SEO has more myths than most areas of web design.

Partly because search engines change. Partly because Google’s search systems are now so complex that even Google can’t always explain precisely why one page ranks above another. And partly because an entire industry has grown up around pretending it can.

I’ve designed and built websites for many years, and SEO has always been part of that process. Not because every website needs an elaborate SEO campaign, but because there’s little point creating a great website if nobody can find it.

The problem is that SEO advice often gets reduced to simple rules: use more keywords, publish more articles, change your domain name, write 300 words on every page, get more backlinks.

Some of these ideas are wrong. Others contain just enough truth to make them convincing.

So rather than simply debunking a collection of SEO myths, let’s look at the half-truths behind them – and what actually matters.

Myth 1: SEO is something you do after the website is built

This is probably one of the biggest misconceptions about SEO.

A website can certainly be optimised after it has been built, but many of the things that influence its search performance are decisions that should have been made much earlier.

What pages should the website contain? How are those pages organised? What should the navigation look like? Which subjects deserve their own pages? How should pages link together? What terminology are potential customers actually using when they search?

Then there are page titles, headings, URLs, internal links, image optimisation, mobile usability, accessibility and performance.

All of these things overlap with good website design.

Trying to bolt SEO onto a badly planned website afterwards is rather like building a house and then remembering you’d quite like some stairs.

SEO should be considered as part of the website, not applied as a finishing coat once everything else is done.

Myth 2: SEO takes months before anything happens

Sometimes it does.

If you’re trying to rank a new website nationally for a highly competitive search term, you’re unlikely to leap to number one next Tuesday.

But saying SEO always takes months is another oversimplification.

An established website can sometimes respond surprisingly quickly to an improved page, better internal linking or content that more accurately answers a particular search.

Specific local searches can also be very different from highly competitive national terms.

The important distinction is between seeing an effect and achieving a long-term objective.

SEO isn’t an on/off switch. Search visibility can improve gradually, individual pages can move at different speeds and some opportunities are considerably easier to win than others.

Be suspicious of anyone guaranteeing instant results, but equally don’t assume everything you do today has to disappear into Google’s machinery for six months before anything can happen.

Myth 3: Repeating a keyword makes a page rank higher

Once upon a time, stuffing a search phrase into a page repeatedly could produce results.

Search engines have become considerably more sophisticated since then.

Writing:

Website designer Eastbourne. If you need a website designer in Eastbourne, I’m an Eastbourne website designer providing website design in Eastbourne…

isn’t optimisation. It’s barely English.

But there’s now an opposite myth that keywords no longer matter.

They do.

If somebody searches for website designer Eastbourne, it isn’t unreasonable for a relevant page to clearly establish that it concerns website design and Eastbourne.

The trick isn’t achieving a magical percentage of keyword density. It’s making the subject of the page unmistakable while writing naturally for the person reading it.

Use the words people use. Just don’t attack them with those words repeatedly until they surrender.

Myth 4: Old content doesn’t rank

Google doesn’t automatically dislike a page because it was published five years ago.

In fact, an established page can have considerable value. It may already have search history, links pointing towards it, internal links and existing visibility.

The problem isn’t necessarily old content.

It’s outdated content.

An article containing obsolete advice, broken links and information that hasn’t been accurate since David Cameron was Prime Minister doesn’t suddenly become fresh because the copyright notice at the bottom of the website is up to date.

This is why refreshing existing website content can be every bit as important as publishing something new.

Update outdated information. Expand useful sections. Remove material that no longer deserves to be there. Improve internal links. Combine weak articles where appropriate.

Sometimes the best new SEO content isn’t new at all.

Myth 5: Google wants you to constantly publish new content

This follows neatly from the previous myth.

A business blog can be extremely useful for SEO. It allows you to answer questions potential customers are asking and build useful supporting information around your principal services.

But simply publishing more doesn’t automatically produce better results.

Twenty genuinely useful, interconnected articles covering subjects relevant to your business can be considerably more valuable than 100 generic posts written because somebody decided Google expects a blog every Tuesday morning.

This is where content quality and topical coverage matter more than sheer volume.

A useful article should have a reason to exist.

If you’ve already covered a subject well, improving that article may be a better use of your time than writing another version of the same thing.

Google doesn’t need feeding on a schedule. It’s a search engine, not a Tamagotchi.

Myth 6: The more pages your website has, the better its SEO

More useful pages can create more opportunities to appear in search.

That’s the bit of truth.

The problem begins when businesses interpret this as an instruction to manufacture pages purely to increase the size of the website.

This is particularly tempting with location pages.

Creating genuinely useful pages for different services or locations can make sense where there is enough distinct information to justify them. Creating dozens of virtually identical pages with the town name swapped isn’t the same thing.

More isn’t necessarily better.

A smaller website with strong, useful and clearly differentiated pages can outperform a much larger site full of thin content.

Every page should earn its place.

Myth 7: Every page needs its own SEO keyword

Every important page should have a clear purpose.

That’s not quite the same thing.

Choosing a focus keyphrase can be useful because it forces you to think about what somebody might search for and which page should answer that search.

But not every page exists primarily to attract visitors from Google.

Your privacy policy doesn’t need an exciting keyword strategy. Neither does every individual portfolio item or administrative page.

Think about search intent before keywords.

What is somebody looking for? What question are they trying to answer? Which page on your website should provide the best answer?

Optimise pages where genuine search opportunities exist rather than trying to assign every URL its own little keyword empire.

Myth 8: Your domain name has a massive effect on rankings

There was a time when exact-match domain names could provide a significant SEO advantage.

Buying something like bestwebdesignereastbourne.co.uk isn’t a shortcut to the top of Google today.

That doesn’t mean domain names are irrelevant.

A good domain can still communicate what a business does, be memorable and encourage somebody to click it. Those are marketing considerations rather than reasons to expect an automatic ranking boost.

I’d usually choose a strong, memorable business name over an awkward collection of keywords masquerading as a domain.

Your domain is part of your brand.

Treat it accordingly.

Myth 9: Meta descriptions don’t matter because they aren’t a ranking factor

This exposes a wider problem with the way people sometimes think about SEO:

If something isn’t a direct Google ranking factor, it doesn’t matter.

A meta description can influence how your page is presented in search results and whether somebody thinks your result is worth clicking.

That matters.

The same principle applies elsewhere.

A clear call to action may not make Google move you from fourth to third. Better typography may not be a ranking factor. Strong branding isn’t something you can cram into an SEO plugin and receive a green light for.

But attracting somebody to your website and then convincing them to trust your business is the whole point.

Ranking number one and being ignored isn’t much of a victory.

Myth 10: AI can do your SEO

AI has changed SEO enormously and is already useful for research, analysis, ideas, content planning, technical diagnosis and identifying opportunities.

What it doesn’t replace is judgement.

AI can suggest keywords. It doesn’t automatically know which opportunities make commercial sense for your particular business.

It can analyse competitors, but somebody still needs to decide whether copying what those competitors are doing is sensible in the first place.

It can produce enormous quantities of content. That doesn’t mean publishing enormous quantities of AI-generated content is a strategy.

Used well, AI is an extraordinarily useful tool.

But giving an AI tool the instruction “SEO my website” and expecting to return after lunch to find yourself number one on Google is optimistic.

A hammer is useful too, I wouldn’t ask one to run my business.

Myth 11: You need an SEO agency to rank on Google

For some businesses, professional SEO services are absolutely worthwhile.

Competitive national markets, ecommerce websites, technically complex sites and businesses heavily dependent upon organic search may justify substantial ongoing SEO work.

But not every small business needs an SEO agency or a monthly SEO package.

For many local businesses, getting the fundamentals right can take them surprisingly far.

That means having a properly structured website, useful service pages, sensible titles and headings, strong internal linking, good local relevance, genuine reviews and a properly maintained Google Business Profile.

I’ve covered much of the local side in my Complete Guide to Local SEO for Small Businesses.

There is specialist knowledge involved in SEO, but that doesn’t mean every aspect of it needs to be mysterious.

Often, the basics simply need to be done properly.

Myth 12: Getting to number one is the goal of SEO

Number one for what?

That’s the question that often gets forgotten.

Ranking first for an obscure phrase that nobody searches for might look impressive in a report, but it won’t necessarily produce a single enquiry.

Meanwhile, ranking fourth for a commercially valuable search could bring customers to your business.

Positions matter, but they’re only part of the picture.

Search impressions tell you whether you’re appearing. Clicks tell you whether people are choosing you. Enquiries and sales tell you whether any of it is actually benefiting the business.

I’d rather have ten visitors who genuinely need what a business provides than 1,000 who arrived accidentally.

Good SEO isn’t about collecting rankings.

It’s about attracting the right people.

Myth 13: SEO is about pleasing Google

Perhaps this is the biggest SEO myth of all.

Google’s job is to provide useful results to people searching for information, products, services and answers.

Look at many of the things commonly associated with good SEO:

• Clear navigation makes websites easier to use.
• Descriptive headings make pages easier to understand.
• Fast-loading pages are better for visitors.
• Useful content answers people’s questions.
• Sensible internal links help people find related information.
• Clear page titles explain what they’ll find.
• Mobile-friendly websites work better on the devices people actually use.

There’s an obvious pattern.

A great deal of good SEO overlaps with creating a good website.

That doesn’t mean technical SEO, search strategy, backlinks or specialist SEO work don’t matter. They can matter enormously.

But SEO shouldn’t mean designing a website for a search engine instead of the people using it.

SEO isn’t magic

SEO can become highly technical and highly competitive. There are specialists who spend their careers studying particular areas of it, and there are businesses where sophisticated SEO campaigns can produce enormous returns.

But the foundations aren’t mysterious.

Build a good website. Make its purpose clear. Understand what your customers are searching for. Create useful pages that answer those searches. Organise them logically. Keep important information accurate. Maintain the website properly. Build a genuine reputation around the business.

Then measure what happens and improve it.

Perhaps that’s why some SEO myths survive for so long. A secret formula sounds considerably more exciting than consistently doing the sensible things well.

Unfortunately for the myth-makers, sensible things have a habit of working.