There are a lot of things to keep track of as you design and optimize your insurance agency’s website, including search engine optimization (SEO). While it is easy to find information on SEO tips, you want to make sure to avoid the myths and bad advice. If you are a beginner when it comes to search engine optimization, it may be overwhelming to figure out how to tell the difference. To help you, we’ve gathered some of the most common SEO myths you are likely to come across and debunked them.
Myth: SEO Is Useless After an Algorithm Update
If anyone ever tells you that SEO is dead and doesn’t matter anymore, don’t be fooled. This is particularly common whenever Google updates its search engine algorithms, but it isn’t the proper takeaway.
Your previous efforts did not go to waste. Instead, think of the update as a need to further fine tune your approach. The takeaway here is that SEO is here to stay, but you may need to adjust your strategy over time to keep up with algorithm updates.
Myth: You Only Have to Do SEO Once
Another common myth is that SEO is something you can do just once and leave alone. That is not the case. To maintain your SEO efforts, you have to work at it constantly. This requires continuous refinement, creation of new content, and staying up-to-date with algorithm changes. That being said, you should think of SEO as a long-term strategy.
Myth: Google Penalizes You for Duplicate Content
Another very common myth is that if you create duplicate content, your organic rankings will plummet. This is a bit of a complicated myth, but the important point is that Google doesn’t automatically penalize you for duplicate content.
Instead, having duplicate content on your website will dilute your rankings because search engines will divide the ranking and authority between the two copies. In other words, each only gets half as much authority as it would have.
You are also likely to notice fewer backlinks to each of the duplicate pages if you have repeating content. You may even find fewer of your pages being indexed as the crawl budget goes to the same content twice.
So, while Google doesn’t directly penalize you for duplicate content, it will still likely negatively affect your ranking.
Myth: PPC Isn’t Helpful for SEO
You hopefully know that successful insurance agencies often combine SEO and PPC efforts. PPC will be a larger part of your short-term strategy, while SEO will be a bigger part of your long-term strategy. But you shouldn’t believe that PPC and SEO are completely separate. If done correctly, you can use paid advertising to boost organic rankings.
For example, you can promote content using PPC with the hope of gaining backlinks. Those backlinks will boost your ranking.
You can also use the same tools to find keywords for either strategy. For example, if you use Google AdWords to choose which PPC keywords to bid on, you can also look for keywords to optimize for.
Myth: Don’t Link to Other Pages
It’s a common myth that you should be careful about linking out to other websites, as this will send your visitors away. In reality, most users will see this as you adding value to their experience. If you link them to other useful websites, they will view you as more of a reliable source, increasing the chances that they return to your website or even choose you for their insurance needs.
Myth: SEO Only Affects Your Rankings
When most people think of SEO, they think of reaching the top of search engine rankings. While that is definitely one of the primary goals, it should not be your sole goal. A well optimized website that adheres to SEO best practices will enable convert more leads and provide a better user experience to all of your visitors.
Myth: Companies Can Guarantee the Top Rank
If you plan to outsource your SEO efforts and come across a company that promises to get you the number one ranking, take this with a grain of salt and then some. It is a serious red flag if someone guarantees you the top ranking. Instead of focusing on an agency or service that promises the top ranking, look for one with more realistic promises and satisfied customers to back those claims up.
With these myths busted, you can continue building up your insurance agency’s SEO with the right information on hand.
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