What does Google say about SEO?

Do you really need to notify Google when redesigning your website?

John Mueller Mar 09, 2023 ★★★

When updating a website, no special action is required. Google automatically reprocesses the site and updates search results. It is recommended to redirect old URLs to new ones, or return a 404/410 code if this is not possible.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Domain Name

Does Google really detect WEBP format through the HTTP header rather than the file extension?

Gary Illyes Mar 09, 2023 ★★★

Google recognizes image format (WEBP or others) primarily through the Content-Type header in the HTTP response, not by the file extension. The HTTP header is generally sufficient to identify the image format.

Domain Age & History Content HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Images & Videos Domain Name PDF & Files

What does Google really consider a prominent video, and why does it matter for your search rankings?

Lizzi Sassman Mar 09, 2023 ★★

A video is considered prominent if it's visible when the page loads (above the fold) and properly sized (neither too small nor too large). The error in Search Console may be intentional depending on your page design.

Domain Age & History Search Console

Does multilingual duplicate content really hurt your international SEO rankings?

John Mueller Mar 09, 2023 ★★★

There is no penalty for duplicate content when identical content exists in the same language across multiple markets. Google may treat a page as a duplicate and select a canonical URL, but hreflang annotations allow you to swap URLs in search results...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name International SEO

Should you choose a ccTLD over .com to target a local market?

Gary Illyes Mar 09, 2023 ★★

For a Dutch website, it is preferable to keep a .nl domain rather than migrate to a .com. The .nl is a direct signal to all search engines that the site is local to the Netherlands, and migration carries risks.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Local Search Redirects

Why does Google insist on isolating site migrations from any other redesign work?

Lizzi Sassman Mar 09, 2023 ★★★

When migrating a large number of pages to another site, you must minimize error risks by isolating this change. Do not make other major modifications such as a redesign or restructuring. Redirect all URLs and create a before/after list for monitoring...

Domain Age & History Domain Name Pagination & Structure Redirects

Is AdsBot skewing your Search Console crawl data without you knowing?

John Mueller Mar 09, 2023 ★★

Crawl statistics in Search Console also include AdsBot, which uses the same infrastructure as Googlebot and is constrained by identical crawl rate-limiting mechanisms. AdsBot appears separately in the Googlebot types section.

Crawl & Indexing Pagination & Structure Search Console

Does Google offer a button to force massive reindexing of a website after a redesign?

John Mueller Mar 09, 2023 ★★★

There is no button to request massive reprocessing of an entire website. This happens automatically over time. You can use a sitemap to signal changes (done automatically by e-commerce platforms), or the URL Inspection tool for individual urgent page...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO Domain Name Search Console

Strong vs Bold: Does Google really make a difference between these two tags?

Lizzi Sassman Mar 09, 2023 ★★

The strong and b tags both specify that text is important, but they are not identical. The strong tag should be used for elements that are intensely important, urgent or serious (such as a warning). Strong is a stronger form than bold.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Does LCP really only measure what's visible in your viewport at load time?

John Mueller Mar 09, 2023 ★★★

For page speed, Google uses Core Web Vitals including Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures the rendering time of the largest visible element in the viewport during initial load. Optimization of visible content (above the fold) is therefore ...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Mobile SEO Web Performance

Is an XML sitemap really essential for Google to index your website?

Gary Illyes Mar 09, 2023 ★★

A sitemap is not truly required to appear in search results. If Google cannot retrieve a sitemap, continue normally: the issue may disappear when algorithms re-evaluate the site's content.

Algorithms Content Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Search Console

Should you use hreflang 'de' or 'de-de' to target German speakers?

Lizzi Sassman Mar 09, 2023 ★★

For hreflang annotations, using 'de' (without country) or 'de-de' depends on your objectives. Use simply 'de' if you accept that users from all German-speaking countries (Switzerland, Austria) access the same site, without specific country targeting.

Domain Age & History International SEO

Does Google really retry indexing your pages after a 401 error or server downtime?

John Mueller Mar 09, 2023 ★★

When a site is blocked by password (401) or inaccessible, Google's systems automatically retry from time to time. These crawl errors appear in Search Console. When the content becomes accessible again, Google indexes the pages anew.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Search Console

Should you really prioritize alt text over OCR for extracting text from images?

Lizzi Sassman Mar 09, 2023 ★★★

While Google can extract text from images via OCR, it is preferable to provide this information through the alt attribute. This helps screen readers and allows you to better explain how the image relates to the rest of the page content.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos Search Console

Is infinite scroll killing your e-commerce indexation on Google?

John Mueller Mar 09, 2023 ★★★

Infinite scroll creates difficulties for search engines because they must simulate scrolling (via viewport expansion). This is not efficient and can prevent content indexation. It is strongly recommended to add pagination links in addition to infinit...

Content Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure

Should you consolidate all hreflang annotations in one sitemap or split them by language?

Lizzi Sassman Mar 09, 2023 ★★

Hreflang annotations can be read and understood across multiple sitemaps, or consolidated by language within the same sitemap. Both approaches work; choose the one that's easiest to manage based on your chosen submission method.

Crawl & Indexing Search Console International SEO

Does nesting your structured data really help Google understand what your page is actually about?

Lizzi Sassman Mar 09, 2023 ★★

Nesting structured data helps Google understand the main focus of your page. For example, placing a review nested within a recipe clearly indicates that the page is primarily a recipe. Always verify the specific documentation for each feature.

Domain Age & History Structured Data AI & SEO Pagination & Structure PDF & Files

Did Google just hand you the ultimate robots.txt validation tool?

Gary Illyes Mar 08, 2023 ★★★

Google open sourced its official robots.txt parser in C++ on GitHub. It's the same version used internally by Google Search to analyze robots.txt files. This library is the single source of truth for how robots.txt directives are interpreted.

Crawl & Indexing PDF & Files

Why did Google just release an official Java parser for robots.txt?

Edu Pereda Mar 08, 2023 ★★

Google has created a Java version of its official robots.txt parser that replicates the exact behavior of the C++ version. This version was developed by interns and follows the same standard, enabling complete consistency in rule interpretation.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

What kind of extreme testing does Google really put its robots.txt parser through?

Gary Illyes Mar 08, 2023 ★★

Google's robots.txt parser is aggressively tested internally with fuzzer tests that bombard the library with random inputs to detect potential issues like memory overflows. The internal tests are far more extensive than those made open source.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Web Performance