I found this information very elightening. I know many of us on DP buy into many webmastering myths, especially associated with performing the best SEO possible. Well, here it is, straight from Google's mouth! 1) Duplicate content will penalize your site - FALSE Don't worry too much about duplicates on your own site Google is good at ignoring duplicates Make it easy for Google to find the preferred version Help Google crawl efficiently Be reasonable when re-using content from other sites 2) Mixing HTML/XHTML will break verification - FALSE Webmaster Tools accepts both kinds of meta tags regardless of your page's code or doctype - However... Your site must be reachable Verification code depends on the account + URL Sometimes it takes a second attempt 3) Getting listed in 1000s of search engines and directories is important - FALSE Do you use 1000s of search engines? Most search engines will find your site before you find them Submitting does NOT significantly change things Your e-mail SPAM will grow exponentially 4) Participating in AdWords, AdSense, or Analytics will help or harm your site - FALSE 5) If a keyword is important, it's important to repeat it in important locations, on important pages, so the page looks more important to search engines - FALSE Please do not stuff keywords into your content There is no optimal "keyword density" number Write more naturally, write for USERS Don't hide what you really mean 6) Using XML Sitemaps will make your site drop - FALSE XML Sitemaps are useful They help search engines learn about your content They help YOU learn about your content Lots of CMS have the, lots of generators are available 7) PageRank is DEAD / PageRank is EVERYTHING - FALSE PageRank is a measure of the quantity and quality of links to a page Google uses PageRank Toolbar PageRank is updated a few times a year 8) Resubmitting your site regularly is vital - FALSE Resubmitting does NOT change crawling, indexing, or ranking Once Google knows about a URL, they will plan accordingly 9) Once your site ranks high, don't touch it - FALSE Some things are better left alone. Web sites are NOT. Happy users will return to fresh content Give users something to look forward to Changes in ranking can and will happen Other sites won't stand still 10) Valid (X)HTML will make your site rank higher - FALSE Most of the web uses INVALID code (less than 5% is valid) Browsers are used to invalid code Extremely broken code is very, very rare However, valid code may work better on more browsers Also, valid code makes finding & fixing issues easier Read more here: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/10/reflections-on-tricks-and-treats.html
incredible info mate. and yes duplicate content penalty is total B.S. there is no such statements that Google penalize if the content is duplicate.