John Mueller Debunks Top 40 SEO Myths

Updated: April 3

In the ever-changing world of search engine optimization, it’s easy to fall prey to popular misconceptions and outdated practices.
But fear not!

To help you navigate the confusing landscape of SEO, we’ve gathered insights from John Mueller, a Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, to debunk some of the most common myths and set the record straight.

From the importance of the Google Indexing API to the impact of URL structure on search rankings, we’re diving deep into some of the most commonly held SEO beliefs to separate fact from fiction.

So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and get ready to learn the truth about what matters when it comes to optimizing your website for search engines. Are you ready to bust some SEO myths?

Let’s go!

Myth 1: Google Indexing API is a game-changer for SEO success

The Google Indexing API is a tool that allows developers to notify Google of new or updated content on their websites. While it can be useful for certain types of content, such as job postings or product pages, it’s not a game-changer for SEO success.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to John Mueller, the API is only intended for very specific types of content, and using it for other purposes can actually harm your website’s search rankings. In fact, spammers often try to use the API for random content, which can result in penalties from Google.

Instead of relying solely on the Indexing API, it’s important to focus on other ways to make your content findable, such as optimizing your website’s structure, using relevant keywords, and building quality backlinks. Additionally, taking steps to prevent others from copying your content can also help improve your website’s search rankings.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Google Indexing API Help
in TechSEO

Myth 2: UTM URLs and 404s Impact SEO Rankings

UTM URLs and 404s/410s are common SEO issues that many website owners and marketers encounter. Many people believe that these issues can impact SEO ranking. However, this is not true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Mueller clarifies that in terms of 404s and 410s, pages that do not exist should return a 404 status code. Converting them to 410s does not provide any additional SEO benefits. The only advantage of using a 410 status code is that it can help distinguish between accidental 404s and intentionally removed pages.

Regarding UTM parameters, Mueller suggests using the rel-canonical tag instead of robots.txt to manage them. The rel-canonical tag helps prevent duplicate content issues and is a cleaner approach than blocking UTM URLs with robots.txt.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Thoughts on adding UTM URLs to robots.txt and turning 404s into 410s
in TechSEO

Myth 3: Keywords Positions in Search Console are Accurate

One common belief in the world of SEO is that the keyword positions shown in Google Search Console are completely accurate and can be relied upon to gauge the success of your SEO efforts. However, this is not entirely true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller suggests that while the keyword positions displayed in Search Console are not fabricated, they can be subject to variation due to factors such as location and personalization.

Therefore, it’s important to take the data with a grain of salt and use it in conjunction with other tools and metrics to get a more accurate picture of your website’s search performance.

It’s also worth noting that keyword rankings should not be the sole focus of your SEO efforts. Instead, you should aim to create high-quality, valuable content that addresses your audience’s needs and interests while also optimizing for relevant keywords.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Keyword Positions are Inaccurate: Actual Search vs Search Console
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Myth 4: Changing Image into Webp format impacts image ranking

WebP is a modern image format that offers smaller file sizes without compromising image quality. Some people believe that converting images into WebP format can impact their search rankings.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to Mueller, there is no direct SEO effect of converting images into WebP format. However, he advises against changing URLs when converting images into WebP format. Instead, it’s best to use the existing file extensions to create WebP files.

While WebP images may offer benefits such as faster loading times, they are not a ranking factor on their own. It’s important to focus on other aspects of image optimization, such as using relevant alt tags and file names, reducing file sizes, and ensuring that images are mobile-friendly.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Does changing image format to WEBP (or compressed JPG) on my wordpress site have any impact on Google images ranking?
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Myth 5: Changing dozens of URLs will hurt your website more than it helps

Many website owners and marketers are hesitant to change their website’s URLs because they believe it will negatively impact their search rankings. However, this is not necessarily true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to Mueller, changing URLs can be beneficial if it improves the user experience or makes the URLs more descriptive and easier to understand. While there may be a temporary drop in search rankings after changing URLs, the impact is typically minor and short-lived. As long as the changes are implemented properly, and any necessary redirects are set up, there should be no long-term negative effects on your website’s search rankings.

It’s important to note that changing URLs should not be done arbitrarily. It should be a deliberate decision made with the user in mind and with a clear plan in place to ensure a smooth transition.

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by u/johnmu from discussion How important are URLs with keywords, and should you change URLs?
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Myth 6: Not Having an H1 tag on the webpage can lead to penalization of your website

Another common misconception in SEO is that not having an h1 tag on your webpage can lead to penalization of your website. However, this is not true either.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller has stated that while it is a good practice to have an h1 tag on your webpage, it is not a requirement for SEO success. Google’s algorithms are designed to understand the content of a webpage, regardless of whether it has an h1 tag or not. In fact, many websites rank well without using h1 tags.

That being said, having a clear and descriptive h1 tag can make it easier for users to understand the content on your webpage and improve their overall experience. So while not having an h1 tag won’t hurt your search rankings, it’s still a best practice to use one for the benefit of your users.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Most commercial sites appear to have hidden / no H1 tags at all. Google tells me I will be penalised for hiding the H1 tag. What are these sites doing if not hiding it, and how can I hide my own H1 tag without being penalized?
in SEO

Myth 7: Adding “Allow: /” in the robots.txt file cause issues on the website

Many website owners believe that adding “Allow: /” to their robots.txt file can cause issues and lead to unintended consequences. However, this is another common SEO myth that needs to be debunked.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to Mueller, adding “Allow: /” to your robots.txt file does not cause any issues and can actually make it easier to understand. This directive is used to allow all robots to crawl all pages of your website. It’s important to note that adding “Allow: /” does not override any previous disallow directives, so it’s still essential to carefully manage your robots.txt file to ensure that search engines can access the right pages of your website.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Is “Allow: / ” in robots.txt file a thing?
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Myth 8: You Should Recommend Dynamic Rendering for your website

Dynamic rendering, which involves serving different versions of your website to users and search engines, has been touted as a solution to improve website speed and SEO rankings. However, is it really necessary?

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to Mueller, while dynamic rendering can be useful in some cases, it’s not a necessity. Instead, he recommends using server-side pre-rendering to speed up your website and ensure that it works well for search engines.

By giving your developers access to Google Search Console and verifying ownership of a development/staging site, you can make it easier for them to test the SEO aspects of your website while still using their usual tools to check other aspects.

Mueller emphasizes that the key is to have a website that’s fast and accessible to both users and search engines. By focusing on server-side pre-rendering, you can improve website speed while still ensuring that your website is optimized for search engines.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Question about recommending Dynamic Rendering
in TechSEO

Myth 9: Meta Name=” keywords” Content=”…” Still Exist

Many people believe that adding meta keywords to their website’s code can improve their search rankings. However, this is a myth that has been debunked for quite some time now.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to Mueller, the meta keywords tag is not used by Google or other major search engines. It’s been ignored by search engines for years. Adding meta keywords to your website’s code can be harmful as it creates unnecessary maintenance overhead and can distract you from focusing on other important SEO factors.

Instead of adding meta keywords to your website, focus on optimizing your website’s content with relevant keywords, building quality backlinks, and improving the overall user experience. These factors are much more important for improving your website’s search rankings than adding meta keywords.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Need help with meta name=”keywords” content=”…”
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Myth 10: Disallow Lines in Robot.txt File Do Not Affect SEO Rankings

Many people believe that including disallow lines in the robots.txt file does not have any impact on their website’s search engine rankings. However, this is not entirely true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to John Mueller, while disallow lines do not directly affect a website’s search engine rankings, they can still have an impact on how Google crawls and indexes your site.

For example, if you have a disallow line for a particular page or section of your site, Google will not crawl or index that content, which could potentially impact your search visibility.

It’s important to be strategic with your use of disallow lines, as overly restrictive rules can prevent Google from accessing important content on your site. Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind that other search engines may not necessarily follow the same rules as Google, so it’s best to use other methods, such as password protection, for sensitive content.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Does this line on our robots.txt actually do anything?
in TechSEO

Myth 11: Cloud Run ensures a perfect Google Lighthouse score for a website.

Google Lighthouse is a tool that measures a website’s performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO. Many people believe that using Google Cloud Run to host their website will automatically lead to a perfect Lighthouse score.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to John Mueller, while Google Cloud Run can improve website performance, it’s not a magic solution that guarantees a perfect Lighthouse score.

The Lighthouse score is just one of many factors that Google considers when ranking websites, and it’s important to focus on other aspects of SEO, such as content relevance and user experience.

Furthermore, Mueller points out that the most important factor for ranking is user experience, which is measured by Core Web Vitals. These are real-world user metrics that Google uses to evaluate website performance, including page load speed, interactivity, and visual stability. Therefore, it’s crucial to prioritize user experience when optimizing your website for search engines.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Can a website obtain a perfect Google Lighthouse score when using Cloud Run?
in TechSEO

Myth 12: Embedding youtube videos in blog posts help SEO

There is a belief that embedding YouTube videos in blog posts can improve search engine rankings and overall SEO success. However, this is not entirely true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to John Mueller, randomly adding videos to a page does not make it better for SEO. While adding videos can be a great way to show that your content is relevant to people who are looking for videos, it does not necessarily mean that it will improve your search engine rankings.

Mueller clarifies that if the video is considered important or prominent, it may result in the page being shown with a video snippet and being displayed in the video tab. However, this does not necessarily mean that it is “better for SEO” – it is just a different way of presenting your content.

Ultimately, it’s important to focus on creating high-quality content that is useful and relevant to your target audience rather than relying on tactics like video embedding to improve your SEO.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Does embedding youtube videos in blog posts help SEO?
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Myth 13: Google does consider Domain Authority on Moz, Ahrefs, and other tools

There is a common belief that Google considers the domain authority of a website as measured by third-party tools like Moz or Ahrefs in its search ranking algorithm. However, this is not true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to John Mueller, domain authority is a self-defined metric created by these third-party tools, and it is not a metric that Google uses in its algorithm.

While these tools can provide some useful insights, it’s important to remember that they are not the same as Google’s ranking factors.

Mueller suggests that website owners focus on improving their website’s overall quality and relevance to their target audience rather than obsessing over domain authority metrics. This includes creating high-quality, original content that provides value to users, optimizing website structure and usability, and building natural backlinks from reputable sources.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Why The domain authority is different on moz and ahrefs? Which is better to consider?
in SEO

Myth 14: Console errors affect SEO (CORS)

Another common misconception is that console errors, such as JavaScript or CSS errors, can have a significant impact on your website’s search rankings. However, this is not entirely true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to Mueller, console errors do not directly affect SEO unless they block the rendering of your pages, making them not mobile-friendly or causing issues with indexable images.

In most cases, these errors can be easily fixed by adding the right headers or making other technical adjustments to your website.

It’s important to remember that while console errors may not directly impact your website’s search rankings, they can still affect user experience and overall website performance. As such, it’s always a good idea to fix any console errors to ensure your website runs smoothly and efficiently.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Do console errors effect SEO? (CORS)
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Myth 15: Hreflang does  change The indexing

Hreflang is a tag that helps search engines understand which version of a webpage to show to users based on their language and location. However, there is a common misconception that Hreflang can also impact the indexing of a website.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller clarifies that hreflang tags do not change the indexing of a website. Instead, they simply change which URLs are displayed to users based on their language and location.

In other words, Hreflang helps ensure that users are directed to the most relevant version of a webpage based on their language and location.

It’s important to note that Hreflang tags should be used correctly to avoid any negative impact on search rankings. This includes ensuring that the tags are properly implemented, not using them for duplicate content, and not using them to manipulate search results.

When used correctly, Hreflang tags can be an effective way to improve the visibility and accessibility of your website for users around the world.

Myth 16: Advertising on medical content (websites with medical encyclopedias) is bad for SEO

There is a common belief that advertising on medical content or websites with medical encyclopedias can negatively impact SEO rankings. However, this is not entirely true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller suggests checking out Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines, which provide insight into how Google evaluates the quality of a website. While the guidelines are not a guide to ranking well, they show what Google considers when working on algorithms.

Mueller also notes that having ads on a medical website is not inherently bad for SEO. However, it’s important to ensure that the ads are relevant to the content and do not distract from the user experience.

Additionally, websites with medical content should have high levels of expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) to rank well in search results.

Myth 17: A sitemap with duplicate content can impact your website’s ranking

Many people believe that having duplicate content in their website’s sitemap can negatively impact their search engine rankings. However, this is not entirely true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to Mueller, having duplicate content in your sitemap won’t necessarily hurt your website’s search rankings. However, it can confuse search engines and make it harder for them to crawl and index your pages.

Mueller recommends prioritizing the pages that you want to be indexed by search engines and ensuring that those pages are included in your sitemap. This will help search engines understand the most important content on your website and make it easier for them to crawl and index those pages.

Additionally, if you have a large website with a lot of pages, it’s important to regularly review and update your sitemap to ensure that it’s accurate and up-to-date. This will help prevent any confusion or crawling issues that could negatively impact your search engine rankings.

Myth 18: Text-to-code ratio does matter for SEO.

This myth suggests that having a higher ratio of text to code on your website will improve your search engine rankings. Some people believe that search engines prefer websites with more text than code because it indicates that the website is more content-rich and provides a better user experience.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller, a Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, has stated that the text-to-code ratio is not a ranking factor for Google’s search algorithm. While having clean and optimized code is important for website performance, it does not directly impact search rankings.

Having too much text on your website can harm your search engine rankings. Google’s search algorithm prioritizes user experience and quality content, not the amount of text on a page. If your website has too much text that is not relevant or helpful to users, it can be seen as spammy and hurt your rankings.

Myth 19: Aria-label image descriptions to display images in “Google Images”Is Irrelevant

Some people believe that using aria-label image descriptions can help their images show up in Google Images. However, this is not the case.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Mueller advises sticking to the best practices recommended by Google, which includes using alt-attributes on images. This practice has been proven to be effective in improving accessibility and providing context for images, but it’s not a guaranteed way to get your images to show up in Google Images.

It’s important to note that using aria-label image descriptions can harm your website’s search rankings if they are not used properly. Google’s algorithms prioritize relevant and useful content, so adding irrelevant or misleading information to your website can result in penalties.

Myth 20: Having 404s is a signal of Bad Quality

Many people believe that having 404 errors on their website is a signal of bad quality and can negatively impact their SEO rankings. However, this is a common misconception.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller, a Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, clarifies that having some 404 errors on a website is perfectly normal and not a sign of bad quality. It’s impossible to avoid 404 errors entirely, as pages can be removed or renamed over time.

Having a few 404 errors is not a cause for concern, but it’s important to handle them correctly. A website with a large number of 404 errors can indicate a lack of attention to website maintenance, which can affect the user experience and, ultimately, the website’s search rankings.

To avoid negative impacts, it’s important to regularly monitor your website for 404 errors and address them promptly. You can use tools like Google Search Console to identify and fix any errors.

Redirecting the URLs of deleted pages to relevant new pages or to the website’s homepage can also help improve the user experience and prevent negative impacts on SEO.

Myth 21: Adding AdSense and Google Analytics helps with indexing

Many website owners believe that adding AdSense and Google Analytics to their website can help with indexing and improve their search rankings. However, this is not entirely true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to Mueller, while these tools can help provide valuable data and insights for website owners, they do not directly impact search rankings. Adding AdSense or Google Analytics to your website will not make it easier for Google to crawl or index your content.

Instead, it’s important to focus on the quality of your content, the relevance of your keywords, and the overall user experience on your website. These factors can have a much bigger impact on your search rankings than simply adding tracking tools.

Myth 22: You need to reindex your article in the google search console if you update it

Many people believe that you need to request a reindexing of your article in the Google Search Console every time you update it. This is a common misconception among website owners and marketers who believe that Google won’t pick up on the changes automatically.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to John Mueller, Google is constantly crawling and indexing websites, which means that any changes you make to your content will eventually be picked up and reflected in the search results without the need for you to request a reindexing.

That being said, if you make significant changes to your content, such as adding new pages or changing the URL structure, it can be helpful to request a reindexing to ensure that Google indexes the new content correctly. But in most cases, Google will pick up on the changes automatically and adjust its index accordingly, so there’s no need to request a reindexing every time you make a small update.

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by u/johnmu from discussion Do I need to reindex my article in the google search console if I update it?
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Myth 23: Google has 200 Ranking Factors

For a long time, there has been a popular belief in the SEO community that Google’s search algorithm considers over 200 ranking factors when determining the relevance and quality of web content. While this claim has been officially confirmed by Google in the past, the company is now moving away from the idea of a fixed number of ranking factors and emphasizing the complexity and nuance of its algorithmic processes.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller said that the idea of 200 ranking factors creates a false impression of how Google’s algorithms work. Instead of a simple checklist of factors that can be ranked by importance, Google’s search algorithm relies on a complex system of signals, many of which are interdependent and difficult to quantify.

So, SEO practitioners should focus on creating high-quality, relevant content that meets the needs of users and signals their authority and expertise in their field. By doing so, they are more likely to earn a higher ranking in Google’s search results, regardless of the specific ranking factors at play.

Myth 24: Quantity of Backlinks Matter

A common misconception in the world of SEO is that having a large number of backlinks pointing to your website is a surefire way to achieve a higher search ranking. In reality, the truth is much more nuanced.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Mueller explains that Google considers the quality of the links rather than just the quantity. One good link from a reputable website can signal to Google that the website is relevant and valuable. On the other hand, a multitude of low-quality links from spammy websites can actually harm a website’s ranking.

Therefore, it’s essential to focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from relevant and trustworthy websites rather than simply trying to accumulate as many backlinks as possible. This can involve tactics such as creating valuable content, building relationships with other websites in your industry, and utilizing social media to promote your website and attract natural backlinks.

Myth 25: Changing Dates Helps Improve Ranking

Many people believe that changing the publishing date of a webpage without making any significant changes to the content or structure of the page is not an effective strategy for improving its ranking in Google search results. However, this is not true. In fact, it doesn’t impact a website’s ranking.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller has stated that simply updating the date and time on a page is unlikely to have any impact on search rankings. This is because Google’s algorithm is designed to prioritize high-quality content that is relevant and useful to users, not simply the most recently updated content. While fresh content can be beneficial, especially in certain contexts such as news articles, updating the date without adding new value is not seen as a meaningful change by search engines.

Therefore, website owners and SEO practitioners should focus on creating high-quality content that meets the needs of their audience rather than relying on tactics such as changing dates to improve their search rankings.

Myth 26: The presentation doesn’t impact rankings

It is a common belief that the presentation of a website doesn’t matter at all when it comes to website ranking. However, this is not true. While the content and technical elements of a website are important for SEO, the visual presentation of the website can also have an impact on its visibility in search results.

What Does John Mueller Say?

The presentation of a website can have a significant impact on how users perceive it. This perception can ultimately affect the website’s ranking in search results, as stated by John Mueller. For example, if a website has content related to a financial topic, but the design looks unprofessional or amateurish, users may view it as less credible, and this could have a negative impact on its search engine rankings.

Therefore, it’s important to ensure that the visual design of a website is professional and visually appealing, as it can contribute to a positive user experience and improve the overall credibility of the website, which can ultimately help it rank higher in search results.

Myth 27: Customer reviews help in improving the website ranking

A common belief in the world of SEO is that customer reviews can directly contribute to improving a website’s ranking in search engine results pages. However, this is a myth.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Mueller clarifies that while customer reviews may be used in local search rankings, they are not a direct ranking factor in organic web search rankings. In other words, the number of customers or reviews is not something that Google considers when it comes to determining a website’s ranking in organic search results.

That being said, customer reviews can still play a role in SEO by indirectly influencing user behavior, such as click-through rates and conversion rates. Additionally, reviews can also help establish trust and credibility with potential customers, which can ultimately lead to better user engagement and potentially improve search engine visibility in the long run.

So, while customer reviews are not a direct ranking factor, they can still have an impact on a website’s SEO performance in other ways.

Myth 28: Duplicate Content Drops Website Ranking

It’s a common misconception that having duplicate content on a website can harm its search ranking, but the reality is more complex. While it’s true that search engines prefer unique and high-quality content, having duplicate content doesn’t necessarily mean your website will be penalized or drop in search rankings.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Google’s search algorithms are designed to handle duplicate content by displaying only one version of it and ignoring the rest, said Mueller. He further added that having the same content on multiple pages is not necessarily a problem and doesn’t result in a negative signal.

Instead, Google’s algorithm will try to pick one version of the content to display in search results and ignore the others. This is because having some amount of shared content across different pages is quite normal for many websites.

For example, if you have an e-commerce SEO website and different products share similar features or descriptions, it’s natural to have some duplicate content.

However, it’s important to note that having too much duplicate content can still be an issue. If a website has a large amount of identical or near-identical pages, it can make it difficult for Google to determine which pages are the most relevant and useful to users.

In this case, Google may decide to display none of the duplicate pages or may consider it a low-quality signal for the website. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that the majority of a website’s content is unique and valuable to users, even if some amount of duplicate content exists.

Myth 29: SEO is a quick-fix

One of the common myths about SEO is that making changes to a website can quickly and immediately boost its search ranking. In reality, SEO is a long-term strategy that requires patience and consistency to see results.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Despite fixing quality issues on a site, it may take up to a month to see changes in Google’s search results, as explained by John Mueller. This is because Google needs time to re-crawl the website and index the changes made, especially if significant changes were made to the site’s structure or content.

Mueller’s statement underscores the importance of having realistic expectations about the timeline for SEO improvements. SEO is not a quick fix, and changes made to a website may take time to have a noticeable impact on search rankings.

Therefore, website owners and SEO practitioners need to be patient and allow sufficient time for Google to index the changes made to a website before expecting to see any significant improvements in search rankings.

Myth 30: Removing Blog Comments Will Negatively Impact Rankings

It is a misconception in the SEO community that removing blog comments from a website can negatively impact its search engine rankings. However, this notion is not accurate.

What Does John Mueller Say?

According to Mueller, comments on a website are not a direct ranking factor in Google’s search algorithm. Therefore, removing them would not result in a penalty or loss of rankings.

However, comments can contribute to the overall user experience and engagement on a website, which can indirectly impact search engine visibility.

For example, if a website has a thriving community of commenters who engage with each other and the content, it can signal to Google that the website is providing valuable and relevant content to users.

Therefore, website owners should carefully consider the impact of removing comments on their website’s user engagement and overall user experience before making any changes. While comments may not directly impact search rankings, they can still contribute to the overall success of a website.

Myth 31: Core Web Vitals are Insignificant

With the introduction of Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor, there has been some confusion about their importance and impact on SEO. Some people believe that they are insignificant and not worth prioritizing, but this is not the case.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller has emphasized the importance of Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor and stated that they should not be ignored by website owners and SEO practitioners.

Core Web Vitals, which include metrics such as page loading speed and mobile responsiveness, are designed to measure the user experience of a website and its overall performance.

By prioritizing Core Web Vitals, website owners can improve the user experience of their website and potentially earn a higher ranking in Google’s search results.

Therefore, it’s important to monitor and optimize for Core Web Vitals, along with other important SEO factors such as content quality and backlinks.

Myth 32: Traffic Impacts Core Web Vitals

It’s a commonly held belief in the SEO community that the amount of traffic a website receives can directly affect its loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. However, this is not entirely true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Core Web Vitals are performance metrics that measure how users experience a website’s loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. These metrics are based on actual user data rather than on the amount of traffic a website receives.

While it’s true that websites with high traffic volumes may be more likely to have issues with Core Web Vitals performance due to increased server load or other factors, traffic itself is not a direct factor in Core Web Vitals performance.

In fact, improving Core Web Vitals’ performance can actually lead to increased website traffic, as users are more likely to stay on and engage with a website that loads quickly and provides a good user experience.

Additionally, Core Web Vitals will be a significant ranking factor. So improving performance in these areas will be important for website owners looking to improve their search engine rankings.

Myth 33: GMB doesn’t help in Local Search Rankings

One of the most common misconceptions about local search optimization is that having a Google My Business (GMB) listing does not impact local search rankings. However, this is far from the truth. In fact, optimizing your GMB listing is just as important as optimizing your website to rank well in local search results.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Google My Business is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Google Search and Google Maps.

By claiming and optimizing your GMB listing, you can provide potential customers with essential information about your business, such as your address, phone number, hours of operation, website URL, and customer reviews.

He further highlighted the importance of having a strong GMB entry for local businesses. He stated that having a well-optimized GMB listing can help your business appear in local search results for queries that include “near me.”

Moreover, he emphasized the significance of having your business’s location clearly defined on your website pages so that Google can associate it with your GMB listing and improve your visibility in local search results.

Myth 34: Product Price helps in high ranking

It is believed that setting lower product prices can boost the search rankings of eCommerce stores. However, this is far from the truth. While offering competitive prices may help attract more customers and increase sales, it has no direct impact on search engine rankings.

What Does John Mueller Say?

John Mueller stated that Google does not use the price of a product as a ranking factor and would not prioritize a cheaper product over a more expensive one in search results.

Google’s primary focus is on providing users with the most relevant and helpful search results, and the price is just one of the many factors that consumers consider when making a purchase. Instead, Google looks at several other factors, such as website quality, user experience, content relevance, backlinks, and website speed, to determine search engine rankings.

While pricing strategy is essential for any e-commerce store’s success, it is not a determining factor in search rankings. Focusing solely on pricing and neglecting other critical elements of SEO can harm your e-commerce store’s online visibility and organic traffic.

Myth 35: Word Count Matters for search rankings

There’s a common misconception among content creators and SEO professionals that word count plays a crucial role in search rankings. However, the truth is that word count has no direct correlation with search engine rankings.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Google’s primary goal is to provide users with the most relevant and informative content that satisfies their search queries. Therefore, if a shorter article can convey the same information and value as a longer article, Google will recognize it as offering the same value to searchers. As a result, Google does not rank content based on word count.

John Mueller clarified that word count is not a ranking factor. He stated that “It doesn’t make sense to rank content based on which page has more words than the other. We don’t use word count for ranking.”

While word count may not directly impact search rankings, it can still serve as a useful guideline for content creators. By setting word count targets for their writers, content creators can encourage them to create more in-depth and informative content.

However, it’s important to note that the primary goal should always be to provide valuable and relevant content to the audience rather than simply meeting a word count target.

Myth 36: E-A-T is an important ranking factor

There has been a growing belief among website owners that E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) is a direct ranking factor for Google. However, this is not entirely true.

What Does John Mueller Say?

While Google did mention E-A-T in its Quality Rater Guidelines, it is not a direct ranking factor for the search engine. In fact, there is no such thing as an “E-A-T score” either.

John Mueller confirmed that there is no technical factor that takes specific elements of E-A-T and uses them as an SEO ranking factor.

He also mentioned that Google’s algorithms try to improve over time and that quality raters do look at E-A-T when reviewing those algorithms.

In other words, while E-A-T may indirectly affect your website’s ranking, there is no technical score or formula that Google uses to measure it. Instead, it is something that Google’s algorithms and quality raters consider when evaluating a website’s overall quality and relevance to a user’s search query.

Therefore, website owners and SEO professionals should focus on improving their website’s overall quality and relevance to users rather than solely trying to optimize for E-A-T.

By providing high-quality content, building a strong brand reputation, and earning backlinks from authoritative sources, your website can improve its overall E-A-T and potentially improve its search engine rankings.

Myth 37: Heading Tags don’t matter in SEO ranking

It is believed that heading tags do not have an impact on SEO ranking. However, this is not entirely true. While it is true that the specific tag used (i.e., H1, H2, H3, etc.) is not as important as the overall signal it sends to search engines, the text within the heading tag still plays a crucial role in determining a page’s relevance and ranking.

What Does John Mueller Say?

When you use a heading tag, it provides a strong signal to search engines like Google, indicating what the page is about and what you want it to rank for.

This is especially true for the H1 tag, which traditionally signals the main topic or theme of the page. However, even if you use an H2, H3, or other heading tags, the text within that tag still helps to provide context and structure to the content.

In addition to improving your rankings, using heading tags can also improve the user experience on your website. Proper use of heading tags can help break up large blocks of text and make your content more scannable and readable.

It is important to note that while heading tags can improve your SEO rankings, they should be used appropriately and not overused. Using too many heading tags can actually harm your rankings, as it can appear as though you are trying to manipulate the search engine algorithms.

Myth 38: Keywords in the domain name impact rankings

It is a common myth among SEO experts that including keywords in a website’s domain name can significantly impact its rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).

This belief is based on the assumption that search engines give more weight to domain names that contain keywords relevant to a particular query. However, this assumption is not entirely accurate. In reality, the presence of keywords in a domain name is not a direct ranking signal for search engines.

What Does John Mueller Say?

While it may seem logical that a website with a domain name that matches a particular keyword should rank higher for that keyword, many other factors search engines consider when determining a website’s relevance and authority.

For instance, search engines also evaluate the quality and relevance of a website’s content, the quantity and quality of its inbound links, its website architecture, its user experience, and other factors. All these factors play a much more significant role in determining a website’s rankings than its domain name alone.

Moreover, search engines understand that many websites try to manipulate their rankings by stuffing keywords into their domain names.

In order to avoid rewarding such practices, search engines have become more sophisticated in their algorithms, and they can now detect when a website is trying to boost its rankings through keyword stuffing artificially.

Therefore, businesses should not rely solely on including keywords in their domain names to improve their rankings. Instead, they should focus on creating high-quality content that is relevant to their target audience and work to build a strong brand and online presence.

Having a domain name that reflects the name of the company or the brand is a much better option than including keywords in it.

Myth 39: Using the focus keyword multiple times on a page will improve its rankings.

Many people believe that using the focus keyword multiple times on a page will improve its rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs). However, this is a misconception that has been debunked by Google’s algorithm updates over the years.

What Does John Mueller Say?

While it is true that including the focus keyword in important on-page elements can signal to search engines what the page is about, overusing it can actually harm the page’s ranking. This is because Google’s algorithm now prioritizes relevance and quality over keyword density.

John Mueller said that the focus keyword should be used strategically in on-page elements that are most visible to users and search engines, such as titles, headings, subheadings, and image captions. Mueller advises against using the keyword too frequently, as this can make the page seem spammy and reduce its overall quality.

Instead, content creators should focus on producing high-quality content that is relevant to the topic and provides value to the user. This includes incorporating related keywords and phrases throughout the content to signal to Google that the page is comprehensive and authoritative on the topic.

Myth 40: Remove the low-quality content

It is believed that low-quality content should be removed from a website to maintain its ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs). However, according to Google’s John Mueller, improving the quality of the content is a better approach to maintaining a website’s ranking rather than removing it altogether.

What Does John Mueller Say?

Low-quality content can indeed harm a website’s search ranking, but simply removing it may not be the best course of action. Instead, improving the quality of the content by editing and adding new information can make it more relevant and useful for the audience.

Mueller also suggests that if the website owner has no intention to improve the content, then removing it might be a better option.

However, it is essential to consider the value of the content before deciding to remove it. Old content may still hold value for the website’s audience, and it should not be removed solely based on its age.

Moreover, removing content from a website can lead to broken links and affect the website’s overall user experience, resulting in a drop in its search ranking. Therefore, it is vital to weigh the pros and cons before removing content.

The Bottom Line

SEO is a crucial aspect of digital marketing and website optimization. However, there are numerous myths and misconceptions surrounding SEO that can often lead to confusion and ineffective strategies. 

By debunking the various SEO myths, you can not only improve your SEO results but also save your resources. And if you are seeking ways to improve your website ranking via SEO, you can get in touch with WebSpero Solutions. 

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Gursharan Singh

Co-founded WebSpero solutions about a decade ago. Having worked in web development- I realized the dream of transforming ideas sketched out on paper into fully functioning websites. Seeing how that affected the customers’ generation of leads and conversions, I wanted to delve deeper into the sphere of digital marketing. At Webspero Solutions, handling operations and heading the entire Digital Marketing Field – SEO, PPC, and Content are my core domains. And although we as a team have faced many challenges, we have come far learning along and excelling in this field and making a remarkable online reputation for our work. Having worked in building websites and understanding that sites are bare structures without quality content, the main focus was to branch into optimizing each website for search engines. Investing in original, quality content creation is essential to SEO success in the current search climate. Succeeding in this arena ensures the benefits of producing visitor-friendly content. Directing all our teams to zoom in on these factors has been a role that I have thoroughly enjoyed playing throughout these years.

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