As I have mentioned in other blogs we know that Google’s algorithm is trying to imitate the decision making process of real people and because of this it is clear that the content of your website is going to have a big effect on how Google ranks your website. However there are some common myths about website content which we can put to rest.
Myth 1: If I update my website regularly it will improve my SERP (Search Engine Ranking Position)
Unfortunately improving your SERP is not as easy as that. Writing blogs, adding or changing service content or writing news articles on your website will not have a great impact of your SERP. Google likes to see websites which are kept fresh because stagnant websites are seen to be a symbol of ‘dormant’ businesses. However it is essential to ensure your content is relevant and also utilises your keywords.
Myth 2: The more keywords you put into your site the better
Unfortunately not….Google weights keywords, so the first one you list will carry the most weight and the weight apportioned to each will decrease as you go on down the list. So you can see that the more you have the less weight will be attributed to each. Google is trying to find it’s user’s ‘experts’, so by having 20 keywords all you are saying is that you are a ‘jack of all trades’ not an expert. If you have a number of products or services you want to optimise, then set up pages for each and optimise each one separately with a couple of select keywords.
Myth 3: If I have good keywords in my site I don’t need to do anything else
Once again, sadly, this is not the case. Ensuring you have researched your keywords properly and that you have used them in both your page content and your meta content is really important. However it is very unlikely that just carrying out this ‘on-page’ SEO will be enough to beat out the competition.
Myth 4: If I use my competitors company names in my site I will be able to steal people searching for their business.
This one is true…to some extent. If you put your competitor’s company names in your site there is a good chance that you will come up in search results alongside them. However this is a ‘black’ SEO practice and if your competitor complains to Google there is a good chance they will blacklist you from their listings entirely. Just stick to good SEO practice.
If you would like to have a chat about SEO and how you can improve your Search Engine Ranking Position get in touch.