Myth | Comments |
1. Faceted navigation should always be crawlable. Many store owners believe opening all filters to Google creates more ranking opportunities. In reality, this causes thousands of low-value URLs, crawl waste, and duplicate content loops. Google gets stuck and never reaches your important pages. | You should only let Google crawl the filters that actually serve search intent. I usually block the rest and keep your main facets clean, so Google doesn’t drown in useless URLs and save crawl budget.. |
2. Canonical tags fix all duplicate content automatically.Canonicals are suggestions, not commands. If your internal linking or signals are inconsistent, Google ignores your canonicals and indexes duplicates anyway. | Canonicals only work if your internal links support them. I would tell you to align your linking, sitemaps, and canonicals so Google gets a consistent message. |
3. Crawl budget isn’t a real issue for mid-size catalogs. Even stores with 5–20k products can burn their crawl budget through filters, variants, and pagination bloat. Google crawls noise instead of money pages. | Mid-size stores lose rankings because Google spent weeks crawling garbage. You should trim thin URLs and clean parameter rules, it pays off fast. |
4. Infinite scroll has no SEO consequences. Endless scrolling hides deeper products from Google unless a proper paginated fallback exists. Many stores unintentionally block half their inventory. | Check if Google can reach deeper pages. I’d advise you to add paginated URLs behind the scroll so you don’t bury half your catalog. |
5. All filters must be noindexed automatically.Some important filter pages (size, color, material) deserve to rank, especially in fashion and furniture. Blind noindexing kills high-value landing pages. | Keep filters people actually search for. It’s a balance, not everything should be blocked. |
6. AJAX product loading is fine for SEO because users can see it. Google often can’t render or index AJAX-loaded products, making them invisible to search engines. | Enabling server-side rendering or hybrid rendering so both users and Google see the same products. |
7. Pinterest’s image-scraping bot is good for Image Search. Pinterest’s image-scraping bot aggressively crawls product images and filter URLs. On large catalogs with faceted navigation, it can hit thousands of combinations, triggering crawl spikes, high server load, slowdowns, and even temporary crashes. This often happens without the store owner realizing the cause. | Block Pinterest from crawling filter URLs and low-value image variations. Pinterest bots can easily overload servers just by hitting thousands of color and size filters. |
8. Robots.txt hides pages completely from Google.Robots.txt only blocks crawling, Google can still index URLs if they’re linked elsewhere. | Use noindex for content you really want hidden. Robots.txt alone won’t protect you. |
9. Internal search pages should be indexed because they show intent.Search result pages produce infinite combinations and destroy crawl budget. They’re not built for SEO. | You should always noindex search pages. They only waste your crawl budget and never bring any valued rankings. |
10. Rendering issues don’t impact rankings, only visuals.If Google can’t render your content, it doesn’t exist, even if users see it fine. | Always test your rendered HTML. If Google can’t see key content, fix it ASAP. |
11. Manufacturer descriptions are safe to reuse.Google already has these descriptions indexed from 200+ other stores. Reusing them guarantees you won’t stand out. | Rewrite product text, even short versions. You don’t need long essays, just something unique so Google sees value. |
12. Variants don’t need unique metadata.Variants targeting different search intents (size, color, style) can rank when optimized correctly. | If variants match different search behaviors, optimize them separately. It’s a low effort and a big return. |
13. Product bundles don’t need unique descriptions.Bundle pages often convert and rank well when they describe real value. | Write a simple explanation of the bundle, it’s enough to outrank competitors who ignore it. |
14. Category pages don’t need content.Categories often drive the most organic revenue. Thin categories underperform. | Add 150–300 words targeted to shopper intent. FAQ schema will also may help. |
15. Large catalogs don’t need internal linking.Internal links are the backbone of eCommerce SEO. Without them, Google loses the hierarchy. | Build internal linking frameworks. It helps Google understand your structure and spreads authority where you want it. |
16. “Out of stock” pages should be deleted.Deleting them kills ranking history and link equity. | Keep them live with clear notices, then redirect only when discontinued. It’s a clean strategy that keeps traffic, backlinks (if it has ones) and rankings for these pages. Most of them are the oldest pages with the highest Page Authority Score in website structure. |
17. Basic Server Hosting Plan Is Good Enough for SEOBasic hosting often limits CPU, RAM, bandwidth, and concurrent connections. When bots crawl product catalogs, when image traffic spikes, or when many users browse at the same time, the server can throttle, slow to a crawl, or start returning 5xx errors. This leads to poor Core Web Vitals, delayed indexing, and unstable rankings. | You need enough server power to handle Googlebot, Pinterest bot, and real shoppers at the same time. It’s one of the easiest stability and SEO wins. Add at least 60% extra capacity on top of your highest past traffic load, because unexpected spikes can slow down or crash your site, especially on resource-heavy platforms like Magento. |
18. Stock status doesn’t affect SEO.Frequent changes in stock can affect crawling, CTR, and structured data visibility. | Keeping structured data updated so Google doesn’t lose trust in your product feed. |
19. Accordion content is ignored by Google.As long as it’s coded correctly, Google reads collapsed content fully. | Focus on intent and clarity, not UI myths. |
20. All products should target the same head keyword.This creates cannibalization and weakens your entire catalog. | Map each product to its own keyword cluster, it’s a night-and-day difference. |
21. Structured data is optional.Without schema, your listings look poorer on SERPs and CTR drops. | Add product, rating, price, availability, and breadcrumb schema by default. Indirectly its helps SEO through higher CTR. |
22. Review schema is risky.It’s only risky when used incorrectly. Proper review markup helps rankings and CTR. | Apply review schema carefully, and it always improves visibility. |
23. Price schema doesn’t matter.Price and availability schema impacts shopping results and trust. | Always include it, it’s the fastest win in eCommerce SEO. |
24. Canonical tags fully prevent duplication.Canonicals are advisory, not absolute. Google may still index duplicates. | Fix duplication through canonicals + internal linking + URL logic. You should use all three. |
25. Full category hierarchy must be indexed.Sometimes simpler URL structures outperform deep nested ones. | Flatten where it makes sense, don’t index every path. |
26. Categories must have 2,000+ words.Long content is not required, but relevance is. | Write short, intent-based content. It outranks long fluff every time. |
27. Product pages don’t need unique descriptions.Unique content is the key differentiator. | Write short, useful descriptions, not essays. It works. |
28. Blogs drive most SEO revenue.Blogs help, but category and product templates move the money. | Optimize product and category pages first, that’s where ROI is. |
29. Never update content if it already ranks.Stale content loses relevance. | Re-optimize based on changing intent. |
30. Keyword cannibalization is always bad.Sometimes multiple pages ranking for similar intent is good. | Consolidate only when pages truly conflict, not automatically. |
31. Product keyword research isn’t needed.Buyers search using very different patterns. | Always research product-level queries, it prevents missing low hanging fruits. |
32. AI content fully replaces manual optimization.AI lacks nuance, intent precision, and differentiation. | Use AI for drafts, then refine manually. |
33. Shopify handles all SEO.Shopify is good, but it creates duplicate URLs and filter bloat. | Auditing apps, filters, and URLs, not relying on Shopify defaults. |
34. Magento handles all duplicates.Layered navigation still creates bloat. | Review canonical logic carefully. |
35. WooCommerce can’t scale SEO.With proper caching and structure, it scales well. | Scaling WooCommerce it’s about setup, not platform itself. |
36. Premium themes automatically improve SEO.Most themes are bloated and slow. | Test theme speed, not trust marketing claims. |
37. Large images don’t affect LCP.Hero images often break Core Web Vitals. | Compress and resize, this will fix ranking drops instantly. |
38. Product pages can’t earn backlinks.With smart content (comparisons, guides), they absolutely can. | |
39. High DR always beats low DR.Topical relevance beats authority in many cases. | Focus on relevance, not chasing DR numbers. |
40. ECommerce link building is nearly impossible.Digital PR, outreaching journalists, writing insightful and niche blogs and data content work extremely well. | I’ve used these methods myself, they build links at scale. |
