The Web changes. So does SEO. In fact, SEO is not the same today as it was 10 or 15 years ago. Below are 4 distinct SEO ideas that are no longer valid, yet I hear people talking about them all the time as if they are still good and valid ideas. These ideas are as outdated as silent movies.
- You need meta tags – Not really. The keyword meta tag is no longer necessary. The search engines ignore them. You should too. As far as the meta description tag goes, it’s still useful, but the search engines don’t always use it. It’s supposed to be the snippet searchers see in search results when your website comes up. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t.
- Search engine submission services get your site indexed – No they don’t. At one time, that was true. But it hasn’t been true for at least 10 years. You don’t need to submit your website to search engines. Just build a few inbound links and they will discover your site.
- You need a keyword-based domain name – It might help. It might not. This is just one ranking criteria, however, many websites rank well for keywords that are not in their domain name. Branded domain names work just as well. Just look at Google, Bing, and Facebook.
- Social media isn’t necessary – Absolutely incorrect. In today’s search engine marketing climate, social media is every bit as important as organic SEO. In fact, the two are intricately intertwined.
