Here, too, there is a whole range of assumptions - sometimes there is talk of two percent, sometimes three percent or even more. However, it is not possible to make a definitive statement. The use of synonyms, good readability and certain text genres are also influencing factors. Accordingly, a "keyword quota" would be different in a slideshow than in a blog post. According to Google, the selected keyword must appear at least once for the page to be findable in this context. However, the focus is on good readability. However, if keywords are used too frequently, this can be classified as spam - with negative consequences for the website's search engine ranking.
Myth 3: Meta keywords are the key to success!
As the second myth shows, keywords no longer have the power they may have had a few months ago. This also applies to meta keywords, which are inserted invisibly to users in the page code. Many content management systems, such as WordPress, offer the function of defining a focus keyword for a blog post or homepage. According to Google, the "meta keyword" has no longer played a role in the ranking for several years. However, this does not apply to other information such as the meta description or the title - these are still read by Google. For this reason, it is particularly important to use the keyword here.
Myth 4: Fold-out content is a real SEO killer!
Collapsible content is a frequently used means of keeping pages with a lot of content clear. Not every reader is interested in the big picture and may be looking for specific information. Especially in the mobile view, collapsible boxes can prevent users from being overwhelmed by the large amount of information. However, concerns that search engines will not recognize these fold-out texts prove to be superfluous: They are recognized and evaluated by Google and co. However, it is true that search engines rate these "hidden" texts as less important. Important text passages should therefore ideally be included in the normal body text - without users having to unfold a specific section first.
Myth 5: Good SEO work is immediately reflected in the results!
A few optimizations here, a few adjustments there and your site is already at the top of the Google results? Unfortunately, it's not that quick and easy. SEO is a long-distance run and sometimes requires a lot of testing and trial and error. Is Google simply too slow? Yes and no. Simple actions such as indexing a new page are very fast. However, it can take several weeks for the results of processes such as link building to become noticeable or for the page to be found under certain search terms. Because the search engine algorithm is constantly being changed and optimized, SEO work on a website is also a continuous process that is never complete.
Conclusion: The user, not Google, is king!
When it comes to SEO, there are numerous misconceptions and half-truths in circulation. The optimization of a website for search engines is sometimes decisive for the ranking of a homepage and, as a result, the success of a company. What counts is relevant content! The algorithms of Google and other search engines are now sophisticated enough to recognize when a website or blog post is relevant for readers and when it is not. The first place in the search results is only effective if users get what they are looking for on the page: relevant information, interesting content. These are the basic ingredients for a company to be remembered by its target group. The most important SEO rule is therefore always: good and effective content is produced for people, not for search engines.
Florian Kiel is Head of Performance Marketing at the German agency Cormes. Together with Robert Franzke, Head of SEA, he manages the online marketing agency's consulting services with a focus on social media marketing and search engine optimization. Kiel has almost ten years of experience in agencies and companies and has worked for Sofatutor and ProSiebenSat.1's MyVideo platform, among others.
