If you have a Los Angeles-based business, then chances are you have plenty of competition. Maybe you have hired an internet marketing agency to help you optimize your site, or you might be going it alone with an in-house team. If you are handling things in-house, then you should make sure that your team or web designer knows what they’re doing. There’s a lot of information about SEO out there, and some advice that is accepted as universal truth might be anything but. Here are some SEO “facts” that aren’t true at all.

Knowledge Of The Google Algorithm

There are a lot of sites that claim to be authorities on the Google algorithm. Among them are Moz, Searchmetrics, and Backlinko. They publish lists of ranking factors, but the problem is that these lists have the potential to be wildly inaccurate. We know what certain ranking signals are because Google has come right out and told us. Anything else is speculation. The other “ranking factors” are factors where we seem to see a correlation between their usage and the Google ranking. Therefore, take care if you’re basing your site design on these lists.

Guest Blogging Violates Google’s Terms Of Service

The way this rumor was spread probably traces its roots back to what Matt Cutts, then Google’s Distinguished Engineer, said about it in 2014. The quote is “if you’re using guest blogging as a way to gain links in 2014, you should probably stop.” He later went on to clarify, however, that guest blogging can still be used for exposure, cross-promotion, and branding. The quote seems to have been taken out of context, and having guest bloggers on your site is still well within the Google rules of fair play.

Links Are The Most Critical Ranking Factor For Google

It is accurate that there is a value to links that cannot be overstated, but there is no “most important” ranking factor with Google. They have said as much on several occasions. It depends a lot more on the query, as it turns out. What this means is that optimizing for factors is myopic, and if you are concentrating entirely on one thing (like links) for your whole SEO strategy, then you are on the wrong path.

For Los Angeles-based companies, it is necessary to separate SEO myth from reality if you are to be successful in your niche. The optimal thing that you can do is to hire an internet marketing agency that has experience and can do the job for you.