4 Frequently Discussed SEO Myths Exposed

search engine optimization

You will find much advice surrounding SEO, some of which useful while others will leave you confused. The problem is separating the facts from fiction. It is not easy to determine which suggestion is precise and which is false or poorly interpreted. It means the fallacies surrounding SEO are rampant and abundant.
You will hear things from your client that his website is penalized due to duplicate content. Again, some may say that that you should keep your web page titles to a maximum of 60 characters. Many times, these myths appear sham and while at other times, such misconceptions are hard to identify. The problem is that many marketers do not know how Google algorithms work and therefore, your SEO becomes a trial and error process and sometimes guesswork.

Many still believe that SEO is a one-time activity to help your website rank in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Wrong! SEO is a continuous process and you must work on the same and stay aware of the latest trends and developments. So let us delve deeper about some of the top SEO myths that could cost your site rankings adversely.

Penalization due to duplicate content

It is one of the greatest myths. The notion is that if your website copy is used on any other place on the internet, search engines will penalize you for the same. The solution is determining what is going on the web and learning the distinction between a manual act and an algorithmic restraint.

When it comes to a manual act, it could lead to web pages eliminated from the search engine’s index, which is done by human brains at Google. Once this happens, you’ll be informed via Google Search Console. On the other hand, as far as an algorithmic restraint is concerned, it happens when your web page fails to rank high due to the same and also caught by a certain filter from an algorithm.

The simple idea is that if you copy from a different page on the web, it signifies that you cannot beat that other page in SERP rankings. Google is smart enough to figure out the actual host of that content, which is more related to the keyword (KW) than that of yours.

Since there is no point in having the same copy in the SERPS, your content would face suppression. It is not penalization but it is only the Google algorithm doing a job to keep search results relevant to users.

Tabbed content affects rankings

The basis is that search engines such as Google will not allocate so much importance to the web copy that rests at the back a tab. Let us explain this point with the help of an example. For instance, that content or copy is invisible on the first load of your web page.

The search engine giant Google has rubbished the myth recently on 31 March 2020, but then this misconception has become a debatable topic for many digital marketing agency experts. When your content is noticeable in the HTML, it is wrong to infer that Google belittles the copy or information, as it is not apparent to you on the initial load of your web page. Google has clarified that it is not something like cloaking and the search engine giant will fetch this content effortlessly.

When you do not have anything else to prevent the copy from becoming visible to Google, its importance remains the same as a piece of content that is not in the tabs.

PPC or paid ads improve rankings

It’s a fallacy commonly going around and therefore, needs to be debunked. The real idea is that search engines would like websites in the SERPs, of course organic, which shells out money for PPC or pay-per-click ads. It is a matter of preference and not that paid ads will always rank high in the search results.
When it comes to Google’s algorithm, related to organic SEO, it is quite different from those used to figure out PPC ad positioning.

When you run a paid ad campaign on Google as well as put your effort in organic SEO, it would benefit your website for different reasons but not necessarily boost your site rankings in the SERPs.

Domain age affects rankings

This myth is also doing the rounds and many marketers believe so. Just because your website has been around for seven years or even more, it does not imply your site will rank in the SERPs. No, it is not a ranking factor at all. Google has rubbished this misconception multiple times. To be candid, in July 2019, John Mueller, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, clearly cited that domain age does not help in rankings, in fact, nothing.

When you have a website for many years, and if it is ranking well, it might due to several other reasons. It could be quality and unique content, use of relevant KWs, apt technical SEO, and website structure.

For example, a site that is active for a decade will have attained a huge volume of relevant, quality backlinks to its primary web pages. Then, if you have, your website up for just three months, it will not possibly have that amount of relevant backlinks and traffic. It is as simple as that.

Since an old site is ranking high in the SERPs, people jump to conclusions that it is ranking top because the site is active and live for 10 years, which is a complete myth.

Conclusion

While some of the myths might seem logical, others make absolutely no sense. Just like after years of Google updates and educational work, one of the myths is Google AdWords have a significant impact on SEO and rankings in the SERPs. This is a myth and you must stay away from such misconceptions. Though marketers allocate huge budgets to AdWords, it is not a ranking factor. Now that you have these myths debunked, you know which SEO ideas to implement and which to avoid for the success of your website and its rankings.

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