Three Common Misconceptions About SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a valuable tool for small businesses, yet many small business owners are not certain of what SEO is, let alone what it actually does. Simply put, SEO is the methods used to increase a website’s ranking in search engines. These methods send signals to the engines, and the engines then use them to determine where the website should rank under what keywords. The better the rankings, the higher likelihood website traffic.
While the core concept of SEO is fairly easy to grasp, there are still a few common misconceptions about how SEO works.
1: SEO is Magic
Despite what some webmasters may lead you to believe, SEO is not magic. SEO requires work in applying on-page and off-page factors to a website to make it search-engine friendly. On-page factors can include a page's primary keywords being included and images employing descriptive, keyword-rich alt attributes. Off-page factors are things that can be done off the website to make it rank higher, including employing social networking, obtaining backlinks, Google My Business optimization, and more. Well done on-page and off-page SEO, not magic, can boost a website’s ranking.
2: Content is No Longer King
The idea that a small business website needs content to rank well has been around since the early days of the web and is still as relevant as ever today. Quality content is vital to a company’s website. Your company establishes expertise by its onsite content. When combined with backlinks from other reputable sites, content becomes even more valuable because the backlinks signal to Google that other websites find your content authoritative and worth showing to people searching for your topic.
3: It is Best to Copy the Big Brands
It can be tempting to just do exactly what the big brands are doing when it comes to SEO. The problem with this is that your website and your business are different from their website and business. Your customers have different user intent. They might be in a different demographic. You have to figure out what your visitors want and employ SEO methods to reach your target audience.
Nearly every small business website can benefit from solid SEO. A combination of optimizing on-page and off-page factors, understanding the relationship between content and links, and finding your own SEO strategy can go a long way in boosting your ranking and putting your business in front of many potential customers. If you have a small business website that could use better search engine rankings, contact our SEO experts today.
