What does Google say about SEO?

Should You Really Update Your Content Publication Dates to Improve SEO Rankings?

John Mueller Dec 12, 2022 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Twitter that it's important to change the publication date of content only if it has been substantially modified and the changes made to the text are significant, adding that most evergreen content requires no date change: "...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam Social Media

Should You Really Abandon HTML Sitemaps for Users?

John Mueller Dec 12, 2022 ★★★

John Mueller, on Mastodon this time, explained that, in his opinion, HTML Sitemaps or site maps for users should never be necessary: "Sites, small and large, should always have a clear navigation structure. If you feel the need for an HTML sitemap, s...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Pagination & Structure PDF & Files Search Console

How does Google's new direct integration from Search Console simplify setting up Merchant Center for e-commerce sites?

Google Dec 07, 2022 ★★★

Google Merchant Center now offers a simplified integration process directly from Search Console for e-commerce sites using Product structured data. This integration allows you to automatically create a product feed for your product pages.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO Search Console

Does Google really automate your entire product feed without any manual intervention?

Google Dec 07, 2022 ★★

Once your Google Merchant Center account is created via Search Console by providing your business name, country, and accepting the terms, Google automates the rest of your product integration process without requiring any additional manual interventi...

E-commerce AI & SEO Search Console

Is implementing Product structured data absolutely required to appear in Merchant Center?

Google Dec 07, 2022 ★★★

To benefit from the automated feed in Google Merchant Center, your e-commerce site must use Product structured data on your product pages. This implementation is necessary for simplified integration from Search Console.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO Search Console

Should You Migrate Your Site to HTTP/3 to Improve SEO and Core Web Vitals?

John Mueller Dec 05, 2022 ★★★

John Mueller indicated during a webmaster hangout that the new version of the web protocol, HTTP/3, should not help websites in terms of SEO or even Core Web Vitals. And the use of this protocol on a server will not be a criterion taken into account ...

Content Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Web Performance

Can AI-Modified Scraped Content Really Slip Past Google's Spam Filters?

Google Dec 05, 2022 ★★

Duy Nguyen, another SEO spokesperson for Google, in the same hangout as above, responded to a question about texts scraped from the Web then modified using artificial intelligence algorithms before being reinjected onto pages and submitted to the eng...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam

Is E-A-T Really a Direct Ranking Factor in Google's Algorithm?

Gary Illyes Nov 30, 2022 ★★★

E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. These criteria are present in the Quality Rater Guidelines and represent what Google wants to see on highly-rated sites.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Should you really stop writing for Google and focus entirely on your audience instead?

Gary Illyes Nov 30, 2022 ★★★

It is important to create good content by writing for your audience and not for keywords or search engines. This is a fundamental principle confirmed by Google.

Content

Should you really follow Google's Quality Rater Guidelines to boost your SEO rankings?

Gary Illyes Nov 30, 2022 ★★

Google decided to publish the Quality Rater Guidelines publicly because they contain nothing secret. They serve as a reference for understanding what Google considers high-quality sites.

Can AI-Generated Content Really Rank on Google If a Human Reviews It?

Gary Illyes Nov 30, 2022 ★★

AI-generated content can be acceptable if it is revised by a qualified writer to improve grammar and phrasing. A mass-production approach without human review is not recommended.

Content AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Do Quality Rater Guidelines Reveal Google's Secret Algorithm Roadmap?

Gary Illyes Nov 30, 2022 ★★

Quality Rater Guidelines show where Google wants to go with its algorithm in the future. When something is added in multiple places within the guidelines, it indicates an important direction the algorithm will take.

Algorithms AI & SEO

Why is the gap between discovered and indexed URLs revealing hidden indexation problems?

Crystal Carter Nov 29, 2022 ★★★

Google Search Console shows the difference between what is indexed and what is discovered. A large difference between these two metrics can reveal crawlability or indexation issues that require investigation.

Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Search Console

Do redirect chains really kill user experience and SEO performance?

Crystal Carter Nov 29, 2022 ★★

Redirect chains and excessive 301 redirects can slow down page experience for users. Each redirect adds waiting time and can even cause the browser to abandon the request.

Domain Age & History Redirects

Are you really losing SEO value with unnecessary internal redirects on your site?

Crystal Carter Nov 29, 2022 ★★★

There should be no internal redirects if you can avoid them. Redirects should only be used for migrations or necessary changes where you cannot maintain the original URL structure.

AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Redirects

Can server instability really tank your Google rankings?

Crystal Carter Nov 29, 2022 ★★★

In Search Console, there's a report that indicates whether your server is unstable. If Google flags this, your site is considered less reliable and Google may favor other more stable sources instead.

AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Search Console

Do redirect chains really block Google's crawl on your site?

Crystal Carter Nov 29, 2022 ★★★

If a crawl tool cannot complete the exploration of a website because of redirect chains, Google won't be able to do it either. Google will simply give up and explore elsewhere rather than persist with a site that presents chained redirects.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Redirects

Does noindexing really free up crawl budget for your important pages?

Crystal Carter Nov 29, 2022 ★★★

Adding noindex tags to certain types of pages that shouldn't be indexed improves overall indexation because it frees up crawl resources for the site's important pages.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Why are indexing problems concentrating on specific folders of your site?

Crystal Carter Nov 29, 2022 ★★★

If you notice a trend where URLs from a specific folder aren't indexed, there's probably a problem with that folder (robots.txt, technical bug, etc.). Search Console is a good starting point for identifying these trends.

Content Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Search Console

Does Google really throttle crawling when your server starts struggling?

Martin Splitt Nov 29, 2022 ★★★

When Google detects that your server is having difficulties, it automatically slows down its crawl to avoid consuming all your resources and allowing your real customers to be served. This reduces indexation speed.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Web Performance