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Search engine optimization has been one of the many leading and diverse ways of online marketing. And with this, it is only understandable that certain myths and misconceptions are bound to surface. With regular algorithm updates and new factors influencing search all the time, search engine optimization is moving at quite a fast pace. This is precisely why it is clouded with a rather thick haze of confusion, misattribution and misunderstanding. However, this is why it is a rather pressing need for an SEO company that offers link-building services to dispel these erroneous notions.

There is an urgent need for clarification on this matter because this is what draws potential consumers into your different websites and the more educated they are with search engine optimization, the more receptive they will be to using it. Furthermore, if plenty of users are misled to believe the misapprehension surrounding search engine optimizations, then more and more SEO companies will lose their credibility.

This is precisely what we are trying to avoid, which is why users and visitors alike should be furnished with the correct knowledge of what search engine optimization really is. And the first step to making users understand better is to eliminate whatever fallacies they may have of search engine optimization from the Internet.

Here are some of the most common fallacies about SEO:

1. SEO is nothing but keywords and links

While keywords and links certainly form a great part and role in SEO, they are not the only factors. There are other factors involved that users and visitors should not discount. Everything from the mobile optimization of a website to the social “virality” of a particular content plays a part in search rankings. With Hummingbird’s release, Google is getting a much better grasp at understanding full inquiries in addition to just single keywords, which means placing of keywords at the very front of the title may not be as important.

Google has become more evolved in recognizing the search queries in the context of the sentences surrounding them, even factoring location into some of the search queries. This could only mean that search is becoming more complex with more factors playing a role in the influence of rankings. However, this complexity adds nuance and a sense of comprehension of the context the person is trying to search for. This goes without saying that, you should write for people first and machines (or search engines) second.

  2. When a keyword is not provided, it is an SEO’s ultimate doom.

Recently, Google encrypted all keywords giving users everywhere the misguided impression that it was the end of SEO. However, this would be true should SEO solely be about keywords, then this would be an absolute nightmare for everyone but fortunately, it is not. This is why SEO Companies would rather focus on the content of their website rather than the keywords which herds in visitors into their site.  This is why it is best to go to the analytics of your website and see which pages garnered the highest traffic from organic search (regardless of the keywords) and try to see the common denominator of these pages, and identify what their primary focus is.

It is also wise to engage with your customers. Talk and listen to them about what they were seeking for when they found you and focus on getting tour content seen, spread and shared across social media platforms. This helps you stay relevant. The bottom line is: Google’s keyword encryption is a mere inconvenience but it is certainly not the death of SEO. SEO is about creating information rich, spreadable and relevant content, so why not focus on that instead?

 3. Bing doesn’t really count. So it should be discarded.

Because Bing isn’t as popular as Google, most people disregard it as another option as a search engine. But though people vastly underestimate Bing’s capabilities as a search engine, according to comScore’s October search engine rankings, it received 18.1 percent of searches in the US in April 2013. This is a figure that has doubled since 2009. While it is not remarkable, it has certainly shown improvement. Furthermore, while Bing may not be ready to be at par with Google competition wise as the most widely used search engine, there are plenty of other factors you should be considering. First, Bing has a partnership with Facebook wherein it enables users to search for places and things within their social reach. In addition to that, Bing became the search engine, which powers all of Yahoo searches. Furthermore, Bing’s algorithm is less complex than Google’s and it prioritizes slightly different things, so if Google is not working for you, Bing might be able to present some useful opportunities to you.

And perhaps, the most glaring and obvious feature Bing has is that unlike Google who began encrypting keyword data from its users’ searches, Bing still provides marketers with keyword data. This may not change your prospective customers’ search behavior; there is more opportunity to learn from the keywords that have brought in Bing searchers.

Though optimizing for Google should remain as your main approach, consider that Bing is on the move. That compounded with its strategic partnerships with Facebook and Yahoo should make the search engine and interesting force for online marketers.

4. Linking to my site from the comments is a good idea

Inbound links to your websites are votes of confidence for your content and have a positive impact on your page’s ranking, but what most people forget is that inbound links should be earned. Composing links on the comments section of a blog is not going to help you in that area, which might even annoy some users. Blogs, mostly have “no follow” instructions built into their comments; mainly to avoid spam. This would instruct search engine crawlers to ignore any links found within the comments.

Though it is not necessarily bad to link relevant content in the comments occasionally, one should remember the operative word here: relevance. In fact, should your comment be insightful, it might generate traffic for you, but keep in mind that it is not likely to increase your search rank directly. However, this is not something you should overdo as this can raise red flags with Google. So leave links in comments where they make sense or allow readers to learn more about your comment, which in the first place should be relevant to the content you are commenting for. However, do not expect this to help with SEO.