SEO is the best way to get free, long-term distribution for your writing.
Here are 7 common SEO misconceptions you should avoid to start unlocking thousands of views every day.
Why SEO?
Before we get to it, I want to make sure you understand just how crucial SEO is.
You just need to take a look at these 6 stats:
You see?
Cool.
Now, let's dive in.
Misconception #1: “Length = Quality”
A "good" piece of writing is the one that solves a reader's problem in the most efficient way possible.
Some times that requires a long-form piece. Sometimes it doesn't.
Don't write long-form just for the sake of it.
Misconception #2: “SEO kills creativity”
A lot of writers say SEO ruins their creative process.
But this is a myth!
SEO helps you 1) validate and 2) better position your ideas.
It'll help you boost your good ideas and kill your bad ones faster.
Misconception #3: “SEO won’t pay off quickly”
Yes - actually, that's true.
But that's not a reason to avoid it - it's a reason to start sooner.
Great SEO will save you hundreds of hours in the long-term.
Misconception #4: “SEO is saturated!”
Yes, SEO is more competitive than it was 10 years ago.
But it's not saturated.
To give you an idea, 90.63% of pages get NO organic search traffic from Google.
Misconception #5: “SEO is complicated”
You can boil down all the good SEO advice out there to 3 simple principles:
• Credible (high quality)
• Relevant (to the query)
• Usable (for the searcher)
The algorithm will keep changing year after year.
These won't.
Misconception #6: “SEO = keyword stuffing”
Yes, a lot of SEO writers do this.
But that doesn't mean you too need to do it to leverage Google's algorithm.
You can get great results by strategically adding keywords in your headline and throughout your article.
Misconception #7: “There must be search volume!”
Some SEO writers won't bother writing an article if there's not enough search volume.
Often, this is the right thing to do.
But if you really have something to say, you should - even if there's no search volume proving demand.
Every now and then, your intuitions can be right!
And, little by little, you'll start honing your gut.
That's it!
All these tips were inspired by one of our recent audience-building webinars with Steph Smith.
So if you enjoyed this post, you're going find the video below incredibly valuable as well: