This is 2016, but still, web marketers have not made correction to some of the basic concepts. SEO or content marketing has been in for decades now, yet some people haven’t made their records straight. So, this post is an attempt to help modern-day content marketers correct their concepts about SEO. This will also help them make more user focused and successful marketing strategy. While this post will help you crack common myths and use takeaways to correct your practices, if you’re a business looking for an expert, hire search engine marketing company Toronto like Webryze to create a flawless strategy for you.
Time to start digging!
Myth #1: Google Can Measure User Satisfaction
User engagement is what the visitor does on the page. Google cannot track what these people do on the vast majority of Web pages. Moreover, Google is not the only way people reach a page. And if your “average page views per visit” is greater than 2 Google isn’t even driving most of the traffic to your pages.
Google can only measure user satisfaction with its own search results, which is, by means, connected to the level of user satisfaction on your website.
Myth #2: Desktop Searches Have Been Replaced By Mobile Searches
Although, desktop searches have been reduced over the past few years, but they’re not weak, unlike what people think these days. 2016 is also a year in which users have understood the purpose of mobile as well as desktops. They know what to do with their smartphones, and what they can achieve with desktops.
Web marketers are missing huge opportunities by mistaking mobile search for an evolution from desktop search. Moreover, search activity from mobile is comparatively lower than desktop, considering if a user is using any device at a specific time.
Myth #3: Users are More Important than The Content
This is not true, and it cannot be. Users surf web for relevance and valuable content. This is why publishers, searches and indexes are still more important than users. Moreover, users are related to content and you cannot prioritize one over other, rather keep them in balance.
Myth #4: Semantic Search is the Part of Technical SEO
If you think like that, go to the basics of technical SEO. It’s not more than delivering, or helping to deliver, the content to search engine. Although, over the past few years, semantic searches have been a tough ask to catch on, marketers should not think about them being the next big thing. The reason is, search engines have switched from semantic model to contexts. If you think about RankBrain, there’s no connection with semantic searches either. It’s just a tool among many.
Myth #5: Rankings Based on Links
Although Google and Bing identify linking as a filter to search rankings, but there are other factors (non-signals) as well:
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Page quality algorithms (such as Page Layout, Payday Loans, and Panda)
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Query deserves freshness (for time-sensitive signals)
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User search history and social connections (via Google Plus)
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Inferred local contexts
Myth #6: Content Marketing Is More Important than SEO
If you think like that, you need to change your concepts big time. The purpose of content marketing is to create demand, just like SEO. If you ignore SEO, you will be creating content only for the people who already know you, not for the new ones.
You can call yourself a content publisher, not the marketer. SEO is beyond link building. In fact, content marketing is more like a combination of content spam and links.
Conclusion
There are many more misconceptions that need to be clarified, but these are the basics that have been circulated around the world, polluting the minds of content marketers and people alike. If you have changed your mind, you will be in for a great success this year.
