7 harsh truths about SEO
While you can find a lot of SEO advice online, some can be slightly misleading. Some marketers believe SEO is a thing of the past and that you don’t need it anymore. While Google’s algorithm is improving, we still recommend employing SEO techniques to get a better rank for your website. We are here to dispel any myths you may have heard and deliver 7 harsh truths about SEO that will help you boost how well your site ranks.
#1: Never attempt black hat SEO
Most of the commonly recommended SEO practices will help you achieve a better rank for your website. Unfortunately, they require much hard work and dedication to show results. For this reason, some business owners look for shortcuts and faster ways to boost SERP ranking. Black hat SEO is a set of techniques and practices against Google’s developer guidelines and terms of service.
You may find someone online who offers to sell you a large number of links or give you a huge following on social media overnight. However, most such offers are digital marketing scams which you should avoid. Black hat techniques can get you penalized by Google. Your website will become blacklisted, and your organic traffic will plummet. If you attempt any tricks that go against the terms of service on social networks, your profile will probably receive a ban. Therefore, we suggest doing everything by the book, even if it takes longer to show results.
#2: Your web design must be user friendly
Having a website that isn’t functional isn’t doing you any favors. Your website must be intuitive, easy to navigate, and a pleasure to use. Simply loading your site with keyword-stuffed content will give you negative SEO. Google is paying close attention to the overall user experience, so you might want to hire experts for web design services New York to help you optimize your site.
Remember to take mobile users into account when designing your site. A large majority of website visits are performed through smartphones. Therefore, one of the harsh truths about SEO is that you shouldn’t be prioritizing desktop users anymore. They represent an ever-shrinking percentage of online users, meaning you should optimize for mobile.
#3: Lean into long-tail keywords
Your keywords should match user searches. The reality is that those searches have become much more complex than they were in the past. Nowadays, users rarely look up single-word searches, meaning your keywords must follow suit. Long-tail keywords are specific phrases typically consisting of four or more words that closely match what users are searching for.
It would help if you realized that these keywords usually have a lower traffic volume. However, you can expect them to result in higher conversion rates, which makes them extremely valuable for lead generation. That kind of traffic usually stems from users close to making a purchase. For the best results, you should match your long-tail keywords with the syntax customers are likely to use. Don’t be afraid to use informal sentence structure that resembles spoken language.
#4: Avoid topical content
Everyone knows that one of the most effective forms of advertising has become content marketing. Unfortunately, many aren’t aware of the harsh truths about SEO, that not all content is good for visibility. Although topical content can generate plenty of interest, it fails to generate long-term value. For example, how often do you think users go back and read daily news articles from three years ago?
Instead, we suggest focusing on evergreen content. This type of content will take much longer to go out of style and will continue to provide you and your users with value over time. You can occasionally update old articles with new information to make them even more efficient. Updates help keep your content up to date, and Google will also re-crawl your pages.
#5: Users don’t know what they want, but you should
We often hear advice that businesses should perform market research into their customers’ needs. However, those same customers will probably struggle to give you a detailed explanation of what they are looking for. We suggest looking for patterns in existing customer behavior and doing a thorough analysis to extrapolate their future needs. If you feel that you are in over your head, you can contact the Digital Dot marketing agency for help with marketing and customer behavior research. SEO relies on catering to your target demographic, and marketing research can give you valuable insight into your customers.
#6: Local SEO matters more than you think
Many companies are so caught up in creating a global online presence that they neglect their local market. Even companies that do business globally still have many users coming from their local area. This often has to do with shopping preferences and convenience for the customers. On the other hand, some companies rely on in-person services and must cater to their immediate neighborhood. If you want help boosting your visibility in the local marketplace, contact experts for local SEO NYC who can draw more attention to your business regardless of where you are located.
#7: Building backlinks is hard
We already mentioned the risks associated with taking shortcuts for SEO. The situation is no different when it comes to building backlinks. If you aren’t proficient with SEO terminology, backlinks represent inbound links to your website from external sources. It comes down to other sites directing users to your pages. Setting up backlinks on reputable websites is a lot of hard work, representing one of the often-overlooked harsh truths about SEO. Google frowns on link schemes, so you will need to build backlinks the old-fashioned way. The most efficient way to set up backlinks on other websites is to contact the site owners and offer to write a guest article. You better roll up your sleeves and start writing.
Wrapping up on seven harsh truths about SEO
You shouldn’t believe all the self-proclaimed SEO gurus who proclaim that you can boost SEO in just 5 minutes of your time. We’ve covered 7 harsh truths about SEO, showing that it is possible to increase your visibility in online spaces but that you should be ready to put in a lot of work. However, with a bit of dedication, we are sure you’ll see an increase in your organic traffic in no time.
