As SEO is one thing that has too many details to be fully understood, the keywords are from its crucial elements as for SEO succeed. There are then some keyword myths that have been developed over time and should be avoided for SEO to run smoothly in every sense.
Very interesting was a presentation given recently on this topic at Brighton SEO, where Laura Hogan, Head of Search in Ricemedia, exposed some interesting items as people had some misconceptions about keywords, the so-called “keyword myths”, a useful reminder on some “DON’Ts” in the SEO industry.
There are some interesting keyword myths that could easily interfere with the proper use of keywords.
Here is a list of five of the most common ones so your website prevents misusing them, and on the contrary, gets the most out of them.
#1: Myth – “…yes, this is the exact number of keywords to use for optimal results!”
Forget it! No one has the right number!
You have probably seen a lot of advice about keyword density, and as all advice is valuable, it is just that, advice. The one thing you should for sure know is that there’s no such thing as a magic number of keyword uses.
The best recommendation to take is to make sure that keywords, after proper research, are included in your page title, headings and URL, and then incorporate them in your content in a natural way.
#2: Myth – Keyword research may not be as important…
Wrong!
Good SEO is very important in every way, and as some people may not know, the investment done on it will for sure be proportional to its profitable results!
Keywords are among the best reasons for important traffic to your website and its effective conversion.
Taking time to know your audience and the elements they browse is the vital to develop solid SEO strategies. No money or time put on this will ever be waste.
As simple as this: with more than 40k searches on Google every second, according to Brandwatch, competition out there is evident. Now, wouldn’t you like to know the keywords they input related to your website’s offers so some good part of those thousands of searches go right to your page?
#3: Myth – Long-tail keywords, the only ones that work!
Stop believing these keyword myths or you will prevent yourself from half of the fun!
It is known that long-tail keywords are great, they actually don’t get much of a competition because of their structure and the way they work. This evidently makes a huge opportunity for the results we want to get.
Now, relying solely on long-tail keywords would be kind of a mistake. As said before, when SEO has all of its details covered there is a bigger probability of success.
In SEO, diversifying the type of keywords used is the best thing to do to get the traffic you’re after. Click To TweetOwn all of the spaces, and not only the “long-tailed” ones…!.
#4: Myth – The use of keywords in Meta descriptions is worthless in SEO performance
…are you serious? …worthless?
As most of the elements of SEO are covered, the chances of success are a lot higher. One may seem minuscule, but it potentially empowers the SEO highs or lows.
It is the case of meta descriptions. They may seem a small detail, but a lot can result from them, even more when the keywords are naturally set in them.
Meta descriptions are short paragraphs that briefly describe the content of a result in a SERP. The keywords contented in them are of visual attractive to the user.
It can totally influence the user’s decision on visiting the site shown or not. Based mainly on how attractive, descriptive and relevant the description is the user (traffic and potential customer of your site) will follow the link.
#5: Myth – Keywords are not important in the construction of URLs
If this is what you really think then you might be doing something wrong, you should avoid keyword myths like these.
Think about this, Google has claimed to have more than 46 billion indexed pages; this means that there is a lot of people fighting over that important spot in the SERP.
Either for search engines or users, clear and “readable” URLs are highly appreciated. Some valuable SEO performance is being neglected when URLs do not show the keywords, if so, users and search engines may “skip” your site.
A URL that can be memorized easily and with a length that fits in the SERP will for sure overpass its competitors and this may have strong positive effects over its rankings.
So, there you go! Nothing better to know the myths so you know what to dispel!
On an intelligent move, avoiding these myths can empowered your SEO strategies to get the very most out of it. In case you have any other, feel free… Share it!
