Google Myths | Be Ranked

Here is where we debunk popular Google Myths and toss them in the Trash where they belong. Yes Google is huge and if they wanted to they could trash your web site and send it plummeting to the depths of Search Engine nowhere land. Does this happen? Not really. There are billions of web pages out there and Google has a finite set of resources available to review them. Trust me when I say they have much better things to do with their time than site around worrying about one web site (like counting their money). If you decide to blatantly ignore their Webmaster Guidelines and break rules – you will likely be discovered (more likely reported by your enemies) and they will probably de-index your site. Otherwise the worst that will happen to you is you will have a poorly optimized site and will simply get low or poorly targeted traffic.

Here are a few of the myths that get thrown around by some so called SEO experts. If you know of others please feel free to drop me an email and I would be happy to add to the list.

GOOGLE MYTH #1	Google will BAN you for duplicate content	Pretty ridiculous reaction likely brought on by too much caffeine and excessive time spent at poor quality forums. Google doesn’t really care very much about duplicate content. You could go and copy the entire Wikipedia site under GNU license 1,000 times and not be banned (yes it’s legal, read the fine print at Wikipedia). All things being equal (i.e. domain age, quality of code etc.), Google would simply push the original (if clearly identified) page to the top and the rest would be relegated to far lower rankings depending on the quality of the SEO. The only thing Google takes exception to is when someone makes it obvious they are trying to use duplicate content to manipulate search results. If you discover someone is scraping data from your site and want to be sure Google knows you are the originator you can find instructions how to notify them of copyright infringement here. Attempting to manipulate Google’s search results via duplicate content isn’t just wrong, it’s downright stupid. The only real penalty you’ll likely receive, beyond the “fun” of all that work duplicating content, is about zero traffic. If you are building a web site based on duplicate content Google is the least of your worries. Your real problem will be how you are going to make any money. As a reference I invite you to read The Duplicate Content Myth, a good article by Jill Whalen of High Rankings.
GOOGLE MYTH #2	ToolBar PR is Extremely Important	If you do a little research (and I mean very little research) you will discover that low PR pages often outrank high PR pages. There is no doubt that if you link up with high PR sites your site will also have high PR. Hi PR is no guarantee of a high ranking for a competitive keyword, nor does it guarantee you will have loads of targeted traffic. Too many people set their sights on having high PR and not on the REAL goal that matters: TRAFFIC. Do a few searches on Google and see for yourself. Type in a few search phrases and see who comes up in the top 5. Check out what their page rank is. In many cases you will see the top sites don’t always have the highest page rank. Remember PR is the final RESULT of a well optimized site, not the cause of traffic.
GOOGLE MYTH #3	Google’s algorithm changes so constantly that what worked last week won’t work next week	This one always gets me in the “irritation” nerve. Aren’t these the same guys who tell you the car they are selling you was only driven by a little old lady once a week to Church and the odometer was never tampered with, honest! Good SEO practices are good SEO practices. Period! End of Story! An honest page title and honest page content are just that. You should NEVER expect to be penalized for doing something honest. If you are trying to manipulate Google’s search results by tampering with data you are convinced their algorithm may be using to determine a page’s overall value, then you will probably get your fingers burned. Be smart! Stay away from ridiculous theories and quick fix ranking ideas that are based on little more than thin air. There are no safe “fast track” ways to top rankings. It takes hard work and patience just like any other good idea. I don’t know how often Google’s algorithm changes and frankly I don’t care. Smart SEO practitioners have followed consistent, honest optimization techniques for many years and continue to win this game because quality and honesty work well. What a novel idea!
SEO MYTH #4	Google is ignoring or penalizing reciprocal links	This is another sad comment by people who know very little about SEO. There is a big difference between beneficial reciprocal linking and link schemes. Those who don’t know the difference tend to panic every time Google makes a statement about links and thus you get the buildup of these myths. Google encourages beneficial linking and discourages link schemes such as link farms. There is nothing wrong with you exchanging mutually beneficial links with another web site. Ignore this stupid myth. It doesn’t mean you should go out and link to any old site you find. Read up on the smart way to build reciprocal links before you go out and link yourself silly. Stay away from those who tout so called “3 way links” or any other fancy linking methods. A good link is a good link, a bad link is a bad link. IMPORTANT! If you think of each link as a way to get traffic, you will be moving in the right direction. Just to be safe, here is Google’s take on common sense linking.