What does Google say about SEO?

Does Google really reject the idea of a unified SEO score for ranking?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★

Google has no concept of an 'SEO score.' There is no global score that evaluates a website as a whole.

Can you safely link to HTTP websites without hurting your SEO rankings?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★

It is perfectly acceptable to create links to HTTP pages rather than HTTPS. There is no SEO disadvantage for your site in linking to HTTP pages. Google does not penalize these unsecured external links.

Domain Age & History HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure

Does Google really expect you to write 'naturally' to rank well?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★

You can write however you want, in a natural manner. Google's systems try to work with the natural content found on pages. What matters is writing for your target audience (technical vs. general public) following traditional marketing approaches.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Should you really delete your disavow file?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★★

Google is actively working to exclude links from hacked sites or auto-generated spam content. If you haven't had a manual action to resolve, you can delete your disavow file and move on to something else. These unwanted links naturally occur on all w...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks PDF & Files Penalties & Spam

Does blocking crawl with robots.txt actually prevent deindexation?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★★

Robots.txt blocks crawling (Google cannot see the page, but the URL can still appear without content). The meta robots noindex tag allows Google to see the page and remove it completely from search results. To block crawling, use robots.txt. To preve...

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

Can you safely list the same URL in multiple sitemap files without harming your SEO?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★

There is no disadvantage to having the same URL in multiple sitemap files. What matters is that the information is not contradictory (for example, different hreflang annotations or conflicting last-modified dates). If the information is consistent or...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure PDF & Files Search Console International SEO

How can you index embedded iframe content without indexing the source page separately?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★

For iframed pages, use a combination of 'noindex' and 'indexifembedded' meta robots tags on the embedded page. This prevents indexing of the individual iframe page while allowing the content to be indexed when integrated into the main page.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos

Is the HSTS preload list really a game-changer for your SEO rankings?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★

The HSTS preload list has no effect on Google's canonical URL selection. For SEO, what counts is the HTTP to HTTPS redirect and confirmation via sitemap and internal links that the HTTPS version should be used. Once Google uses the HTTPS version, it ...

Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Redirects Search Console

Does a descriptive domain name really guarantee your ranking for that search query?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★

If your site name is a generic term (like 'BestComputerMouse.com'), that doesn't guarantee your site will appear at the top of results when someone types that term. Google can interpret the query as a generic search rather than a search for your spec...

Should you trust PageSpeed Insights or Search Console to measure your site's speed?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★★

There is no absolutely correct figure for speed. PageSpeed Insights uses lab data (estimates based on assumptions), while Search Console uses field data (what users actually experience). Google recommends using Search Console data to understand your ...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Is implementing Schema markup through Google Tag Manager really holding back your SEO performance?

John Mueller Jul 04, 2022 ★★

Adding structured data via Google Tag Manager is possible and Google can process it normally. However, it is preferable in the long term to have structured data directly on the server or in the page to facilitate debugging, testing and maintenance.

Domain Age & History Structured Data AI & SEO

Does robots.txt really prevent your pages from being indexed by Google?

Gary Illyes Jun 30, 2022 ★★★

The robots.txt file limits what crawlers can explore on a site, but does not block indexation. If a page becomes very popular with many links, Google can still index the URL without the content, displaying the result without a description but with a ...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name PDF & Files

Is the meta tag 'none' really the same as using noindex + nofollow together?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2022 ★★

The meta robots 'none' tag is a shorthand that is equivalent to using 'noindex' and 'nofollow' simultaneously. This abbreviated syntax was created in the early days of HTML to save characters.

Crawl & Indexing Links & Backlinks

Is robots.txt really ineffective at preventing your pages from being indexed by Google?

Gary Illyes Jun 30, 2022 ★★★

To reliably prevent a page from being indexed in Google Search, you must use the meta robots 'noindex' tag rather than robots.txt, as the latter is not a foolproof method against indexation.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Is indexing your login pages actually hurting your user experience?

Gary Illyes Jun 30, 2022 ★★

Login pages should generally remain indexed because users actively search for them, for example to access their banking portal. Blocking their indexation forces users to navigate unnecessarily through multiple pages on the site.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Does the noarchive meta tag really prevent Google from caching your pages?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2022 ★★

The 'noarchive' meta tag does not block Google's internal archiving of the page (necessary for indexation), but prevents the display of the 'Cached' link in search results. It's a form of snippet control.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Web Performance

Should you block snippets with nosnippet to protect your sensitive content?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2022 ★★

The meta tag 'nosnippet' allows you to block the display of excerpts from your page content in search results, while maintaining the title. This can protect sensitive information like secret ingredients while still allowing the page to appear in sear...

Domain Age & History Content Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO

Why Is Google So Reluctant to Develop New Meta Robots Directives?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2022 ★★

Google tries to limit the creation of new meta robots tags because they require long-term support commitment, extensive documentation, and complex implementation. They are only created for important and lasting use cases, such as 'indexifembedded' fo...

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

Why does robots.txt actually block images and videos but not web pages?

Gary Illyes Jun 30, 2022 ★★★

The robots.txt file works effectively to block images and videos because these contents are indexed in separate tabs (Images, Videos) where Google would have nothing to display as a snippet. For standard web content or PDFs, robots.txt does not guara...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos Pagination & Structure PDF & Files Local Search

How does Google really transform your PDFs into searchable content?

Gary Illyes Jun 30, 2022 ★★

When Google indexes a PDF, the first step is to convert it to HTML, then it is processed as standard HTML content for indexing in web results, unlike images and videos which follow distinct indexing processes.

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