Remember the rapturous joy you felt last time you were contacted by a telemarketer? Sure, you were stretched thin at work, and your home life landed somewhere between Hurricane Katrina and Bosnia circa 1995, but – get this – you might be overpaying for your family minutes!

Ok, take a deep breath.

The first major Google update that put the spotlight on local SEO came in 2016 with Possum. Multiple iterations since have continued to refine algorithms that affect local SEO with increased focus. The rules of the game are in a state of perpetual flux, which is why you need to stay informed on what lands hits in your area. Some of your work starts right on your homepage with on-site SEO, part of it involves reaching out, and the rest is about using the tools that Google provided to make your local search just a bit friendlier.

The SEO community presents few authoritative voices amidst the endless crowd of upstarts, self-proclaimed gurus, and DIY enthusiasts. Taken in combination with the regular updates to Google algorithms that fuel constant shifts in SEO, the inevitable result is a community plagued by rumors and misconceptions. To help clear the muddied waters, here are a few SEO myths that belong up there with Bigfoot and fan death.

Eighty percent of people will only read the headline or first few lines of an article and move on. So, with that in mind, keep your content to the point and have a nice day.

Ok, headlines matter. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, but the reality is that people have different expectations of the content that they engage with. Target market, industry, and the nature of the content all factor into the expectations users have about length. Context is key. So with that in mind, here are several key considerations about content length.

Memes are everywhere. Social Media Marketing is huge. So, it’s time to get with it and reach out to your target market with the latest viral memes, right?

No.

That’s not how this works.

Image optimization is often treated as an afterthought for SEO, which is exactly why you need to master it. Effective SEO isn’t just about optimizing your site; it’s about optimizing in ways that your competitors haven’t covered. Doing this will give you an edge in organic search. In that respect, image optimization is a great place to start.

Use this guide to check each image on your page and ensure that your image SEO is up to par.

SEO is one of those perennial web design topics we never get tired of discussing. We all know the importance of SEO for your website, and thanks to the proliferation of SEO strategies over the past few years, there are plenty of options that don’t cost a thing!

The idea of A/B testing should be SEO 101 for smart marketers. A big part of playing the marketing game and winning is finding out which pieces of your campaign are a perfect fit for the big-picture conversion puzzle. Fortunately, modern A/B testing tools come equipped with features and functions that help turn data into actionable insights.

Here are a few tools you should keep in your A/B testing toolbox.

A 2016 report by Social Media Examiner found that 37 percent of marketers believe that visuals are the most important content style for their marketing goals, barely falling short of blogging (38 percent).

Visual content is everywhere, and marketers have more options than ever. At the minimum, incorporate the following five visual content styles into your strategies.

Even if you’ve never heard the term inbound marketing, you’ve almost certainly seen it in action.

Imagine going to Best Buy to pick out a new laptop. As you’re deciding between a couple options, a sales rep walks up and starts going on about how great laptop “A” is. It has incredible features! Look at the crystal clear HD display! You’ll die before the battery does!

But you aren’t listening. You’re not interested in being sold to—you’re not even sure what you want yet!

At this point, you’re more interested in discovering what options are available. You ditch the rep and notice that laptop B has a digital kiosk that explains the product’s benefits. You spend some time watching the videos, learning about the product, and forming a decision on your own.

You’re not ready to buy today, but as you leave the store, you’re struck by the difference in the two experiences: