What You Need To Know About Hiding Parts Of URLs In Future Google Chrome Updates

Here's some news for all SEO experts, including those who deal with local SEO: Google Chrome is planning to hide parts of websites' URLs in the address bar, so that only the domain name displays in future browser updates.

According to information found by Android Police, this update could roll out as soon as the next version of Google Chrome (version 85).

From the documents Android Police has gained access to, it appears that there will be some experimental features in a pre-release version of Chrome which will change the behaviour and the appearance of the browser's address bar.

Experimental features such as this are called 'flags' by Chrome developers.

The primary flag Android Police have found is named the "Omnibox UI Hide Steady-State URL Path, Query and Ref". This is a feature that enables the Chrome browser to hide every part of the URL, apart from the domain name.

All other flags that were found are related to the primary one. Each of these shows new methods on how users can interact with the address bar in future versions of Chrome.

Once the update has been rolled out, users will be able to hover over the address bar to see the complete URL path, rather than have to click on it to see the full URL as they do now.

Google is also working on another feature which will hide the entire address bar once the user starts to interact with the webpage.

Further evidence indicating that these features are currently being worked on can be found on a Chromium bug traffic webpage. This is where developers input the problems they've encountered during the process of working on such features.

Reasons To Hide The Complete URL Path

This feature is a pretty big change from what users are used to seeing when they browse in Chrome on a desktop computer.

At the moment, Chrome shows most of each web page's URL path, excepting the 'HTTP/HTTPS' and 'www' prefixes.

In the future, this will be cut right back to only show the domain extension and domain name.

But why? Below are two potential reasons why Google may be doing this:

Security

A Google software engineer said a while back that displaying the complete URL in the address bar may actually make it tougher for users to identify the legitimacy of a website.

This is because showing the entire URL may detract from the most crucial aspect of it, which is the domain name. Being able to see this is vital to ascertain how secure the website is.

Consistency

Keeping complete URL paths out of sight is not a new feature for other web browsers out there today. There's a possibility that Google is carrying out this change to bring its own browser into alignment with others in terms of its look and feel.

For instance, Safari already hides full URL paths, although the full address bar is still present when a user starts to interact with a webpage.

However, complete URLs on Safari aren't as accessible as Google intends theirs to be, because Safari users still need to click on the address bar to see it in full. Chrome 85, as noted, will allow users to see the full version simply by hovering over the address bar.

At the time of writing, Google Chrome has yet to confirm this change as coming in the Chrome 85 update, but maybe it will be announced when it's officially rolled out.

Here Are The 5 Most Popular SEO Myths

There's an almost continuous flow of huge amounts of information online, and that can lead to a host of misconceptions and myths on all kinds of topics. SEO myths are no exception.

SEO myths are usually caused by inexpert knowledge and an impatience to get instant results. But it can be a dangerous thing to assume that everything you read about SEO is true.

The most widely spread myths about SEO leave everyone confused, from the SEO consultant to the entrepreneur who's trying to get their site up the rankings. It's hard to know what to believe and what to discard, and even harder to know what action to take in relation to your website. But the best thing to do is to always evaluate SEO information critically and look for the truth behind the facts and fundamentals.

Below are the five most famous myths circulating about SEO:

Myth 1: Content Marketing Is Everything For SEO

This is true to some extent. It really is beneficial for a webpage to include quality and relevant content for the users. But it's not the be-all and end-all: other elements are required if the content is to have a positive impact on Search Engine Results Pages ('SERPs').

Factors like the quality and quantity of external links included, image optimisation, usability, keyword research work, page loading speed, and design, to name a few, are all important aspects too. These factors need addressing at the same time as producing great content, as some don't work in the absence of others. Once all the factors are addressed, then great long-term results will begin to show.

Myth 2: Link building Is Irrelevant

This myth was exacerbated after a statement by John Mueller, Google's webmaster trends analyst, who said that link building was something he "would try to avoid".

Of course, his comment was taken out of context. Links are still an essential ranking factor. But what Mueller meant was that link building should be something organic, built over time, assuring Google that a website has a relationship with quality links.

SEO efforts shouldn't entirely be based on link building, as this strategy by itself can be unproductive. But by the same token, it must also not be disregarded. The concepts of "content" and "link building" should go together, so the links fit comfortably with the context of the contents, and there's a balanced approach combining the two.

Myth 3: Keyword Research Is Not Essential For SEO

This started after the roll-out of Google's Hummingbird algorithm, implemented in 2013. This led to some SEO experts assuming that keywords weren't crucial for SEO optimisation any more.

However, Google never said this. The primary target of this new algorithm was to escalate the understanding of semantics in queries.

In short, it increased the ability of the search engine to determine what the user was looking for by improving its interpretation of the organic, current language used in search queries.

The problem with SEO myths is that they are usually considered to be entirely true by most marketers. As a result, some aspects become ignored, meaning SEO proponents start to waste valuable opportunities to improve their websites.

Once businesses fail to invest in factors like this that are crucial to SEO, it's inevitable they'll see a drastic drop in interactions, online traffic, and conversions, to name but a few negative consequences.

Myth 4: Loading Speed Has No Influence On SEO

According to Think with Google 2018, there's 32% possibility that users will abandon a webpage that takes between 1 and 3 seconds to load. And if a page takes more than 4 seconds to load, 90% of users are likely to abandon their search.

Essentially, Google prioritises fast loading websites. In March 2019, it announced that it was getting ready to roll out the first "mobile-first index". The loading speed of websites is, therefore, an essential SEO factor and Google treats it as such.

Businesses must concentrate on optimising websites in terms of offering the best UX, both in desktop and mobile versions. The fastest way to carry this out is with a technical SEO audit, so you must learn how to carry this out for your website.

Myth 5: Sitemap Is Available

Sitemaps are documents that deliver information on webpages and other aspects of your website. These are reviewed by Google to help it to monitor the website more accurately. So if Google can't crawl particular parts of your website for various reasons, a sitemap will enable it to locate the pages better.

This is why it's crucial to include sitemaps on websites. This helps ensure efficient crawling of pages of the website that aren't properly linked, or the web crawlers can't find most of the website.

This is especially true for websites with a large number of pages that are frequently updated and carry few external links, or when webpages aren't linked to each other correctly.

These news articles first appeared at https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-chrome-to-hide-parts-of-urls-in-future-update/372085/ and https://www.business2community.com/seo/5-great-myths-about-seo-02317348. Click the links to read the full articles.

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