SEO is an important part of digital marketing, and being a digital marketer, you are supposed to be well aware of that too.
It is meant to drive organic traffic from the search engine result pages to boost conversions and improve credibility among your potential buyers.
So, no matter which niche you deal in, SEO should always be a part of your digital marketing endeavours. Although, often it is hard to explain business owners about why they need to implement it.
Incorporating all the tags, images, links and keywords to your content and checking rankings and algorithms are often a bit on the tougher end to understand for people who do not deal in digital marketing.
Misconceptions About Google SERP Features
The best practices of search engine optimisation evolve over time and so do the methods. And, as Google’s SERP features deal directly with SEO, misconceptions about the same are also not uncommon.
And, because of the same, even SEO experts and professionals who are certified also fall short to keep up with them.
This is why you will often come across a good lot of misconception for Google SERP features among business owners.
But, no need to worry as here we will be discussing six of those common misconceptions that would harm your SEO.
Let’s get the ball rolling.
1. Can You Have a Lot of Structured Data on A Single Web Page?
No, having a lot of structured data markup on a single web page is not something that is practically possible. Although it is not wise to spend more time working here as just because Google has induced no repercussions here for excessive usage.
All you need to do is work on something that is capable of adding value to your website, i.e., using schema that is valid and contains necessary information from Google.
However, majority of the people out there have a misconception that you really can have a lot of structured data on a single web page.
It all comes down to semantics, creating a lot of confusion among the people dealing with SEO.
Now, when it is about SEO, there are particular SEO factors that are associated with the usage of structured data. Although, to make sure that users come across relevant results, using proper schema types with a good spread of usage is the right thing to do. For the best results, make sure to keep in mind which techniques yield results and which do not.
You can also use Yoast tools to make sure that there are no structured data issues with our WordPress website. These plugins are made to send signals related to structured data to Google without you having to invest much time.
So, there is practically no point in spending much time in managing structured data.
2. When Does the Yellow Text Highlight as well as The Scroll-To Functionality Get Triggered After a Featured Snippet Result Gets Clicked?
There are only a couple of cases where scroll-to-text gets triggered for featured snippets on Google right now. These are,
Whenever someone uses Google Chrome, be it on mobile or desktop.
Whenever AMP is used to create a URL on mobile phones through a browser, and this is not limited to chrome.
Most of the people out there have a clear idea about the same however there are people who do not. And, the number of who have a misconception about the same is not negligible.
The highlights of Featured Snippets have started taking place in the SERPs of Google from December, 2019, but in reality, they were created for pages that are built with AMP.
Scroll to text is quite an interesting addition to the search feature of Google. And, due to the results produced through the same, this feature has now come in use through Chrome and also appears in editorial reviews of a few free product listings too.
3. How Many How-To Schema Rich Results and FAQs Can Appear on The First SERP?
While searching for a particular query on Google, you find a few related questions that appear on the first SERP. You must have noticed that often and thanks to Google, those questions and answers are of quite use for most of us.
But, have you ever noticed how many of these questions and answers appear at a time for a single search query? If you haven’t then let us tell you that it is always 3 to 4, not more than that.
Yes, that is the limit for How-To schema rich results and FAQs that can appear on the First SERP.
This is a standard for all devices be it mobile or desktop. However, if you find that there are less than three relevant questions appearing for a search query on the first SERP, then probably there is some kind of a filtering present. Yes, filtering is the reason for such schema-rich results and FAQs not appearing in the searches.
A survey performed by Brodie Clark says that around 4 out of 10 people have a right idea about this number i.e., 3.
But most people out there have a misconception that there is no limit to these How-To schema rich results and FAQs. Review snippets do not have limitations for product schema regarding which Google page they appear on along with the quantity.
4. Does Google Use Structured Data to Create Featured Snippet in The SERPs?
Google algorithms are responsible for figuring out whether there a part of a web content that can be included as a Featured Snippet on the first SERP of a relevant search query.
However, there is a prominent misconception about the same in the mob. Most people have an idea that structured data is used to create Featured Snippets. However, this is completely untrue. Although, structured data (in the context of schema.org) is one of the many reasons behind the same.
Around 5 out of 10 people do have the misconception about the same. This wrong notion gets triggered as there are a good lot of cases where we can see that when structured data is a part of a certain web content, be it a blog or an article, it appears on the first page of Google SERPs as a featured snippet.
Although, with the right information provided, you can easily understand that this connection has not valid ground.
With the right knowledge you can even take proper precautions to prohibit a certain page from ranking in the Featured Snippets despite having structured data.
From this, it is quite understandable about how complex it is to figure out the right way to generate featured snippets. However, mostly structured data gets shown as the primary reason although this factor has stopped influencing Featured Snippets from 2015.
And, in reality, appearing as Featured Snippets depends on how organic a content is.
5. Can Web Stories Make Your Search Results Stand Out? (In Case of Rich Results)
Although the rich results only appear on mobile devices, Google Web Stories is such a particular feature that meant to rank on both mobile as well as on desktops.
To get a proper preview on mobile devices for the rich results of your Web Stories, you can easily make use of AMP tests.
However, most people out there have a misconception regarding the same. And that is, rich results for Web Stories can appear on both mobile devices as well as on desktops. Surprisingly, only 3 out of 10 people know that rich results only appear when you are surfing through mobile devices.
The reason behind the same is a fault that Google still has not addressed. Web Stories that appear in the Google search results provide a weird experience to users who are using their desktops or laptops for the purpose. Now, as they select a particular Web Story to go through it, all of a sudden, the Web Story appears in the full screen mode without the user having to select anything.
And, this is the particular UX mistake made by Google that we were talking about previously.
These Web Stories are a great format that digital marketers love experimenting with as the rich results that appear on mobile devices are a way to achieve great exposure. Moreover, this rich results feature is so fascinating that it appears within the Discover Feed of Google too.
6. Can You Submit Product Feeds Through Merchant Centre Through Unpaid Google Shopping Tab Listing Using Structured Data as Inputs?
Since May 2020, the unpaid listings that fall under the shopping tabs of Google are created based on the data submitted through the product feeds which you find within the Merchant Centre. And, this is still an ongoing thing.
Prior to this, Support was for both for structured data as well as the product feeds within Merchant Centre. But now things are different.
Almost 8 out of 10 people have a misconception about the same. Yes, most people still have the idea that Google uses both structured data as well as product feeds as inputs for their shopping tab listings. Although, this is untrue.
Among all these misconceptions mentioned on in our list, this is the most prevalent one. As we have mentioned earlier, prior to May 2020, both structured data as well as product feeds used to be considered as inputs. But, after the mentioned date, Google changed its ways. They mentioned the same in its documentation as well as in its announcement. Yet a good lot of people seem to be still misinformed.
Google had also released an announcement lately where they mentioned the change of name from “surfaces across Google” to “free listings”.
Lastly, if you wish to fix any issues related to free listings, it is better to spend time finding out issues within the Merchant Centre rather than wasting time in the structured data of your product.
Time to Clear Your Misconceptions
Most SEO professional company have misconceptions regarding featured snippets, structured data, product listings, web stories, schema rich results and FAQs, and that is why we got them covered in our blog.
If you too had a few misconceptions, then there is no need to look down upon yourself. You can just consider this as an opportunity to improve your knowledge and move on with it.
Having clear idea about the abovementioned points will help you gather more knowledge regarding the SERP features of Google. These features are not meant to be the same as they are and will change in the course of time. Hence, it is the best to stay on your toes to keep yourself updated.
It is the best to keep an eye on Google’s documentation and never miss an update.
