If you’ve heard of SEO (search engine optimization) then you may have also heard of some misconceptions around it. It’s a vast, ever changing system that can drastically affect your online traffic. Sorting out what is and isn’t a myth can be a task of its own. So let's go over some of the most common myths and misconceptions together. I want to make sure that you have the knowledge to lead your business down the right path.
Truth: SEO is more important than ever for online visibility.
With 8.5 billion searches on Google every day, SEO remains essential for ensuring your business gets found online. It doesn’t just drive traffic to your site—it boosts your brand's credibility and visibility beyond your website. In 2025, as search engines evolve, SEO’s role in online success continues to grow. Unlike social media, where users typically engage for entertainment or networking, people use search engines with the intent to solve specific problems, making SEO far more efficient in driving conversions. Plus, compared to traditional marketing, SEO delivers real-time results to users ready to take action, making it more cost-effective and impactful in today’s screen-first world. For a deeper dive into why SEO is still crucial, check out Search Engine Land's guide on why SEO matters or HubSpot's take on SEO relevance.
Truth: Keyword stuffing will harm your rankings and user experience.
One of the most persistent SEO myths is that the more keywords you stuff into your content, the better your rankings will be. We call it a black hat technique, but in reality, search engines are smarter than that. Keyword stuffing can lead to penalties and a poor user experience, ultimately hurting your site's rankings. Instead, focus on using keywords naturally and in context. We recommend to be yourself as often as possible in your content, if you're talking about hobbies and personal experiences you will sound more natural and consistent even when you add keywords into your text. For more information about keyword stuffing check out this article from Semrush.
Truth: SEO requires continuous effort and updating.
SEO is not a one-and-done deal. It’s an ongoing process that requires regular updates and adjustments. As algorithms change and competitors optimize their sites, your SEO strategy needs to evolve to maintain and improve your rankings. We have a saying around here, rising tides raise all ships. By investing time and effort in perfecting your pages, your entire website will benefit.
Truth: Meta descriptions can help search engines, but they are just one part of a comprehensive SEO strategy
Meta descriptions are chunks of text that describe a page’s content, they don't appear on the page to your visitors, but they are seen by search engines. Just read the meta description on this blog post for a fun little Easter egg. Did you see it on the search engines?
They play a role in SEO, and they used to be what the search engines would show to searchers whenever a page showed up in the results. While optimizing meta tags is good practice for keeping your messaging consistent and concise, it should not be prioritized over other elements. Quality content, backlinks, and a good user experience are also critical components of a successful SEO strategy. Wordstream has a great article that dives deeper into what meta tags are and how to update them on your site.
Truth: Duplicate content will not be penalized
“So wait a minute, why are we dumping hours-upon-hours of effort into addressing duplicate content issues on our website?” While it is worth the effort, it’s not for the duplicate content reasons you’ve been given. Even the most used software in the SEO industry– SEMRush, Ahrefs, and Screaming Frog–all throw flags at duplicate content, claiming they are in the red Warning levels of SEO issues.
This myth likely comes from most SEO experts using these tools and tracking their reasoning back to the Panda update on Google. This update was meant to address some extreme plagiarism issues now that their indexing was significantly faster.
The Senior Search Analyst at Google, John Mueller, has said duplicate content is not a penalty. This does not mean that duplicate content issues get ignored. Instead, consider the following:
Basically, there is absolutely no advantage to having duplicate content. Instead, consider duplicate content to be a nuisance by search engines, and the more you avoid it, the more likely it is that you will rank better. Addressing duplicates helps guide your content strategy in the right direction.
Truth: Baseline data starts with bad content
We take a different approach to content strategy than conventional SEO agencies. Instead of polishing everything, we like to get content published early. While those pieces are being indexed and consumed by your audience, that is a great time to do some keyword research and establish a strategy. By the time you have identified your target keywords and established some goals, you now have a few pieces to see how they have performed.
Some agencies and businesses are also leaning more into using AI to write their content. We fully support businesses leveraging AI to help with writing, but outsourcing that writing fully to AI is not a great idea.
AI-generated content can harm your SEO more than having no content at all. Search engines are fingerprinting human-generated content with the imperfections. That sounds like a boost in SEO more than something to avoid.
Truth: Purchasing backlinks can lead to penalties and harm your SEO.
Buying backlinks may seem like a quick fix to boost your rankings, but it’s a risky, black hat strategy that can lead to penalties from search engines. Google’s algorithm is designed to detect unnatural link patterns, and buying links can result in a significant drop in rankings. Focus on earning backlinks through high-quality content and ethical practices instead. Connect to your local network, build yourselves up together and find success that way.
Truth: Google does not use Domain Authority (DA) as a factor in ranking at all
Domain Authority (DA) is a made-up, proprietary measure from a software called Moz. Moz’s article on Domain Authority even includes the registered trademark.
Many SEO software systems will show you their own type of scores for any domain’s value as a backlink. SEMRush offers a free Authority Checker, but even that Authority Score is a proprietary calculation owned by SEMRush.
Is there a way to tell if your site is considered a high authority with Google directly? No, there is not. That information is proprietary to Google, and their algorithm is complex enough that even having a measure like this would be difficult to define.
While Domain Authority is largely made-up, it’s still a useful measure to see if the backlinks tied to your domain are toxic or not. It is certainly a factor in how you will be evaluated by the search engines. Domain Authority, or any other tool’s definition of that, is their attempt at informing you on how well they think you are doing in establishing trust with search engines. Each one sees enough domain performance that they are considered knowledgeable in what is and isn’t ranking well on search engines.
Truth: AI uses search engines to improve, and vice versa
AI is a hot topic right now, and many question the future of what AI will replace. The truth is, AI is being integrated into search engines to enhance user experience. For example, Google's Gemini is designed to improve search functionality, including more accurate voice and image results​. AI is intended to complement search engines by refining how results are delivered and improving user interactions. More accurately, the public’s awareness of large-language-models in AI is catching up to how search engines function.
Truth: Bounce rates aren’t measured for ranking
Bounce rates have long been a point of concern for those working on SEO. A common belief is that a high bounce rate—a measure of how many website visitors left on one page without doing anything—will negatively impact your search rankings. However, this isn’t always the case. Bounce rates can vary significantly depending on the type of content and the user’s intent​ (Understanding Bounce Rates). Because of that, it is important to know that search engines likely don’t have access to analytics data when ranking a page.
For example, if a user visits your page, quickly finds the information they need, and then leaves, this could still be considered a successful interaction, particularly for content like blog posts or articles. Search engines want to provide answers to searchers as quickly as possible, because users continue to come back and use the search engine. Increased use is all they care about, and speedy results guarantee that repeat usage.
In such cases, the high bounce rate is not necessarily an indicator of poor content or a negative user experience. Understanding the context behind your bounce rates is crucial for interpreting their impact on SEO. Not all high bounce rates are bad, and in some cases, they may reflect that your content is efficiently providing the information users are looking for.
A low bounce rate may be the goal for content that is meant to draw the searcher into your brand, solutions, or products. Now you are measuring User Experience (UX) or Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) more than SEO.
“So why are we so focused on bounce rates in our SEO strategy?” Because we can’t see what the search engines are actually looking at to rank your pages, bounce rates are what we have to indicate whether or not a page is useful to someone who visits it. Improving bounce rates will often lead to better ranking, but it’s not because the bounce rate improved; it’s simply an indicator that what you are doing is improving the unseen factors search engines are actually using.
SEO is an ongoing practice of gradual improvements. A lot of it can be interpreted differently by different people and agencies. Many will not bother having extensive conversations about these myths, because the accuracy of their clients’ understanding won’t change the strategy. Knowing that bounce rates aren’t even accessible by search engines to rank a page doesn’t change the fact that improving them results in better rankings.
So, for 2025, focus on creating authentic content, building ethical backlinks, and optimizing for user experience to see real results. By understanding what really works and what doesn’t, you can avoid common pitfalls and ensure your SEO efforts are effective.