The Biggest Myth About SEO

Why You Should Listen to Google, Not the Hype

The biggest myth about SEO is one almost everyone is falling for.

Hey, I’m Zach from Custer Marketing and I help small businesses just like yours get found in Google Search and AI-driven platforms.

Let’s clear up one of the most confusing pieces of SEO advice out there:

E-E-A-T.

Who do you want teaching you?

When you’re learning something, would you rather get advice from a student who’s still figuring things out — or from a professor with years of experience?

Obviously, you’d choose the professor.

So why are so many small business owners listening to “experts” everywhere online, instead of listening to Google itself about how SEO really works?



What everyone says about EEAT

Even some of the biggest names in the SEO industry, like Semrush and RankMath, say the same thing: E-E-A-T is the key to ranking higher in Google. E-E-A-T stands for:

• Experience
• Expertise
• Authoritativeness
• Trust

It’s a great way to think about creating strong, trustworthy content. But here’s the important truth: E-E-A-T is not a ranking factor.

What Google actually says about EEAT

Let’s skip the speculation and go straight to the source: Google’s own SEO Starter Guide. Here’s what Google says under the section about content:



“Thinking E-E-A-T is a ranking factor: No, it’s not.”

That means you can’t “optimize” for E-E-A-T and suddenly jump up in rankings. Instead, Google is looking at whether your content is reliable and worth showing to someone searching. E-E-A-T is a helpful framework for writing content, but it’s not a secret ranking button.

What this means for your business

If you’re a small business owner trying to figure out SEO, here’s the truth:

• Stop chasing myths.
• Stop listening to every blog or influencer who claims to know the “magic formula.”
• Start focusing on what Google actually says.

What matters most?

• Reliable, accurate information on your website
• Content that genuinely helps your customers
• Clear signals about who you are and what you do



The Bottom Line

The biggest SEO myth is that E-E-A-T is the magic key to ranking. It’s not.

Yes, experience, expertise, authority, and trust are good qualities to show. But they don’t replace the fundamentals. Google cares about content that is reliable, useful, and worth showing to searchers.

At Custer Marketing, we help small businesses cut through the noise, follow Google’s actual recommendations, and build websites that both people and search engines trust.

Ready to stop chasing SEO myths and start ranking where it matters? Contact us today.

And if you want to read it directly from the source, check out Google’s SEO Starter Guide.