What does Google say about SEO?

Is it really necessary to maintain product data in both Schema and Merchant Center?

Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023 ★★★

Google recommends providing product data through both structured data on web pages and via the Google Merchant Center feed whenever possible. This combined approach delivers the best results for eligibility to shopping experiences.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO

Why does Google Search Console actually catch errors in your product structured data that other tools miss?

Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023 ★★★

Google Search Console includes a merchant listings report that displays detected issues in product structured data relevant to shopping experiences. The URL inspection tool allows you to verify whether problems have been corrected.

E-commerce Domain Name Local Search Search Console

Does Google really want you to display higher prices in your structured data?

Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023 ★★★

If your site uses complex pricing models not supported by Google, you must simplify the price data provided to Google. For example, provide the price for a quantity of 1 even if discounts are offered for higher quantities, to prevent users from seein...

E-commerce AI & SEO

Should you really use a site: query to verify your price data is showing up correctly?

Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023 ★★

To verify whether your listings have been correctly annotated with shipping costs, use a site: query to see your products in search results and examine how they're displayed.

E-commerce Local Search

Should you really overestimate shipping fees to please Google Shopping?

Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023 ★★

As with prices, it may be necessary to simplify the shipping information provided to match what Google supports. When in doubt, it's safer to overestimate shipping costs to avoid surprising customers with higher fees than expected at payment.

E-commerce AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Does Google really require GTIN, MPN, or brand identifiers to rank your products in search results?

Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023 ★★★

Eligibility for many merchant experiences requires providing product identifiers such as a GTIN number, an MPN number, or a brand and product name. The more you can provide, the better. A SKU is not an acceptable identifier because it is not consiste...

E-commerce AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Are strong product identifiers really the key to multi-merchant matching in Google Shopping?

Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023 ★★

The multi-merchant Shopping knowledge panel displays multiple sellers of the same product. This matching is more reliable if a strong product identifier is present on your product pages, allowing Google to link different merchants selling the same it...

Domain Age & History Discover & News E-commerce AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Local Search

Should you abandon Merchant Center for structured data in e-commerce?

Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023 ★★

Although structured data currently supports fewer functionalities than a Google Merchant Center feed, the gap is gradually narrowing as new capabilities are added to structured data over time.

E-commerce

Why Do Some Google Updates Take Longer Than 2 Weeks to Roll Out?

John Mueller Jan 16, 2023 ★★★

John Mueller and Danny Sullivan explained on Mastodon that when an algorithm update takes longer than the "classic" 2 weeks (this was the case with the recent Link Spam Update and Helpful Content Update), it doesn't mean the update is more vigorous. ...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Penalties & Spam

Should You Add Multiple Supplier Links to Boost Your Google Rankings?

Google Jan 16, 2023 ★★★

Alan Kent (Google) explained on Twitter that, in an article describing a product, linking to multiple suppliers/vendors offering that product could give a slight "boost" to the page in terms of ranking...

Domain Age & History Discover & News E-commerce AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Social Media

Are page titles really the top SEO lever that Google claims they are?

Josh Cohen Jan 12, 2023 ★★

Google recommends ensuring that page titles are genuinely clear and accurately reflect what the page covers. This is one of the main SEO tools available to improve the ranking of help content.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Are FAQ accordions hurting your SEO? Here's what Google really thinks

Lizzi Sassman Jan 12, 2023 ★★★

Google advises against placing critical information in expandable elements (accordions/zippies) because users may overlook them. Additionally, the page search function cannot find hidden text until the accordion is expanded.

Domain Age & History Content Structured Data

Why does Google restrict SEO tools in its own help centers?

Josh Cohen Jan 12, 2023 ★★

Google help centers cannot use all standard SEO tools such as adding custom meta tags, creating customized sitemaps or robots.txt files. The only available tools are content quality and clear titles.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO PDF & Files Search Console

Does Google's algorithm really recognize authoritative content as easily as it claims?

Josh Cohen Jan 12, 2023 ★★

It is easy for Google's algorithm to recognize that official product documentation is relatively authoritative on a subject. The Search Console Help Center has no visibility problems in search results.

Algorithms Content E-commerce AI & SEO PDF & Files Search Console

Why does Google lump certain errors into an 'other' category in Search Console reports?

Josh Cohen Jan 12, 2023 ★★★

In certain reports like the HTTPS report, Google groups certain errors in an 'other' category because the team doesn't always have access to ultra-specific information about the search stack. It's not secrecy but a real lack of granular data.

HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Search Console

Can poorly optimized snippets really tank your organic traffic?

Jason Stevens Jan 10, 2023 ★★

When Google displays snippets like "no information available for this site", it confuses users, discourages them from clicking, and negatively impacts traffic to your site.

AI & SEO Local Search

Does a robots.txt disallow directive really block snippet generation in search results?

Martin Splitt Jan 10, 2023 ★★★

If Google cannot crawl the site because of a disallow directive in robots.txt, it cannot generate a snippet because it doesn't know the site's content.

Content Crawl & Indexing

Does Search Console really catch all your crawl problems automatically?

Jason Stevens Jan 10, 2023 ★★

Search Console does a good job of surfacing major issues on the homepage and sends email alerts. The crawling section allows you to see how Google crawls your site.

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

Is Search Console really enough to diagnose your indexing problems?

Jason Stevens Jan 10, 2023 ★★

To understand traffic problems, you need to verify whether your site has been indexed and whether Google is crawling the right parts of your site, understands what is new, and doesn't get lost during crawling.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Search Console

Which Google tools do you actually need to properly audit a website?

Jason Stevens Jan 10, 2023 ★★★

Google recommends using Search Console, Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness tools, Rich Results Test, Lighthouse, and Google Analytics to understand the complete SEO performance of a website.

Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP Mobile SEO Web Performance Search Console