You can have the nicest shop, but without an address and a way for people to find you, it’s going to remain the best-kept secret.

The world of digital marketing is a new world for many of the business owners out there, especially those that started their companies a few decades ago.

Understanding how marketing has transformed feels complicated. Digital marketing can be in-depth or as simplistic as you like, it is uniquely customisable which is one of the reasons it is so much more effective than traditional forms of marketing.

SEO is probably more shrouded in mystery than most of the other branches of digital marketing. However, it is as important as having a street address for a physical shop owner. You can have the nicest shop, but without an address and a way for people to find you, it’s going to remain the best-kept secret, and this is not good for business. SEO is all about getting your website visible and visited.

Doreen Brown, founder of Let’s Get Visible. As an authority in the SEO field, she says there are many myths around SEO that are holding business back.
“If you know what the SEO myths are, you can bust them,” she said. “When you consider how easily most people have adapted to using personal social media accounts, we can see that the issue isn’t that SEO is more difficult (because it’s not), people are generally comfier with it. SEO just requires you to get comfy with it.”

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Doreen said there are six main SEO myths she wants to shine the light on.

SEO is super technical – FALSE!

Doreen said you don’t have to understand code in order to leverage the power of SEO in your digital marketing artillery. Mastering SEO comes down to common sense and remaining detail-orientated, don’t skip any opportunities to insert searchable terms. “Always spend meticulous amounts of time inserting good headings on your page, write your content according to a strategy, and make sure you select the correct relevant words when you pick out your key phrases,” she said. “Separately, these actions seem inconsequential, but cumulatively they’re very powerful. They play a significant role in how you show up online. It is about knowing the right process to use.”

SEO is something you can set-and-forget – FALSE!

She advises that SEO requires ongoing tweaking and adjusting. “Think of a car – even if you’re buying a new vehicle from a dealer, that quarter tank of petrol you get won’t last forever. It runs out and you have to keep topping it up in order to keep moving forward. You also need oil changes, water top-ups, and services. SEO is your fuel,” Doreen said. “It requires topping up, maintenance, and services in order to run smoothly. Likewise, your website needs to be updated with fresh, relevant content, blog posts, and new plugins on an ongoing basis.”

Websites come complete with superb and ready-to-roll SEO setups – FALSE!

Doreen said it is important to know your website does not automatically come complete with the SEO setup you really need in most cases. “Graphic designers and developers are brilliant at what they do, after all, they have made a functional website that represents your brand, but the site is not optimised to be seen and found online,” she said.

“This service falls under a different profession. You need to invest in SEO and optimise the site as a separate service. The teams that build your site are not writers. You need valuable, well written, optimised content on your website, because this is what Google resonates with. Your website needs meat on the bones, this is what feeds Google.”

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It’s difficult to understand what Google wants – PEOPLE OVERCOMPLICATE IT

There’s only one golden rule to understand regarding what Google wants: They want a GREAT experience for their users. Doreen said Google will always promote the sites that give users a great experience; ease of use, easily accessible, easy to read and understand. You can give your website visitors a great experience by aiming to understand them. “Put yourself in their shoes. Spend less time talking about your business, and more time talking about the way in which your products or services make life better by saving them money, making them feel good, saving them time, or improving their health. Everyone visiting your site is looking for a solution to something – tap into that and assure them that you have the solution. Utilise the Google Ask box for help with this,” she said.

You need expensive tools – FALSE

According to Doreen, there is an abundance of free resources and tools online, right at your fingertips. “Some of the paid products are nice to have, but certainly not essential. You do not need fancy reports, what you need is an SEO strategy that gives you website traffic and increases your sales counts,” she said.

“Be wise about how you spend your time, spend less on reporting and more time on the revenue-generating aspects of your SEO, like writing content, researching keywords, and implementing new effective strategies. If you are not an agency, you do not need fancy tools. Instead, rely on your common sense and meticulousness mentioned in the first point.”

SEO is everything you say and do online – FALSE

Doreen urges people to understand your online footprint, because not every online activity results in boosted SEO. “You have to be strategic. If you are posting on social media platforms, getting on podcasts, and writing blog posts based on user intention, ALWAYS include a call to action so that the reader or listener actually follows the link to visit your site,” she said.

“It is not enough to simply have the presence leading back to your site. You must direct people to follow the pathway you have created. Think about a pathway that is never used, it quickly becomes overgrown with grass and plants. A pathway that is often used stays clear and open, welcoming more people to follow it.”

Work with specialists

One of the best ways to improve your SEO is to work with a specialist. You want to experience a personal partnership and share your journey with one person who becomes as invested in your progress as you. SEO is not a service you can simply hand over to someone else and forget about. It requires your in-depth knowledge of your industry and your audience, coupled with knowledge of SEO, to ensure that you are staying at the forefront of what is happening in your field. It is fairly easy to learn SEO yourself when you work with a specialist one-on-one, over time you can manage it on your own with great ease.

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