SEO copywriting myths: what not to believe in 2024

There are loads of helpful content creation guidelines, but sadly, there are also some awful SEO myths. These myths are usually born from a naïve misinterpretation of data, leading to poor or downright incorrect correlations. This really upsets me, as frankly, so many clients are totally confused — and misinformed.

It’s imperative that everyone in this industry practices critical thinking. Don't just believe what you've heard. Investigate it like a scientist. Check your sources. Read carefully.

So if you’re a client, unfortunately, it’s a mistake to blindly believe what you’re told by some uber-confident consultant. Online marketing is not a regulated profession, like law or medicine. Instead, ask professionals where they got their sources from. And if you’re a consultant? Do better. Be thorough, rigourous and question everything.

Anyway, here are a couple of misinformation sillies that I often see thrown around. Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to help me add to my list. :-)

Myth 1: Articles need a keyword density of x%.

A better way of thinking: There is no such thing as a correct percentage of keyword density. Keywords must be used – and taken seriously, but there is no magic percentage required.

Myth 2: You must use the focus keyword as much as you can throughout the article.

A better way of thinking: While we recommend using the focus keyword in the title tag, meta description, headline and opening paragraph, there’s no need to keep repeating the phrase throughout. Instead, use semantically related phrases. This helps give Google a clearer understanding about the content and what type of searcher it’s best suited for.

 

Myth 3: Articles over <insert number> words rank better.

A better way of thinking: There is no perfect page length. SEOs have performed various studies to find the correlation between page length and successful ranking, but the very concept is flawed. SERP ranking is multifactorial. The length of the page does not indicate the level of an article’s success.

Myth 4: Headlines perform better when they are <insert number> characters long:

A better way of thinking: There is no perfect headline length (as above). Let’s move on.