November 04, 2011

Are You a Victim of the 5 Biggest SEO Content Myths?


Are You a Victim of the 5 Biggest SEO Content Myths?

Publishing great SEO content is harder than you might think. After all, you need content that wows readers, teaches them something new, and convinces them that you're a bona-fide expert - all while letting the search engines know exactly what keywords you're trying to rank for.

Anytime you're dealing with SEO content, you're walking a fine line. That next article or blog posting you publish has the potential to make you stand out, make you blend in with the rest of your competitors, or make you look downright bad.
Making matters even more difficult? There are a ton of SEO content myths floating around out there. On the surface, may of them look legitimate - so it can be tough to separate the wisdom from the rubbish. In fact, you may not even know that you're operating your entire content writing philosophy under a myth!

Are you falling victim to any of these 5 popular SEO content myths?

1. The Best SEO Content is 1,000 Words. (or 500 words, or 250 words)

This is a common sentence uttered by people who just don't know a whole lot. You may be inclined to think that longer is better, or that shorter content will leave people yearning for more - but the truth is, there is no "magical" SEO content length.

Instead, the best length for your SEO article, blog posting, or sales copy depends on your topic. Sure, it may be easy to create 1,500 compelling, well-researched words about getting over a divorce - but imagine what it would be like to read 1,500 words about heartburn medication or pipe welding. Trust me, your readers won't want to do it, either!

Great SEO content writing leaves readers feeling like they've learned something new, and it instills enough trust in you that readers want to see what else you have to provide. Sometimes, you can do that in 400 words. Other times, it takes 1,200 words to do it.

2. If Your SEO Articles Get Re-Published on a Bunch of Different Sites, It's Duplicate Content
This might be the biggest SEO content myth out there! If one of your SEO articles gets picked up (either from your site, an article directory, or from a site you published a guest post on), it's called "syndication," not "duplicate content." That's because "duplicate content" refers to have the same content on multiple pages of your site. Syndication, on the other hand, is a great way to build links and get exposure.

Anytime you publish SEO content, the goal is to get it syndicated. That way, it winds up in front of the eyeballs of people who are going to do business with you.

3. Your SEO content Isn't as Important as Your Backlinks

The high-quality links out there - you know, the ones that are going to boost your ranking in the search engine results - are not the ones that you trade for, or purchase. Instead, the only way to get those high-quality links is to give something that other people WANT to link to. That means coming up with SEO content that knocks people's socks off. If you publish content that people can't help wanting to share with their friends and colleagues, you'll wind up getting a ton of high-quality backlinks.

4. Your SEO Content Has to be Updated All the Time

Actually, this is a half-myth!

Yes, the search engines like websites that are updated on a regular basis. That's why your new SEO article or blog post can bump you up a few spots in the rankings right after you publish it.

However, that doesn't mean that you have to edit your existing content. For example, if you have a great homepage that's generating results, don't change it just to appease the search engines. Instead, add new content to the internal pages of your site.

5. Optimizing SEO Content Properly Means Having a High Keyword Density

Of course, you need to have your target keywords sprinkled throughout your article, blog posting, or sales copy. After all, that's how the search engines know what you're trying to rank for.

However, if you use your keywords too frequently, all you'll do is turn off readers and search engines.

The right keyword density for your content depends on the keyword itself. Some keywords lend themselves nicely to a density of 1.5% or 2% - while others can only be used less than 1% of the time and still look natural.

Remember, your readers shouldn't be able to read your content and pick out the keywords you used. If your keywords stick out like a sore thumb, you're not optimizing your content properly. Instead, your SEO content will cast a negative light on you and your business!