SEO – Fact or Fiction?

When it comes to SEO there is a lot of misinformation in the marketplace, often this is simply because people are uninformed or not adequately experienced, and sadly in some cases because the ‘expert’ will tell you anything to try and get your business.

Your dollar is important and you don’t want it wasted, but more importantly every day that a bad SEO campaign is running is another day where you are potentially losing sales.

This month we’re asking a few questions about SEO and even busting a couple of myths with a Fact or Fiction piece.

We need lots of back links

FICTION!

A link building strategy is important but the keyword here is ‘Strategy’.

Just having lots of back links is not going to help you, what you need is to have a selection of high quality links from good quality, respected sites. Select sites that compliment your own and reflect the same level of professionalism and quality content that you provide.

Do not buy links, or opt into any kind of ‘link exchange’ program as engaging in this activity can result in you being penalised by Google for your actions.

Content is King

FACT!

Content is king, but don’t think just stuffing your content full of keywords is going to help – it will in fact do exactly the opposite.

Think about why most people go to the internet, and after you eliminate dancing babies and cat videos you’ll realise they’re simply looking for an answer. The internet is giant reference book and we all use it for a myriad of things, but most of the time we’re wanting to find something, buy something, or fix something – so make sure your content reflects the product or service your business is delivering.

Example – rather than saying ‘At Acme Company we sell TV’s and home theatre equipment’, try ‘If you’re looking to buy a quality TV or home theatre system then come and visit us at Acme Company where our qualified team will help you select the solution that best fits your lifestyle and budget’.

It’s a bit more wordy but it contains a series of statements that may often be used as search terms and that’s what you’re ultimately looking for.

So remember although content is king, if it’s poorly written it will not deliver the results you’re looking for.

We can promise you page one results!

FICTION!

No one can promise a specific position result – because they do not control the search engine, Google does.

It’s generally easy to get your business name as a page one result because in most cases it’s totally unique and has no competition – but how do they know who you are before they’ve found you. A tactic used by some SEO providers to make you think you’re site is doing better than it is.

A good SEO provider will work with you to fully understand your business and your clients, and then develop an SEO plan based on that, and your online marketing goals. With goals set they will work towards these and adjust the campaign where necessary along the way to best achieve them.

You need Google Ads as well as SEO

FICTION!

Most users will visit a high ranking search result before clicking on an ad – in fact that number is 94% of users.

Why?

Trust, in order to achieve a high ranking SERP (search engine rank position) you will have to convince the search engine that you deserve that position, and that high ranking position will be a result of good quality content, modern and up to date website architecture, speed, website security, and a raft of other ranking factors that you have obviously nailed to get there!

An advertisement appears at the top of the page because someone has paid to be there, not because they are the best solution to your query.

So the bottom line is people trust the sites that appear at the top of the results list 94% more than they do the ones that pay for position.

Paid advertising has its place, but it’s not a silver bullet, and should never be used in isolation and without also working to improve your organic results.

NetValue can be your trusted partner in this space

FACT!

At NetValue we limit the number of SEO clients we work with because we believe quality should always come before quantity. Employing the latest technology to assist in research and reporting leaves us more time to spend working on the actual site and content. SEO cannot be a fully automated process as the people you’re trying to reach are real, just like your SEO specialist.

We care about results so if you’d like to learn more about how we can help you on your SEO journey call or email for a free, no obligation, web site appraisal.