17 SEO Myths Debunked: Rejiggering Your SEO Mindset for 2014

By: Eddy Goldberg | 2,780 Reads | Add Franchising.com

What do you believe about SEO? And how do you know it's true?

Perhaps it's time to read "17 SEO Myths You Should Leave Behind in 2014," a report from inbound marketing software platform provider Hubspot. The report, written by Rebecca Churt, SEO marketing manager at Hubspot, aims to dispel those myths and help online marketers improve their performance. From the introduction:

"SEO has changed so much in the past several years that many marketers aren't sure what's outdated, what's important, what will actually move the needle, and what's simply wasted effort. This guide is going to point out all of the most common myths and assumptions about how SEO works and debunk them for you, so you're not wasting a single moment on things that simply don't matter for SEO in 2014."

To get you started, here are five of those 17 myths:

#1 I must submit my site to Google.
#2 SEO is all about ranking.
#4 More links are better than more content.
#9 There's an ideal keyword density for my page.
#14 Microsites and other domains I own that link or redirect back to my site will help my SEO.

The takeaway. In her conclusion, Churt sums it up like this

"If you can take one thing away from this guide, it's this: More than anything else, SEO is about the overall experience for a searcher, and that experience starts the moment they enter a search query. The better their experience with you - from your SERP

listing, to the quality and relevancy of the content on your site, to the ease with which they can move through your site - the better your SEO will be, too."

Debunking myths is one thing, improving your SEO efforts is another. Hubspot has that covered too, with a free guide and worksheet about SEO best practices called "Search Engine Optimization: Past, Present, and Future."

Published: February 25th, 2014