30-second summary:
- SEO is rife with myths and it is difficult to separate fact from fiction.
- SEO and SEM, while complementary, are not the same thing and cannot be approached the same way.
- SEO is not a temporary or one-time adjustment — far from it.
- Your SEO agency, while rockstars are not superhuman. They cannot do everything for you.
- SEO results are not instant.
Myths, what are they? To Joseph Campbell, “myths are the world’s dreams. They are archetypal dreams and deal with great human problems.” Ultimately, they serve as a conduit to understanding. While true for most myths, this definition falls apart when it comes to the concept of SEO myths.
If you’ve been in digital marketing for any length of time, you’ve run into the fact that it is a fractured space. Between full-service agencies, vertical-specific boutique shops, independent consultants, and more, separating myth from reality when it comes to prescriptive SEO advice is a significant hurdle.
While the number of SEO myths out there are innumerable, I will nail down the four that I come across most often.
SEO myth #1: SEO and SEM can be approached in the same way
“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Although there are many useful concepts that can be taken from SEM and applied to SEO, looking at each channel as the same is a mistake. To start, consider this: a powerful concept in the management of Google Ads is to optimize your use of negative keywords — keywords that you do not want to show up for.
Because of how immediately transactional and visible SEM is — you set a budget, create an ad, and press go — it is common for people to carry that mindset over