Search Engine Optimization may seem like some kind of magic to those who don’t work behind the scenes, but in actuality, it’s a process just like many others – with its own industry standards, tools, and base-level expert knowledge. However, it’s not a practice commonly taught to everyone within the marketing realm, so it may be easy to fall for promises that can’t actually be fulfilled, or aren’t what they appear to be. For instance, a number one search engine ranking for your website sounds incredible, but an expert being able to forecast these outcomes is completely unrealistic. Are you being tricked by your SEO experts? Let us guide you through these six common faulty SEO promises!
1 – Promising a number one ranking. Ranking first for a set of keywords, or even on the first page of a search engine, is not a promise someone can simply make. In the realm of SEO, outcomes aren’t predictable, as you can’t simply choose your website’s placement on Google. This promise is also faulty because a number one ranking may not always be a good thing– if you’re ranking for irrelevant keywords, for a phrase only specific and relevant to your business, or other hang-ups like this, then your ranking won’t actually be drawing the right traffic.
2 – Promising that they know the algorithms search engines use. While this may make the above promise more feasible, this statement is entirely false. No one aside from search engines knows their own algorithms— they publish guidelines to help better meet their parameters, but their exact guidelines aren’t public knowledge.
3 – Promising that the only SEO work needed is what a search engine recommends. Just because an SEO technique isn’t listed in a search engine’s guidelines doesn’t mean it isn’t important, relevant, or helpful to your site’s ranking! Some aspects listed in their guidelines may not even be particularly crucial to your individual site, to begin with.
4 – Promising that duplicate content won’t hurt your SEO or other marketing efforts. Search engines actually have a knack for picking up on duplicate or unoriginal content and will often dock websites that don’t publish their own, unique content. Audiences can also easily pick this up. If you pull up a Google search and see information on your website page matching that of several other sites on the list, it’s not difficult to tell that this content was not created specifically for your business. This is a huge dock to your credibility and business reputation.
5 – Speaking of duplicate content, many also promise that the more links you earn and include, the better. While quantity may be good in some cases, you also want the links included in your site and external ones driving traffic to your site to be meaningful. In other words, you want this traffic boost to be bringing you actual potential customers with relevant interests and the right expectations for your site. Otherwise, the numbers aren’t being put to good use.
6 – Finally, perhaps the biggest false promise made to SEO customers, is that you only need SEO work for a strong digital marketing strategy. While SEO is a strong component of success, creative content and social media marketing are also crucial aspects of marketing success. It takes a balance of all three to have a truly broad and well-structured marketing strategy, so don’t forget about the other two branches when working on your SEO.
For more helpful information or for further assistance with staying on top of your own SEO work, contact i3 today! We believe in educating our clients so that you know you can trust and understand the work we do for you– there’s no need to fall for these tricks when we’ll happily guide you through it all!
Search Engine Optimization may seem like some kind of magic to those who don’t work behind the scenes, but in actuality, it’s a process just like many others – with its own industry standards, tools, and base-level expert knowledge. However, it’s not a practice commonly taught to everyone within the marketing realm, so it may be easy to fall for promises that can’t actually be fulfilled, or aren’t what they appear to be. For instance, a number one search engine ranking for your website sounds incredible, but an expert being able to forecast these outcomes is completely unrealistic. Are you being tricked by your SEO experts? Let us guide you through these six common faulty SEO promises!
1 – Promising a number one ranking. Ranking first for a set of keywords, or even on the first page of a search engine, is not a promise someone can simply make. In the realm of SEO, outcomes aren’t predictable, as you can’t simply choose your website’s placement on Google. This promise is also faulty because a number one ranking may not always be a good thing– if you’re ranking for irrelevant keywords, for a phrase only specific and relevant to your business, or other hang-ups like this, then your ranking won’t actually be drawing the right traffic.
2 – Promising that they know the algorithms search engines use. While this may make the above promise more feasible, this statement is entirely false. No one aside from search engines knows their own algorithms— they publish guidelines to help better meet their parameters, but their exact guidelines aren’t public knowledge.
3 – Promising that the only SEO work needed is what a search engine recommends. Just because an SEO technique isn’t listed in a search engine’s guidelines doesn’t mean it isn’t important, relevant, or helpful to your site’s ranking! Some aspects listed in their guidelines may not even be particularly crucial to your individual site, to begin with.
4 – Promising that duplicate content won’t hurt your SEO or other marketing efforts. Search engines actually have a knack for picking up on duplicate or unoriginal content and will often dock websites that don’t publish their own, unique content. Audiences can also easily pick this up. If you pull up a Google search and see information on your website page matching that of several other sites on the list, it’s not difficult to tell that this content was not created specifically for your business. This is a huge dock to your credibility and business reputation.
5 – Speaking of duplicate content, many also promise that the more links you earn and include, the better. While quantity may be good in some cases, you also want the links included in your site and external ones driving traffic to your site to be meaningful. In other words, you want this traffic boost to be bringing you actual potential customers with relevant interests and the right expectations for your site. Otherwise, the numbers aren’t being put to good use.
6 – Finally, perhaps the biggest false promise made to SEO customers, is that you only need SEO work for a strong digital marketing strategy. While SEO is a strong component of success, creative content and social media marketing are also crucial aspects of marketing success. It takes a balance of all three to have a truly broad and well-structured marketing strategy, so don’t forget about the other two branches when working on your SEO.
For more helpful information or for further assistance with staying on top of your own SEO work, contact i3 today! We believe in educating our clients so that you know you can trust and understand the work we do for you– there’s no need to fall for these tricks when we’ll happily guide you through it all!