What does Google say about SEO?

Can Poor Translations Harm Your Entire Multilingual Site?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★★

Google evaluates the overall quality of a site. If significant portions are of low quality (like poor translations), this can negatively affect the entire site, including high-quality language versions. The quality of one version can thus impact the ...

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name International SEO

Is duplicate content on product pages really harmless for your SEO?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★★

Google does not penalize a site for duplicate content on product descriptions. If the same text appears on multiple pages, Google will simply display one or two of those pages. However, it is essential to include unique text that describes the distin...

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce Images & Videos Local Search

Should you translate all your pages or focus your efforts on the most strategic ones?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★★

When evaluating overall quality, Google focuses more on important pages that generate significant traffic rather than counting all pages. Therefore, it is recommended to prioritize translation quality on main pages if the budget is limited.

Domain Age & History International SEO

Is it really necessary to disable geotargeting in Search Console for an international site?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★★

The geotargeting setting in Search Console can affect SEO. If enabled for a specific country, it prioritizes that country and slightly reduces visibility in other countries. For an international news site, it is recommended to disable this setting. T...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Search Console International SEO

Does Google really index hidden text in your HTML code?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★★

If text is present in the HTML code but visually hidden from users, Google can still index it and use it. However, this is not an intentional good practice. Text intended for indexing should be visible, and content to be excluded should not be presen...

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

Should you prefer rel=canonical over user-agent redirects for unindexed pages?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★★

For unindexed pages receiving external links, it is better to use the rel canonical tag instead of specific 301 redirects for Googlebot. User-agent redirects are technically acceptable but more complex and prone to errors. Canonicalization is a simpl...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Redirects

Should you implement your SEO optimizations all at once instead of gradually?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★★

Significant quality changes on a website take a long time to be detected by Google. Expect several months, not just a few days. Therefore, it is recommended to make substantial qualitative improvements all at once rather than making small gradual mod...

AI & SEO

No Google cache on my page: Should I be worried about my indexing?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★

It is normal for an indexed page not to have a cached version available in search results. Cached pages are managed separately from indexing. The absence of a cache does not indicate a problem and is simply the way the systems operate.

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

Does Googlebot really ignore all browser permissions when crawling?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★

When rendering pages, Googlebot ignores and does not accept browser permission dialogs (geolocation, pop-ups, etc.). If the content depends on permission acceptance, it will not be accessible to the bot. Buttons and forms requiring user interaction a...

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

Should You Really Use Google's Indexing API to Speed Up Your Content Indexing?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★

Google's Indexing API is designed for job listing content, not for news sites. It has limitations on the number of URLs. While it may speed up crawling, it does not affect the indexing of news articles, and incorrect use does not incur penalties.

Content Crawl & Indexing Discover & News JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Is the Page Experience score really essential for making it into Top Stories?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★★

To appear in Top Stories, Google uses the Page Experience score as a ranking factor. Only pages with a very good Page Experience score can appear in this section. This is not automatic even with good Core Web Vitals: quality signals take time to buil...

Domain Age & History Web Performance

Does Google really assign an EAT score to your website?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★

Google does not assign an EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) score to websites. There is no EAT metric that could increase or decrease. Author pages can be no-indexed without affecting a supposed EAT score.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Does Google really favor sequential links or multiple pages for SEO pagination?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★

There is no better or worse approach for pagination (sequential links vs multiple pages). Google treats pagination like normal links between pages. Sequential pagination reinforces the first page, while multiple links distribute signals. Both approac...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure

Should you be concerned about Core Web Vitals measured exclusively on Chrome?

John Mueller Dec 31, 2021 ★★

The Page Experience and Core Web Vitals data in Search Console come solely from the Chrome User Experience Report, representing a subset of Chrome users with specific settings enabled. There is no extrapolation for other browsers even though Safari d...

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

Does Google really support JavaScript for SEO, or is it just a trap?

Martin Splitt Dec 29, 2021 ★★★

Google is capable of processing and indexing sites built with JavaScript. Google's support for JavaScript is officially confirmed, even for sites that are 100% client-side rendering (CSR).

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks

Does JavaScript really slow down your site's indexing?

Martin Splitt Dec 29, 2021 ★★★

JavaScript sites may take longer to be indexed because Google has to render each page. If the rendering is poorly designed, it can significantly slow down the indexing process.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO

Should you really abandon JavaScript for SSR in SEO?

Martin Splitt Dec 29, 2021 ★★★

If a site can be built without JavaScript, it is recommended to do so. Server-side rendering (SSR) is an official recommendation from Google for optimizing indexing.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

How critical is your site's JavaScript configuration for Google?

Martin Splitt Dec 29, 2021 ★★

For a JavaScript site to work correctly with Google, it is essential to follow best practices and meticulously test the technical configuration in place.

Content JavaScript & Technical SEO

Should you really choose SSR or CSR based on the type of site?

Martin Splitt Dec 29, 2021 ★★

The choice between client-side rendering and server-side rendering should depend on the type of site: SSR for a news site, CSR acceptable for a highly interactive social network where search performance is not a priority.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Web Performance Social Media Search Console

Should you really master Chrome DevTools to excel in technical SEO?

Martin Splitt Dec 29, 2021 ★★

Technical SEOs must master Chrome DevTools. This tool should be their main reference to understand how the browser works and how pages render.

Domain Age & History Content