What does Google say about SEO?

Should you really enrich your login pages to boost their indexability?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2025 ★★★

Add context to your login pages rather than a simple generic form. Include information about the service so Google can index relevant content and differentiate between different sections.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Should you really redirect your private pages to marketing content rather than straight to a login form?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2025 ★★

A best practice is to redirect private URLs to informative marketing pages rather than to a simple login page. Example: Search Console redirects to marketing pages with a link to sign in.

Domain Age & History Links & Backlinks Domain Name Redirects Search Console

Are your URLs leaking private data even when your content is protected?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2025 ★★★

Don't include private details like usernames or email addresses in URLs, because even if the content is protected, the URLs themselves can become indexable and visible in search results.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Should you really test your site in private browsing to properly assess your SEO visibility?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2025 ★★

To verify how your site with login appears in search results, open an incognito window, search for your service, and click on the top results to see what actually displays to non-connected users.

Pagination & Structure Local Search

Does Google really give preferential SEO advice to its own internal teams?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2025 ★★

Google does not provide special SEO advice internally. When Google teams managing public services request help with indexation, they are directed to public documentation like everyone else.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO PDF & Files

Why does Google refuse to index corporate intranet pages?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2025 ★★

For a corporate intranet accessible only to employees, the login page should probably not be indexable. Use an error code, server authentication, or noindex to prevent indexation.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Can You Really Speed Up How Quickly Google Associates a Keyword with Your Site?

Google Sep 04, 2025 ★★

It takes time for Google's systems to recognize and associate a specific search term with a given website. This association process cannot be forced or directly accelerated.

AI & SEO

Does Google really replace your brand name with a more popular search term without telling you?

Google Sep 04, 2025 ★★★

When Google suggests another search term for a website, it's because Google recognizes that this similar alternative term is more popular and commonly used by internet users than the exact name of the site.

AI & SEO Images & Videos

Does Submitting Individual Sitemaps Actually Speed Up Crawling, or Is One File Enough?

John Mueller Sep 02, 2025 ★★

John Mueller explains that uploading a sitemap file to Google Search Console does not guarantee immediate crawling of the referenced URLs. According to him, submitting the sitemap index file (sitemap.xml) is generally sufficient, and there is no need...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name PDF & Files Search Console

Is Google Really Changing How Links Appear in Its Generative AI to Drive More Clicks?

Google Sep 02, 2025 ★★

According to Robby Stein, Google will be testing several changes in its AI mode to encourage more clicks to publisher sites in the coming weeks. Robby Stein, a Google executive, detailed three major upcoming developments in how links are displayed wi...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure

How Can You Tell a Good Crawler from a Bad One and Why Does It Matter for Your SEO?

Gary Illyes Aug 26, 2025 ★★★

Martin Splitt and Gary Illyes recently highlighted the essential attributes of a good crawler: Attributes of a good crawler according to Martin Splitt Support HTTP/2 for better performance and efficiency. Clearly declare its identity via the user-age...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO PDF & Files Web Performance Redirects Search Console

Should You Really Avoid Lazy Loading on Above-the-Fold Images to Improve Your SEO?

Martin Splitt Aug 26, 2025 ★★★

In a recent episode of Search Off the Record, Martin Splitt warns against using lazy loading for images that are visible as soon as users land on the page: this delays the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), as the browser defers the loading of these oth...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos Domain Name Web Performance Search Console

Why Do Core Web Vitals Show Different Results Between CrUX and Search Console?

Google Aug 26, 2025 ★★★

CrUX and Search Console often show different Core Web Vitals results because they measure with distinct approaches: CrUX aggregates user experiences by page views (each visit counts, favoring high-traffic pages), while Search Console evaluates health...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Web Performance Search Console

Is the HTML loading=lazy attribute really enough to prevent indexation issues?

Martin Splitt Aug 21, 2025 ★★★

Browsers natively support lazy loading via the 'loading=lazy' attribute for images and iframes. This HTML method is preferable to JavaScript libraries because it is simpler and avoids potential indexation issues.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance

Should you really ban lazy loading from hero images?

Martin Splitt Aug 21, 2025 ★★★

Never apply lazy loading to images that are immediately visible (hero image, header). This delays their loading and negatively impacts the Largest Contentful Paint, because the browser cannot preload these critical resources.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos Web Performance

Is lazy loading actually killing your LCP?

Martin Splitt Aug 21, 2025 ★★★

Lazy loading directly influences Core Web Vitals, particularly the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). Poorly implemented lazy loading on visible images delays rendering and degrades measured performance.

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

Is your custom JavaScript lazy loading library sabotaging Google's ability to index your images?

Martin Splitt Aug 21, 2025 ★★★

Custom JavaScript libraries that use attributes like 'data-src' instead of 'src' can prevent Google from indexing images. If the 'src' attribute is not properly populated, the image won't be detected by Googlebot.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance

Is your lazy loading blocking Google from seeing your images?

Martin Splitt Aug 21, 2025 ★★★

To verify that lazy loading works correctly for SEO, use the URL inspection tool in Search Console and examine the rendered HTML. All image URLs must appear in the 'src' attribute of image tags.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos Domain Name Web Performance Search Console

Does WordPress's native lazy loading really boost your SEO performance?

Martin Splitt Aug 21, 2025 ★★

WordPress now implements native lazy loading by default for images thanks to a contribution from Felix Arntz, an engineer at Google. This practice has become widespread across modern CMS platforms.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos Web Performance

Does lazy loading really boost your SEO, or just your page speed?

Martin Splitt Aug 21, 2025 ★★

The main SEO impact of lazy loading comes through performance improvement. Core Web Vitals are a ranking factor, although their weight is generally minimal except in exceptional cases.

Images & Videos Web Performance Search Console