False SEO Information

Unfortunately, not everything we watch on YouTube or read about in SEO blogs is 100%, some say 75% of all content on the web is not, or at least exaggerated here is one reason why.

Everyone knows that adding regular niche topical content to a website helps with ranking trust and authority. So much of SEO websites’ articles are rewritten versions of other content presented by other SEO professionals. Now this doesn’t mean that everything written is false, but what it does mean is that so much that is written has not been tested by the content writer. What compounds this issue further, is when the original content has also been re-written amd exaggerated from another source, etc.

There are also others who employ content writers for their own SEO agency website, I suppose this is OK if it is being directed by the consultant, but when a content writer is given free rein to write on a subject, just to get the word count and relevancy up, this is where the message can be questionable, false or just a lie.

Out Of Date

There is also so much content that has never been updated from when it was written. I was looking at content written back in 2012 recently that still ranks for that search term. What are the chances this information is still current? For many niches, this may not be a problem, but how we did SEO 10 years ago, in most cases will not be how we do it now.

Who Writes About Their Own Testing?

In my opinion, what defines a true SEO consultant, service prover or even strategist are those who test processes and strategies themselves and only write about the true results of their own tests. These tend to be the professionals I choose to follow on social media or watch on YouTube.

If you are considering a career in SEO, create a few test sites and then put everyone’s theory to the test. Then when you have the data, you are then qualified to write about it. When you are reading content, check the date it was written. I spend more time testing than I do on my main websites. This means mistakes are made within a testing environment and better decisions are made with the money-making websites.

In my case, I really do not have enough content (at the time of writing this), to compete with the big hitters in SEO. Because I have decided to only write about what is going on with my sites and not others, as time goes on, the content will increase the rankings and visitors.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with quoting the source of the information and stating it has not been tested by the writer, at least this option lets the reader know the reality.

Exaggerating The Effect

Have you ever seen a well-produced video on YouTube that states if you do this and that, you will rocket up the Google rankings? The problem with these videos is they understate the real work that is required to rank a website. It does not mean these processes do not have a positive effect on a website’s authority or ranking, emails social media, etc, but just not to the high level the presenter suggests.

In all business decisions you must measure the effort, time, and money put into a project versus the rewards attained, this is just as true with search engine optimisation. Putting a lot of time into a money site based on third-party information is always going to be risky.

Qualify What You Know

I get involved with other SEO professionals either with podcasts, Facebook, or just direct messaging, (no conferences with covid). I ask many questions I already know the answer to, to several people. All I am doing is qualifying what I already know and have tested at some point in time. But to know that others I trust have also come to the same conclusion is very helpful.

SEO is a constant learning process, every time there is an algorithm change, you must decide if it is something that requires more learning or training or if is it just a case of the dial being turned up on existing metrics. In my experience, most updates, need little change to strategy and certainly no knee-jerk decisions.