What does Google say about SEO?

Does search volume of anchor text really impact the value of your internal links?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2022 ★★

Google doesn't evaluate internal links based on keyword search volume. What matters is Google's understanding of how important your pages are within your site structure itself.

Domain Age & History Links & Backlinks

Should you really add unique content to your e-commerce product pages?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2022 ★★★

If a product is sold by multiple sites with the same manufacturer's description, adding extra unique and genuinely useful content for the user is a good practice. On the other hand, simply adding filler text without value is not recommended.

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce AI & SEO

Does it really matter whether you submit your sitemap in robots.txt or Search Console?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2022 ★★★

All different sitemap submission methods are equivalent for Google. Including the sitemap in the robots.txt file provides no particular SEO advantage compared to submission via Search Console.

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

Can a noindex tag on geolocalized pages wipe your entire website from Google search results?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2022 ★★★

If you create landing pages by state and add noindex to these individual pages, then the homepage that would be displayed for California would also be noindexed, causing the site to disappear from search results.

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

Should you really ditch geo-redirects for a simple dynamic banner?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2022 ★★★

Instead of automatically redirecting based on geolocation, Google recommends using a dynamic banner that allows users to choose their region. This prevents only one geographic version from being indexed and enables users to find relevant regional pag...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Local Search Redirects International SEO

How many location pages can you create before Google penalizes you for spam?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2022 ★★

Having dedicated landing pages for each state or region is acceptable to Google if the number remains reasonable (for example 50 states). However, creating a page for each city in each state would start to look suspicious to Google's anti-spam algori...

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Pagination & Structure Penalties & Spam

Should you noindex your internal search results pages to prevent spammers from creating backlinks?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2022 ★★

To prevent spam sites from creating backlinks to your internal search results pages containing their phone numbers or URLs, simply set these search results pages or those containing long queries to noindex.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Penalties & Spam

Should you still use rel=next and rel=prev for pagination?

Martin Splitt Jan 13, 2022 ★★★

Google no longer uses the rel="next" and rel="prev" tags to identify pagination. The system can now automatically determine pagination through other elements on the page, without needing these specific tags.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Do you really need to validate your HTML with W3C to get crawled by Google?

Martin Splitt Jan 13, 2022 ★★★

Complete W3C validation is not required for Google to understand a page. Google attempts to make sense of the content even if the HTML contains errors, although well-structured and semantic HTML makes understanding the content easier.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing

Does Google really render all of your JavaScript pages?

Martin Splitt Jan 13, 2022 ★★

Google performs full rendering of pages. If a page functions correctly in a browser, it will likely also function for Google's crawler, which utilizes a headless browsing technology.

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

Does semantic HTML really enhance Google’s trust in your content?

Martin Splitt Jan 13, 2022 ★★

Although Google can understand imperfect HTML, clear and semantic HTML code enhances trust in the interpretation of content. Errors can diminish Google's confidence in what an element truly represents.

Content AI & SEO

Does Google really pay attention to your feedback on its SEO documentation?

Martin Splitt Jan 13, 2022 ★★

Comments left directly on Google’s documentation pages are read by the team, even if no direct response is visible. These comments are used for continuous improvement of the documentation.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO PDF & Files

Can we really trust Google's official documentation?

Martin Splitt Jan 13, 2022 ★★★

Google's official documentation is not always immediately synchronized with internal technical developments. The team does its best to keep the documentation up to date, but discrepancies can occasionally occur.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO PDF & Files

Why do your PageSpeed Insights scores fluctuate with each test?

Martin Splitt Jan 13, 2022 ★★

PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse scores can vary between different measurements of the same page because they are influenced by the network conditions at the time of testing. The weighting of metrics also evolves over time.

Domain Age & History Web Performance

Is it true that Lighthouse scores are calculated transparently?

Martin Splitt Jan 13, 2022 ★★

The Lighthouse team provides comprehensive documentation explaining how scores are calculated and how the weighting of different metrics evolves over time, allowing for total transparency in evaluation.

JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files

How can Google Search Console truly boost your organic traffic?

Google Jan 12, 2022 ★★★

Google Search Console is a free tool that helps manage performance in Google Search and allows you to obtain quality traffic to your site.

AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

What Distinct SEO Data Do Search Console and Analytics Offer?

Google Jan 12, 2022 ★★★

Google Analytics analyzes data related to the behavior of users visiting the site. Search Console provides insights on technical optimization, how Google Search indexes and discovers your site before users visit it.

Content Crawl & Indexing Search Console

How can you check if your pages are truly indexed by Google?

Google Jan 12, 2022 ★★★

The pages of your site must be indexed for Google Search to display them in search results. If your pages are not appearing well in Google Search, first check their indexing status.

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

Should you really index every page on your site?

Google Jan 12, 2022 ★★

Not all pages need to be indexed. However, if a page is not indexed, site managers must determine whether this non-indexed state is intentional or not.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Do rich results really enhance visibility in search results?

Google Jan 12, 2022 ★★★

Rich results allow your site to be displayed in a more visible format than simple text links in search results and various Google services. They can include carousels, images, or other non-text elements.

Domain Age & History Content Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP Images & Videos Links & Backlinks Local Search