Search engine optimization changes constantly, but outdated advice has a long shelf life. We still hear the same handful of myths from new clients across Alberta: some left over from a decade ago, some just misunderstandings of how modern SEO really works. Here are seven of the most persistent ones, and what the reality is.
Myth 1: “SEO Is a One-Time Project”
This is probably the most expensive myth on this list. SEO isn’t a website feature you install once; it’s an ongoing function, because competitors keep publishing content, Google keeps updating its algorithm, and your own site needs maintenance to keep what it’s earned. A business that does a one-time SEO push and then stops typically sees gains erode within a year as competitors who stayed active pass them by.
Myth 2: “More Keywords on a Page Means Better Rankings”
Keyword stuffing was a weak tactic even a decade ago, and today it actively works against a page. Modern search engines evaluate natural language, user intent, and topical completeness rather than how many times an exact phrase appears. A page that reads awkwardly because it’s been stuffed with a keyword ten times performs worse, not better, than one written naturally for a human reader.
Myth 3: “Meta Keywords Still Matter”
The meta keywords HTML tag has been ignored by Google for well over a decade. Businesses sometimes still ask us to “optimize the meta keywords” on their site, and we have to explain that this particular tag has no effect on rankings at all. Meta titles and meta descriptions still matter a great deal; the meta keywords tag specifically does not.
Myth 4: “Submitting Your Site to Google Gets You Ranked Faster”
Manually “submitting” a URL to Google was more relevant in the early web, when crawling was far less automated. Today, Google discovers new pages primarily through links (internal and external) and sitemaps. Submitting a URL through Search Console can nudge a crawl slightly sooner, but it has no bearing on how well that page eventually ranks; that still comes down to content quality, relevance, and authority.
Myth 5: “Having a Blog Automatically Improves SEO”
A blog is a tool, not a guarantee. Publishing inconsistent, thin, or off-topic posts can actually dilute a site’s overall quality signal rather than strengthen it; this is a dynamic we covered in more detail in our post on blog content pruning. A blog helps SEO when it’s built around genuine search intent and real expertise, but it does little to nothing when it’s publishing for the sake of publishing.
Myth 6: “Local Businesses Don’t Need to Worry About Backlinks”
Backlinks are sometimes framed as an “enterprise SEO” concern, irrelevant to a local plumber or dentist. In practice, local businesses benefit from backlinks too, like chamber of commerce listings, local news mentions, supplier and partner pages, and industry association directories all function as legitimate, locally relevant backlinks that reinforce both authority and local-entity signals.
Myth 7: “If You Stop Seeing Results Fast, Your SEO Isn’t Working”
This myth causes more businesses to abandon a working strategy than almost any other on this list. SEO compounds over time rather than producing linear, predictable month-to-month gains, and a temporary plateau is a normal part of most campaigns, not evidence of failure. The businesses that benefit most from SEO are the ones that understand the timeline going in and stay the course through the slower stretches.
Why Do These Myths Persist?
Mostly because SEO advice from five or ten years ago is still indexed, still ranking, and still being read by business owners researching the topic for the first time, alongside a steady stream of low-effort content that recycles outdated tactics without checking whether they still apply. The field moves quickly enough that advice has a shelf life, even when it was accurate at the time it was written.
The Bottom Line
None of these myths are really about SEO tactics, they’re about expectations. Understanding that SEO is ongoing, that natural writing beats keyword stuffing, and that results compound rather than appear overnight will do more for an Alberta business’s search visibility than any individual tactic on this list.
Wondering which of these myths might be quietly shaping your own SEO expectations? Reach out to start with a discovery call.