Last Updated on October 21, 2022 by Arif Chowdhury
I know what you are thinking; what kind of weird question is this? Is search engine optimization necessary? Is it a waste, after all?
You have read overwhelming information on SEO & keyword optimization from the internet. There are millions of articles in there. Everyone is telling you how to do SEO & keyword optimization in 7 days & get millions of organic traffic from the next month. Everyone is trying to draw your attention because everyone needs an audience like you.
You may have already read hundreds of articles within the last few months and tried almost all of the tricks by now. However, you are still the same place you were a few months ago. Am I right?
Yes, I am. And probably you are already frustrated because after everything you have done, why are you not getting millions of organic traffic just like them? What’s wrong? Maybe you think I need to read more articles to learn more tricks to implement those on my site/blog.
Okay, that’s it. Just stop right there.
In this article, I will tell you some untold truths about SEO. It will help you to open your eyes to see things more independently. Did you get it? Okay, let’s go then.
What do you think – Is search engine optimization a waste?
Do you know everyone who has a website or blog is doing business? Even you (if you have a website/blog) & I are no different. Am I right?
Okay, so the point is – when you try to do business, you usually will try to attract customers as much as possible. Maybe it is an honest way, or maybe not; it doesn’t matter because it’s just a good business.
Now let me ask you this question. How many articles have you read directly from Google? The answer is probably none. Yes, most of the time, we learn from 3rd party websites. Just like you are reading my article right now. And I have no connection with Google. Thus, I may be trying to manipulate your mind with the wrong information to grab you as my customer.
Why should I do that? If I can make you believe that it is tough & you alone cannot do it properly, then you will purchase my service, just like a lawyer & chartered accountant.
Got my point? Just like I said before, it’s nothing personal. It’s just a good business.
So, I will show you some secrets/truths about SEO. And it will help you understand & perhaps you can do it all yourself.
Truth 1: Forget everything. Just remember your audience.
The first truth is – Google does not care how smartly you implement SEO on your site. Remember, Google is a multimillionaire international business. They are not doing charity here for your site. So if you can do proper SEO, they will not start to give you millions of free traffic.
So, how are you supposed to get organic traffic from Google, then? Well, organic traffic means “audience who search for information in Google,” which means they are Google’s customers. And Google wants to please them by any means necessary. If these customers get disappointed, then Google will lose its revenue.
Do you get my point now? It doesn’t matter how well your site’s SEO or keyword optimization is; all Google cares about is how the audience reacts to your content.
If the audience like it? If it is helpful to them? If your content answers their search query? Only then will Google rank you higher as they realize that it is your site content that their audience wants. And by doing so, Google can make more revenue. Otherwise, they will rank your site down because it is bad for their business.
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Truth 2: Forget keyword optimization.
The second truth is that keyword optimization is necessary but not nearly as essential as they tell you. Ask yourself if it is true, even after everything you have done about carefully keyword researching & implementing, yet no results. Why is that?
I will tell you why because keyword optimization is just a part of SEO that will help Google bots to index your site content & categorize it correctly; that’s it. It will not bring millions of organic traffic. If it could, you already would have lots of traffic from search engines.
So, the question is, why do we need to optimize keywords, then? What is the primary purpose? Well, if you don’t optimize your keywords properly, then Google won’t be able to index your content. And even after your site content is top-notch, you still won’t be able to rank up.
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As you can see, you are writing content for your audience, but keyword optimization is solely for Google Bots. Not your audience. Because Google is not a human being & it cannot read content like a human. And that’s why we need to optimize keywords properly to help it out.
Quick Note: The best practice is – to forget about keyword optimization. Write excellent content for your audience & keywords will naturally optimize themselves.
Truth 3: Don’t chase for the backlink.
You indeed need high-quality backlinks from relevant authority sites. However, again it is not as important as you read all over the internet. Do you know why they want you to believe that you won’t be able to rank up without backlinks? Because they can use this opportunity to make you their valuable paid customer.
There are many ways to earn money from selling backlinks:
- Backlink service (i.e., one backlink from a DA 50+ site will cost you $500)
- Package backlink service (i.e., 50-100 backlinks cost will be $50, most of them are fake)
- Paid guest post (i.e., will charge you from $10 to $1,000+ per guest post article)
- Organic backlinks (i.e., charge you $20 to $500 for giving you a backlink)
Do you see? A very profitable business. If you have a high DA site, you will also be able to do business like this.
Quick Note: If your site has high DA, i.e., 30+, then even without backlinks, you may rank higher in SERP.
Anyway, what should you do then? Should you forget about backlinks? Well, not exactly like that. I said backlinks are necessary but not as you think it is. Google uses hundreds of complex factors to calculate a site ranking and continuously updates its algorithm. Therefore, you & I can’t keep up with them.
Just look here; the Neil Patel website got the number 1 rank for this keyword with only 211 backlinks. However, even with 1,643 backlinks backlinko site is in rank 2. Take a look at the rank five mention.com. It has only one backlink. Still, it is in the top 5.
So? Do backlink numbers will count for ranking in Google?
Recommended Reading: 400+ High DA Guest Posting Site List for Link Building (Massive List)
Social media is vital for your site’s growth. Though if you write high-quality content for your audience, it will naturally spread through social media. For example, newspapers receive millions of organic traffic from social media channels.
Everyone loves Hollywood movies. Exactly, see how many likes, comments & shares are in 1 single post of Vin Diesel?
If you can adequately utilize a social media channel, i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc., you will receive thousands to millions of organic traffic. Therefore, we do not need to do any SEO whatsoever. Still, Google will find your content & will rank it on the top of the SERP.
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Do you know why? Because Google realizes that your content is viral, it is worthy of getting on the top.
Quick Note: Do you know you can receive millions of organic traffic to your site from social media alone?
Truth 5: Consistency is vital to get success.
It is something that rules all of them. If you do everything perfectly from truth 1 to 4; however, do not consistently update your blog/site, then everything will be meaningless. Do you know why? Because Google cares for the freshness of your content. It doesn’t like old, backdated content at all.
Not only that. You have to maintain consistency. For example, if you publish one blog post every week, you must keep this up consistently. If you publish four blog posts in 1st month, one blog post in the 2nd month, and six blog posts in the 3rd month, then it is not consistent.
*i5 (Is Search Engine Optimization necessary? Ask again. Your quality content is the ultimate key.)
Also, do not go blackout for 4-5 months straight. For example, if you want to start a world tour with friends & family, then schedule the next 4-5 months’ blog post. It will help you to maintain consistency even when you are away for a long time.
Quick Note: I just wanted to let you know I always schedule ahead, at least for the next two months. It helps me to maintain consistency in my blog.
Truth 6: Focus on a few SEO factors rather than all of them.
I already said before Google has hundreds of different complex factors in its algorithm mechanism. Brian dean & others stated more than 200+ Google ranking factors. And what do you think about it? Did they stop here?
Nope, Google is constantly updating its algorithm & we can’t keep tracking all of them. And somehow, even if you do, it doesn’t matter because the following day, they will invent something else & maybe replace what you have learned today.
So, my point is that do not even bother with all of the complex ranking factors. Only learn the basics & focus only on your audience. That’s it.
Here are some basic SEO factors you should care for & forget everything else:
- Blog post title (eye-catching title)
- Blog post slug (try to make it short)
- Meta description (max 160 char.)
- Headlines (reflect your main topic)
- Images & videos (relevant content)
- Build connections (link to others & get backlinks)
- Share in social media (as much as possible)
Quick Note: If you can follow these few SEO basics & focus only on your audience’s needs, trust me, you won’t need anything else.
Truth 7: You don’t need to get on the top#1 ranking.
Finally, everyone says to get on the top 1 ranking in SERP. You do not need to get there. Being on the top 10 means on the 1st page of SERP is all you should care for.
Besides, as I said before, Google constantly updates itself, which means even if you get there on top 1, you may not be there consistently. Maybe for 10-15 days but after that, you will rank down to 2,3 or 4. And this will continue forever.
If your site is worthy, you will rank up & down from 1 to 10. And this is entirely normal—nothing to worry about. Everyone is facing this & everyone is cool with it.
Just try to create high-quality content, focus on your audience & try to be on the 1st page of Google. That’s it.
Recommended Reading: How to Start a Profitable Money-Making Blogging Business?
Conclusion.
I am asking the same question again, is search engine optimization necessary? By now, you should get your answer.
At the end of this article, I want to mention again; Search engine optimization is not something big, complex & impossible. SEO agencies artificially make it hard for you by giving you complicated & vast amounts of wrong information. The developer initially built search engines for the audience to quickly find information on the internet. That’s it.
Everything will become easy if you build your site only for the audience. Do not chase the pipe dream of reaching the top Google ranking within 30 or 90 days. There is no shortcut.
If you want to build a website for the long term that will grow steadily, then forget everything else & follow this guide. It may take some time, but your site growth is inevitable.