Getting caught in the web of Internet marketing myths is easy to do and can leave you hopelessly spinning as you try to rescue your online business presence.
The advice encountered by many local business owners is often outdated, involves black hat SEO strategies or information that is strictly false.
It can be overwhelming to keep up with the updates and changes regarding best marketing tactics. However, if you’re not careful you may lose valuable business opportunities and be left scraping the remnants of your website out of Google purgatory. If you have been subjected to any of the following myths it is time to clear them out of your marketing practices.
One of the most common myths surrounding keywords is tied to domain names. Several years ago domain names that consisted of keywords were in high demand but they are no longer necessary today. While having a keyword in your domain is not likely to harm your online presence it is not advantageous as it once was. If your domain name is too keyword focused it can also limit future business growth and branding efforts.
Keyword stuffing is another practice that can negatively impact your rankings and business image.
Informative content is necessary so that both customers and search engines are aware of what your business offers.
Businesses that have engaged in disreputable link building practices have had to clean up their link portfolios in order to save their rankings. For this reason, some people believe that link building is no longer a safe or beneficial practice but this line of thinking is incorrect. While “spammy” links are very risky and not an effective long-term strategy, building links to quality sites is an important part of a healthy SEO campaign.
While the bulk of your business may not have relied upon mobile searches in the past, that is likely to change if it hasn’t already.
Failure to optimize for mobile may also have a negative impact on your rankings and has become a requirement for a strong online business presence.
Even if you don’t consider your business to be social media friendly, being active on social networks is important for several reasons:
Social signals create backlinks – When you post content on social media sites it has the potential to be promoted all over the Internet. Activity on social sites can also influence where you rank in Google search results.
– Referral Traffic: Social media networks are a great tool to gain referral traffic to your website that can often generate sales.
– Reputation Management: Even if you are not active on social media sites it does not mean that consumers are not talking about your business. Social media can be used to listen in to these conversations and also respond to feedback about your company.
– Customer Engagement: Social media channels provide a space to interact and build relationships with past, present and future customers.
If you are looking to improve your website’s ranking and overall business prospects then you need to uproot this last myth. Improving user experience can have a wide range of benefits for your business and general online presence. Your website should cater to what your customers need or want before you even get into the products and services that your business offers.
Achieving this can involve the content and design that make up your website, social activity and the overall experience that you provide your customers with. When you build your website with the goal of satisfying customer expectations and desires you will see a boost in your search rankings as well as your business.
