In this blog, we will cover some common SEO myths and tell you if they are true or not.

If you are an SEO Consultant or happen to be a small business owner who is working towards getting ranked on the organic section, chances are you will come across a number of different myths regarding how Google looks at various things related to SEO.

Well, here is a list of our favourite SEO myths that we have come across as an experienced SEO Consultant Sydney.

Myth 1# If you build links too fast, you will get penalised.

That really depends on how the links were gained in the first place. If you have paid a link exchange or perhaps a team of link builders who place your website on non-niche related sites such as PBN's or blogs that look like link farms then you are in a very good position to get penalised.

However, if you come up with a great piece of article that is published on your site and goes viral, naturally attracting tons of links then fear no penalty.

Come to think of it News websites often publish articles that are often go viral but this does not mean that they are penalised.

Myth2# Google does not like domains that are an exact keyword match.

To bust this myth simply type in SEO Sydney on your Google search bar. The top 2 results have SEO Sydney in their domain name.

And this is a very common practice that i have noted in a number of industries.

Here is another example - Type in Sydney Beach Weddings and you will see the third result in the search to be an exact match domain.

So does Google really dislike exact-match domain? You decide.

Myth3# Overstuffing Keywords is going to get you penalised.

If this is done in a meaningful manner then don't worry about it. Having the keyword repeated a number of times in the content will not get you penalised.

To bust this myth simply search we

b development. Chances are you will get Wikipedia on the top 3 results. Now press Ctrl+F and type in web development. This keyword will be found more than 30 times in the content. Looks like keyword stuffing. Not really.

You see this is an informative piece of content and there is no reason why Google should penalise it.

The lesson: Write meaningful content and you will never get penalised for over-using the keyword in the content.

Myth 4# More links the better your chances of being on Page 1.

Like i said above, it is about contextual high quality links and not number of links. Anyone can build a great number of low quality links to their site. And this may even work for industries that have low competition levels. But sooner or later you will be caught.

Myth5# Using Google Ads can improve organic search rankings.

I had this conversation with one of my senior web developers and i was amazed that people think this way. Sounds like you are bribing Google to get yourself on top of organic search results.

Well, these are two different products of Google with NO and I mean NO correlation what soever.

Myth 6# Adding links to the footer (universal) will lead to a penalty.

If you are adding links to the footer for legit reasons then do not worry. A common practice is for web developers to add links at the bottom to credit their work. As long as it is not a direct match keyword. You don't have to worry about it.

More myths here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tsc4M8oGGU