What does Google say about SEO?

Should you really control your snippet length with max-snippet?

John Mueller Sep 20, 2022 ★★

If you want to limit the length of the snippet that appears in search results, you can use the meta robots tag with the max-snippet directive to control this maximum length.

AI & SEO

Should you really ensure that deleted pages return the correct HTTP status code?

John Mueller Sep 14, 2022 ★★★

You must ensure that the server returns the appropriate HTTP status code for a deleted page. Most websites do this automatically.

Domain Age & History HTTPS & Security

Should you really eliminate all internal links pointing to your deleted pages?

John Mueller Sep 14, 2022 ★★★

It is recommended to remove all references to the deleted page from your website, including internal links and sitemap files.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Links & Backlinks PDF & Files Search Console

Do deleted pages really disappear automatically from Google's index?

John Mueller Sep 14, 2022 ★★★

When a page is deleted from a website, it automatically disappears from Google's systems over time. No additional action is necessary in this case.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Why does it take several weeks after deleting a page to see your Google index actually update?

John Mueller Sep 14, 2022 ★★★

It takes a few weeks for Google's systems to update after you delete a page. This delay is normal and predictable.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Is Google's URL removal tool really necessary, or just another overrated feature you don't actually need?

John Mueller Sep 14, 2022 ★★

If a page needs to be hidden faster than the natural timeline allows, you can use the urgent URL removal tool in Search Console. This tool is generally not necessary in most cases.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Search Console

Why Did Google's Helpful Content Update Ultimately Disappoint the SEO Community?

Danny Sullivan Sep 12, 2022 ★★★

Danny Sullivan, Google's spokesperson, discussed on Twitter with Glenn Gabe, a well-known SEO, about the Helpful Content Update, announced as very important by Google but which, in reality, doesn't seem to have had a major impact on SERPs. Danny expl...

Algorithms Content Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure Social Media International SEO

Does Google really index your PDFs, or does it transform them first?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★★

Google does not index PDF files directly. They are converted to HTML before indexing. The same process applies to Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and other proprietary formats. Google extracts text, images, and metadata during this conversi...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Images & Videos PDF & Files

Does content weight really vary based on its location in HTML versus PDF?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★★

In a PDF, content weight is uniform throughout the entire document. In HTML, position matters: content in the footer carries less weight than content in the body, unlike PDFs which are treated as one long continuous document.

Content AI & SEO PDF & Files

Does Google really depend on Adobe to properly index your PDFs?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★

Google uses an Adobe license to convert PDF files. Google does not have complete control over the conversion process and relies on the capabilities of the converter provided by Adobe.

PDF & Files

Does Google really index source code files the same way as regular text content?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★

Google indexes code files (.py, .java, .txt, .php) as plain text because code is essentially written prose. These files can appear in search results if someone searches for code examples.

Content Crawl & Indexing PDF & Files

Why do raw source code files fail to rank properly in Google search results?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★

Source code files have greater difficulty ranking well in search results due to their structure and lack of context. Pages like Stack Overflow are preferred because they provide context and explanations around the code.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Pagination & Structure PDF & Files

Should you really stop storing all your PDFs in a single /pdfs/ folder?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★★

It's preferable to group PDFs by subject rather than placing them all in a /pdfs/ directory. Distributing files according to existing patterns allows Google to infer signals from URL structures already established instead of learning a new unique pat...

Domain Name Pagination & Structure PDF & Files

Does Google Really Never Index a Single Image Without a Hosting Page?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★★

Google never indexes a single image on its own. An image must be hosted on an HTML page or a PDF to be indexed. Google indexes the hosting page first, then the image on that page. Isolated images in a directory without a page will never be indexed.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos PDF & Files

Does Google really index images and videos separately from text content?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★

Images and videos are indexed by a completely different system than the one used for textual content. It's a separate indexer with different processes and result presentation methods.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos

Does Google really filter out personal data before indexing your pages?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★

Google indexes everything published on the public web. If someone uploads private information to a site that makes it publicly accessible, Google can index it. Google does not examine content to determine whether it contains personal information befo...

Content Crawl & Indexing PDF & Files

Does Google really index all your XML files?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★

Google selectively indexes XML files. Sitemaps and podcast feeds can be indexed, but RSS and Atom feeds generally cannot. The decision depends on the declared XML namespace and the content-type header.

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

Can you really get JSON and plain text files indexed in Google search results without metadata?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★

JSON and text files can be indexed and served in search results if Google has enough context. The lack of internal titles and metadata makes these files difficult to rank, but external links with descriptive anchor text provide important signals.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks PDF & Files

Does your file extension (.html, .php, .txt) really impact Google SEO rankings?

Gary Illyes Sep 08, 2022 ★★

Google doesn't really care about file extensions (.py, .txt, .php). What counts is the content-type header sent by the server and the actual content returned when accessing the URL.

Content AI & SEO Domain Name PDF & Files

Should Local Business markup really be limited to just one city?

Lizzi Sassman Sep 07, 2022 ★★

Local Business markup is intended for businesses with a real physical location. It should only appear for a single city corresponding to that unique physical location.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Local Search International SEO