Learning the art of SEO is a continuous process. Since the search engines like Google keep changing their algorithms every now and then, the SEO guidelines also continue to alter from time to time. For this reason, understanding the elements of SEO can be quite difficult for the beginners.
However, it will be wrong to think the advanced SEO users know everything about the search engines and page rankings. There are several facts about SEO that are unknown to the majority of the SEO practitioners.
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Rich snippets do not affect your page rankings directly:
Rich snippets often steal a significant amount of traffic from the top ranked pages in the first SERP (search engine results page). However, they have no significant impact on the page rankings. In the near future, snippets may gain more importance on SEO-related issues, but for that, Google needs to make some significant changes in their existing algorithm.
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A video on the homepage increases its chances of featuring in Google’s first SERP:
A study done by Aimclear reveals that videos can boost the ranking of a page. As the videos keep the visitors engaged and give them something to share, they are often seen as a major influence on the search engine rankings.
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Proximity is a key factor in Google’s ranking:
Proximity plays a crucial role not just in our lives, but also in the search engine results. Some sites may rank higher than several well-optimized sites just because they are closer to the user. If you run a local business, you should pay more interest in the search market feature.
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Google ranks events on the basis of their popularity:
Google has started to rank various events based on their popularity on the internet. Since several events take place in the same area at the same time, people who are interested in attending the events may find it hard to decide which event to attend. The ranking will allow the users to choose the most interesting event when the options are too many.
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Google has a team of professionals who evaluate the quality of search:
Most people are aware of the fact that Google uses a number of algorithms to rank the websites, but only a few people have the knowledge that Google has hired people just to evaluate the search quality. In fact, these search evaluators make around 40,000 “precision evaluations” each year.
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There is no penalty for duplicate content:
Google does not penalize any site for duplicate content. However, copied content can get your site into trouble. Duplicate content is not exactly an optimal set-up for pages, but it does not always hurt the SEO. Also, duplicate content is not manipulative. This is why Google does not have a penalty for duplicate content. However, such content gets filtered in the process.
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Object detection in images plays a crucial role in ranking:
Search engines have become smart enough to identify the objects in the images on a website. But that’s not the essence of this point. Google’s Cloud Vision API can analyze and determine what is inside an image. This object recognition feature helps Google to rank the pages accordingly.
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Google+ has more influence over ranking than other social media platforms:
A study has shown a link between the average Google+ shares and the ranking of the particular page. It seems like Google+ interactions have more influence on the Google search rankings. The page ranks are often influenced by the interactions of other popular social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest. However, the correlation is stronger with G+ interactions.
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It is possible to rank without links
Yes, it is possible to rank without links. The biggest search engine in Russia, Yandex is not even considering links as a ranking factor. The exciting part, however, is that Google is also adopting the same approach. Google is now more interested in ranking the pages based on facts instead of links.
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There are only two content sites in the list of top 10 most popular sites:
If you take a look at the list of top 10 most popular sites of 2017, you will find only 2 sites that are truly content-oriented. Rest are either social networking sites, e-commerce platforms or search engines. It shows that the most outstanding sites on the internet put other significant elements (like communities, interactions and tools) before content.
Some of these facts may not be relevant in the upcoming days as Google keeps changing their algorithms every now and then. However, as long as these facts are relevant to the market, they will continue to influence the ranking of the pages.
Author Bio:
Being a versed blogger, Arif Rashid has found the inspiration in the generation of millennial while creativity connects to your writing. He tries to discover new trends in the world. Love to write blogs endlessly and enlightening others. He develops the skills and mindset to navigate constant change and build resilience. Presently he is part time writer at Tophomeworkhelper & Assignment Help
