When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) and keywords, many people think they know all about what it is and how it works. The problem is that so many people think they have a firm grasp on SEO so information is being spread like wildfire, and some of it isn’t true.

There are plenty of myths floating around the Internet regarding SEO, and if you’re not doing the right research, you could end up falling victim to one of these myths. The following are eight of the most popular SEO myths.

SEO Myths

Myth #1: Great keywords guarantee results.

No. Great keywords have the possibility to improve your results. Using organic keyword methods (making sure that your keywords are natural in voice and not spamming your site full of them) sits better with the search engines, but they don’t guarantee that you’re going to see any changes. If you have poor keywords and you change them to more valuable keywords, chances are you will see improvement, but it’s all based on your efforts and the efforts of other websites as to how your site compares.

Myth #2: Results will happen overnight.

The only way that your site will see improvement overnight with keywords is if you use black hat tactics and spam your website full of keywords instead of actual copy. Though sites that use these tactics will see improvement quickly, the search engines will catch it and will remove the site from their listings.

When you use organic keywords, it will take time to see results. Sometimes it can be a few days and sometimes it can be a few months. There is no way to determine how long your SEO tactics will take to marinate.

Myth #3: Once you rank #1 it’s hard to lose it.

The #1 search ranking for any given keyword varies almost on a daily basis. Once you’ve hit the #1 spot, you can easily be down a few spots the next day. It’s all based on your continued effort, the effort of other sites as well as the algorithms used by the search engines.

Myth #4: Your meta tags should contain keywords.

Your meta tag does not need to contain keywords because search engines like Google don’t use them to determine your page’s ranking. Title tags are important, but putting keywords in your meta tags will not do anything for your SEO strategy. You can fill them in if you want to, but if you don’t, it won’t hurt you.

Myth #5: The more keywords in my copy, the better.

Keywords are great, and unique keywords are even better, but if these keywords do not flow naturally within your copy, it won’t do you any good. There is also no magic number of keywords that will ensure you have better SEO strategies than others, so if you hear that you need to have at least X amount of keywords per page, don’t listen—it’s not true.

Myth #6: Spending money on Google products will increase your ranking.

Google doesn’t care if you purchase services such as GoogleAdWords or if you don’t. They don’t rank pages that use their services higher than those who don’t, so if you’re using Google AdWords just to increase your page ranking, put that money to some other use.

Myth #7: You only need keywords on your home page.

Every page of your website is equally important, so you must include keywords on every page in order to improve your SEO tactics. It’s possible for people to find your “About Us” page before they find your home page, so don’t put all your keywords on only one page of your site.

Myth #8: There’s nothing wrong with black hat SEO.

Technically, when you use black hat tactics, you’re trying to cheat the system. The problem is that though you may briefly succeed, the search engines will eventually figure it out, and when they do, they will remove your site from their index.

Before SEO can work for your business, you have to know what works, why it works and how it works. Having an understanding that these eight things are all myths will help alleviate any misconceptions throughout your strategy.

Julie Myers is a writer and keyword strategy expert who writes interesting and educational articles for SEOMAP.

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