3 SEO Myths That Don't Work Anymore

Welcome back to the channel! In this episode, we're diving deep into the world of SEO with Chris Lonergan. We'll debunk three outdated SEO myths that many new business owners might still be implementing, but are now completely worthless. If you've ever Googled SEO tactics for your website, this podcast is for you.

Before we dive into the myths, a quick shoutout to Footbridge Media. If you're a contractor looking to build a website and drive leads without the hassle, Footbridge Media has you covered with their Lean and Mean deal. They've been a game-changer for many, taking care of website building, content creation, and all the SEO work so you can focus on your business. Check out the link in the description and comments to save $600 a year on their services.

Now, let's welcome Chris Lonergan as we explore these SEO myths. We discuss everything from the outdated practice of stuffing meta keywords and keyword density to the misconceptions about content length and the idea that SEO is a one-time task. Chris breaks down why these tactics no longer work and what you should be doing instead to rank your site effectively.

Join us as we uncover the truths about SEO in 2024, share insights on creating quality content, and emphasize the importance of ongoing SEO efforts to stay ahead in the game. Whether you're a seasoned business owner or just getting started, this episode will equip you with the knowledge to avoid common SEO pitfalls and optimize your website for success.

Tune in, and let's get started!

Transcript

What's up guys. Welcome back to the channel today. We're going to be talking about three SEO myths of old that are rendered useless today. A lot of guys who've gotten started in their business, they got a website, they're trying to drive leads and they probably Googled some SEO tactics. Well, Chris Lonergan and myself are going to go over these three SEO myths.

that are basically worthless. If you implement them before we get started in this video, if you're looking to get a website done, you're a contractor, you're in pressure, washing, landscaping, whatever footbridge media has been in the game since.

four footbridge media. com. These guys have offered the lean and mean deal for the last couple of years. I've got a ton of guys who have this service ranking. Well, they build the website, they do all the work, they write all the content. They're just an excellent marketing company. So you can drive leads to your business and you can worry about the things you need to worry about out in the field.

And [00:01:00] not come home at the end of the day and have to worry about your website and your marketing. I will put a link in the description and in the comments to the one 99 lean and mean deal, and you'll save 600 a year on your footbridge media website. All right, let's bring my boy, Chris Lonergan on the line and talk about some of these SEO myths.

What's up, dude. How's it going, man? Did you look, I know there's been a lot of, uh, over the years. I mean, just me studying SEO and learning about it. And it's, it's an ongoing thing. I think a lot of guys don't understand that is that SEO morphs as far as what Google wants and what they want. There, what they believe is credible right at the end of the day.

And I think, uh, it's, it's like, like I said, it's morphed over the years, you know, years ago, you could spam stuff, a lot of weird backlinking tactics and stuff like that. But let's talk about three SEO myths that are just rendered [00:02:00]useless. So some of these guys watching it, if they're doing it, they're not going to keep doing it.

What's our first one. So the first one in general, there's a lot of SEO myths about keywords. Uh, so I'm gonna talk about a couple of things here. Meta keywords is kind of like your meta description. It's a meta tag, something you don't see on the site, but something you code and encode in the website at the top.

Uh, and people used to put their actual keywords in it would at one time helped Google to understand what your website was about. Uh, now it's completely useless. It's a good ornament. Uh, you can still fill in your meta keywords if you want. Uh, I don't think it doesn't do anything positive. If anything, it might hurt you.

Um, so meta keywords are just plain out. Another one is keyword density. People like to talk about keyword density. Oh, I've got to mention this key phrase a bunch of times in the content. The more I mention it, the more, uh, the more I'll rank. We've even seen things over the years where people would take white text and mention tons of variations of the key phrase and put that white text over a white background.

Uh, and they would think that would work. And you know what? For a while, it did work. Uh, like 10 years ago, uh, [00:03:00] doesn't work at all anymore. Uh, it is, if anything will hurt you now. Uh, and it's just an old school idea that you just have to spam the keyword a bunch. That's not the case anymore. Instead of spamming the keyword a bunch, you just have to make good content.

You've got to talk about that content. You know, we've talked before about, uh, saying the thing and then kind of talking around the thing. So if you're going to talk about house washing, you don't have to say housewashing 45 times. Say it a couple of times. It's still important to mention it. But also talk about how you clean siding, how you clean brick, uh, how driveway washing is different from deck washing all those little things that talk around housewashing.

That's really what you need. You need to fill in the gaps around the things you're talking about. Just write good content at the end of the day that makes sense. And. Answers what that topic, that keyword might be about. That's very interesting because guys, you know, like he said, the keyword stuffing, you know, years ago, I mean, that's like old, that's old [00:04:00] school.

That's like, Oh, gee, Google, you know, the white text on the white background. So he's like hiding the word in the screen, you know, it's, it's how long did that, like, was that like a five year run that it worked? The crazy thing with SEO is that sometimes there's things that will Immediately stopped working and things that will hang on for some reason.

We had, I think it was in South Carolina, an AC contractor where we were watching the competition and this competition just had all of the super spammy stuff, including this white text on white background. And it just thrived for months and months and months. Uh, and this would have been in like 2012, 2013, 2014.

And even then that was dead. Uh, just one of those legacy things that for some reason we couldn't, like, if we could reach through the screen and shake Google and yell at them about this particular site we would have. Uh, so yeah, that's a super old school thing. These things work until the next update comes out and then they push it through.

Sometimes it takes more time than that. Sometimes it takes less. But Google even today is still figuring out, okay, [00:05:00] people are buying old expired domain names that have recently expired that ranked well, and they're redirecting links. Well, now we're going to write some more rules that counter that and punish that.

So they're always trying to fix what SEO people are trying to break. SEO people are always trying to game the system a little bit. Yeah. And, and rightfully so I think it's a, it's a good middle ground. It's your duty to try to game the system with Google, right? But it's also Google's duty to figure that out and to give the best search result for the person searching the topic.

Chris, that's the balance there. What's number two. Number two is content length. That's also a hot button topic. A lot of people think, well. Okay. My competitor has written a 1500 page, a 1500 word page about driveway washing. That means I have to write a 2000 word page. And that's the only way in which I will rank better content.

Like this important in some aspects, but really it's kind of like that, uh, the answer that your [00:06:00] teacher would give you when you're asking how long does the paper have to be. It's as long as it needs to be. I have seen pages of content that were 2000 3000 words long and longer that rank very, very well.

I've also seen project posts that were less than 50 words that also ranks number one for specific service and location combinations. So at the end of the day, it depends on what you're talking about and what answers a user's questions and queries. At the end of the day, whether there's a 2000 word page, uh, or a 500 word page or a 50 word page, if it answers the question, if people get there, they stay there, they read their content, and then they don't go back to the cert page.

Again, they don't go back to Google again for something else. Google understands that. You, that website, you've answered their question. You've done a good job. So they're going to rank you appropriately for it, bro. That is crazy, right? Like Google's measuring whether they search a similar topic again, after they read your page, [00:07:00] right?

A lot of people, or if they go back to the SERP, if they click on you and they. pogo stick. They go to one result and they go back and they search for another link and they click on it and they go in. Yeah, that's all the kind of stuff that that Google, you know, for a long time, Google claimed that they weren't doing that.

Um, there's a big Google algorithm leak recently that kind of alludes to the fact that they are doing that. Um, you know, that's one of those your mileage may vary as far as The technical of how it goes, but a lot of SEOs think that yes, that tracking of that bounce rate back and forth is a factor. Well, there's, you know, it's funny to think that Google wouldn't be doing that.

It's hilarious. I mean, there's apps that you can have for e commerce websites where you can track the user. And where they go, like what they click on, how long they stay on the page. Now, usually they're anonymous, right? It's an anonymous users, you know, a number, but it's like tracking their cursor on the page.

And it's lighten up and how long they sit and where they scroll to, how long they sit on a certain area, you know, and I'm sure Google [00:08:00] has a weighting system of, of, uh, weighing out what. Those, uh, stops are, what does that mean? Does it mean they're, they're reading? Does it mean they're, you know, and they have this math all tied into where you're saying that sometimes a page that has less characters or less words on it could outrank a longer page.

And maybe it's because they went to that page. They read it, Google saw, they consume the whole amount of content. Cause they know how many words they know, how many, how long it takes to consume. Cause the average reader ability, right? There's all this timing they know. And then did they go back to the SERP and research or, or did they go back and click on another website and stay 20 minutes or did they stay 30 seconds?

Right? So they're weighing all this out as far as how they're going to rank you in the end. Chris, amazing. What's number three. The last one here is that [00:09:00] SEO is a one time thing. And you know what, back in the day, it was really easy. Uh, there were moments where you could launch a website and then overnight, you could rank for that particular, uh, key phrase and your website would be number one, uh, in this in the target demo area.

It's not the case anymore. SEO is an ongoing breathing thing. Yes, the core jumping off point is super important. You do have to have a website that is technically sound, is fast, has the right content in place, but putting all that up at one time does not mean that you're done. It does not set it and forget it.

It's a continual ongoing thing. There is. Uh research and there's waiting and figuring out what things are working. What's not but that content flow and adding content over time Making sure that you're addressing the evolving changes of seo the evolving needs of customers who are doing those queries That is all like you said at the very top here People are always changing the seo tactics are always changing and that's why seo cannot be a one time thing It's not a one time build something you have to consider as an ongoing health care for your marketing It's [00:10:00] like going to the doctor.

It's something you got to do. We don't want to do it, but we all got to pay the bill to go see the doctor. No one wants to do it. No one wants to pay for marketing over and over again, especially when it feels like it's working. But the thing is, you need to continue to work on it and develop it actively so that you remain on top.

You could be really healthy now, but if you're not paying attention, if you're not continually adding and building or trimming and removing content in some instances, even if you're not doing the work on an ongoing basis and you're standing still, At some point, somebody who is working is going to come past your bot.

Yeah. I think people think they're still in that old adage. Like you said of it's a one time thing it's built and you guys write all the content pages. If they need a page written about rust removal, you guys take care of all that. And so they're like, well, I get all my pages written. And so now I'm, I'm, I'm good.

Right. And it's like, No, the reason it was working is because we are doing ongoing maintenance because we are adding prod project pages and [00:11:00]adding, you know, local service area pages that are new, that Google is seeing these constant updates on your website and any new algorithmic updates, right? That come about you are optimizing the site for those, right?

So Google had old parameters that it was wanting to rank a website based on X. Well, sometimes they slightly change those parameters a bit and you need a partner in your corner. Who not only is keeping up when Google does rolls out those announcements. Cause I know if you're a contractor, you're not keeping up with Google's, uh, algorithmic rollouts.

Okay. You need somebody who has their finger on the pulse. Uh, if you need help with that, you need help with the website. Give those guys over at footbridge media, a call Chris. Thank you for your time, man. Of course. Yeah. Always. I think, uh, some of this stuff, some dispelling, some of these old SEO myths can help out some of these guys.

I know a lot of guys don't even know how to spell SEO. They think it's S C O, but [00:12:00] search engine optimization is still very important and very relevant in 2024. Like I've seen guys make videos that say SEO is dead. That my friend is called clickbait. bait SEO. I do not believe we'll ever die until we probably all have neural links in our brain.

And, um, we can just maybe search based on our thoughts. Um, that would be crazy to have ads popping up, you know, like I saw a meme. It's like when you bought the budget neural link and you had all your hearing, like you're sleeping at night and then they're running ads because you got the budget one and it says, Oh, Oh, Oh, oh, Riley.

You got to pay the upgrade fee to get the ad free version, man. You can't, you can't. Guys, thanks for tuning in. I'll see you in the next video.