Taking Apart the Top 3 SEO Myths Everyone Needs to Know About

When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), it can be hard to stay on top of everything that is going on. Since SEO is an ever-changing field, you need to keep up with the news on all of Google's updates in order to make sure your SEO strategy puts you in a position to get the rankings you want instead of backhanding you back to the never-never land of result pages you will never take a serious look at. One of the things that make search engine optimization hardest is the fact that making one serious mistake can undo the benefits of doing dozens or hundreds of things right - so make sure you're not following for any of these three SEO myths.

Myth #1: Backlinks Are Poisonous To SEO
This is one of those rumors that came out of Google Panda and Penguin, as well as the many small updates and adjustments that have continued to follow up since the original releases. At one point the single biggest factor in ranking a website to the top of the search engine rankings but now it's more complicated. Many of those major updates were hitting people building fake backlinks, backlinks from article directories, and gaming the system.

Backlinks are still some of the most powerful tools in the SEO world, but you have to be careful with them. You only want branded backlinks from websites that are in the same or a closely related niche and a few to go a long way. Contextual backlinks are a powerful tool.

Myth #2: The Quality of Content Doesn't Matter
For far too long this myth was true, but Google has fought this one since the beginning. There was a time where a sheer number of backlinks and heavy keyword stuffing was enough, but the content is now king. That means long original articles with perfect grammar, a readable style, and a voice of authority. Quality content is critical for ranking and the days of getting by with fluffy content, thinly veiled PLR re-writes, and English as a second language mumbo-jumbo is over.

Myth #3: WordPress Is Out of the Box SEO Friendly
There isn't anything in WordPress that automatically makes it SEO-friendly. The biggest reason many people like WP is because it makes doing so many SEO-positive things easy to do, but it is those actions that help with ranking, not the WordPress itself.

SEO is an ever-changing field and the truths of yesterday can become the myths of tomorrow. Because of this, it's important to understand that keeping up on the news is a proper part of any long-term strategy.