What are SEO Myths?

SEO Myths is all about a few statements which really don’t matter or are false in SEO. There are lots of such ideas that keep circulating amongst the SEOs but they are not true in reality. The SEO Myth later becomes a strong narrative which sometimes becomes very hard to disbelieve.

Here, I will be sharing with you some famous SEO myths about Google ranking factors. These will help you to work in the right direction and achieve success in SEO easily.

What is Google Ranking Factor

Before jumping to SEO Myths, let’s know a little bit about Google ranking factors.

The Google Ranking Factors are mainly responsible for ranking any website in Google. It is believed that certain things help the websites to get ranked higher in Search Engines. If you are an SEOs, it becomes more important for you to know the real Google Ranking Factor which helps the websites to rank.

As we know, there are almost 200+ Google Ranking Factors. But the number of major Google ranking factors is just 8-10. Now it becomes more important to identify those “very effective” factors.

Once you start identifying the real one, you may get a few ranking factors that don’t matter at all but it is believed that they do.

The Real Google Ranking Factors

Here, I am going to share the real Google Ranking Factors that really matter for your SEO results. If any SEOs just keep focusing on these factors, they can get the result and improve your website traffic easily.

Let’s have a look at the real and most effective Google ranking factors in a nutshell –

1. On-Page Level Ranking Factors
2. Off-Page Level Ranking Factors
3. User-Interaction Level Ranking Factors

On-Page Level Ranking Factors

• Exact Match Domain
• Keywords in Meta Title & Meta Description
• Keywords in Headings
• Content Quality
• Page Loading Speed
• Keyword Prominence
• Mobile Usability
• Internal Linking
• Keyword in URL
• Site Architecture
• Presence of Sitemap
• SSL Certificate

Off-Page Leve Ranking Factors

• Number of Backlinks
• Backlinks From Authority Websites
• Backlinks Anchor Text
• Links From .edu & .gov Domains
• The Ratio of NoFollow & DoFollow Links

User-Interaction Level Ranking Factors

• RankBrain
• Click-Through Rate
• Bounce Rate
• Pogo Sticking
• Number of Comments
• Dwell Time

That’s a great list. You just need to focus on these factors and you will be getting great results after implementing it.

Debunking SEO Myths About Google Ranking Factors

Let’s have a look at those Google ranking factors which are not a ranking factor anymore but used to believe that they are-

Word Count Is A Ranking Factor

Now, as we are moving towards debunking the SEO myths, it is going to be interesting.

A user asked about the “Number of Words” in a post on Reddit.

In the reply to the same question. Google’s John Mueller replied.

See what he replied –

“Word count is not a ranking factor. Save yourself the trouble”

Isn’t it interesting for those who till now believe that number of words matter in SEO?

Now, if there are any SEO company or Content Writers who are focusing on the number of words also in the content; need to change their strategy and understand what it means.

For Example – 

Let’s understand the logic of Google behind this.

If someone needs to write a blog on “How to boil an egg?”; how much text should he keep in his content?

100 words? 250 words? 500 words or more than it?

It is very simple.

If you can write an answer within 100 words and can make it understandable.

Why should you extend it to 500 or more? Focus on writing well-explained content not just on length of content.

Website Referral Traffic Is A Ranking Factor

Yes, this one is the 2nd SEO Myths which is used to believe that Websites’ Referral Traffic is a ranking factor. But now it is going to be proved wrong today.

Google Search Central tweeted about the same and created all doubts about it. 

See what Google has to say about this.

After reading this tweet, now it is clear that getting referral visitors doesn’t make sure that it will also get huge Organic traffic.

This SEO Myth was a super popular myth within SEOs. Now as it got debunked, you must be very clear that Referral Traffic is not a ranking factor.

AMP Is A Ranking Factor

AMP pages are important for every website as it provides a very responsive structure to the website. And make it very easy to open on mobile devices.

Earlier it was believed that having an AMP version of the website will help to rank higher. But this one too was debunked by Google itself. 

Google says – AMP Not A Ranking Factor

Again one more SEO myth got busted by Google itself. 

This one is going to give a little bit of pleasure to the SEOs who are working for small businesses and have issues in getting an AMP version website. It is also good for small business owners who can’t afford to have two or three versions of a website. 

Anyway, it is a good practice to have an AMP version of your website to provide a very approachable, easily downloadable, and easy-going-through structure to your website. 

Content Accuracy is a Ranking Factor

Yes, many of us think that content accuracy is a ranking factor. But according to Google content accuracy is not a ranking factor. 

See what Danny Sullivan from Google has to say about this- 

“Machines can’t tell the ‘Accuracy of content’. Google’s systems cannot verify the accuracy of content but it relies on signals that the company thinks.”

See below his tweet-

Here, we have listened to some different news about the content from a person who himself works at Google. But after reading his Tweets about the same we can’t say that content accuracy doesn’t matter at all.

So, here we need to understand the whole story about content accuracy.

Google hasn’t made any such thing till now which could predict or judge the accuracy of the content. So, it is clear now that Google’s systems cannot verify the accuracy of the content.

But it has some signals or metrics which Google thinks align with “relevance of topic and authority”. This was posted by Danny Sullivan, Google’s search liaison in a tweet from his account on September 9.

Structured Data is a Ranking Factor

Structure Data is one of the most important parts of SEO. It helps to show some extra information on the SERP such as reviews, company, specific page, pricing, and more. These things improve the CTR.

Let’s now see if it helps in our ranking too.

Replying to a user on Reddit, John Mueller stated – “Just to set expectations, structured data generally wouldn’t be seen as a ranking factor — it’s just the search result that might be shown differently. Sometimes that difference is enough to make it worthwhile though :). Also, think about what it is that you want to achieve with it, don’t just do it because it’s possible.”

Now, it is clear that Structure Data is also not a Ranking factor. But yes, we should use it as it impacts the CTR and can help to increase the traffic on the website.

So, we have found here the top 8 SEO Myths and debunked them. Earlier we were used to believing that these are the ranking factors. I hope after going through it your doubts have been cleared.

Earlier SEOs were considering these SEO myths as the ranking factors and working around these. Now you should find profitable digital marketing tactics that get you results without wasting much time.

Please let me know in the comment if you have any queries regarding the SEO Myths. Also, you can share the SEO Myths if they are not mentioned here.