What does Google say about SEO?

Does the location of your server really influence local SEO?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

The geographical location of the server has no impact on geotargeting. It is not a ranking factor. Only connection speed may be affected if the server is far from the users, which could impact Core Web Vitals and user experience.

AI & SEO Web Performance Local Search International SEO

Can a 503 error during migration really harm your SEO?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

A 503 error lasting one or two hours during a server migration should have no impact on SEO. Google considers this a temporary error, retries after a few hours, and indexing is not affected if the site comes back online quickly.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Redirects

Should you use canonical tags on advertising landing pages to point to main product pages?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

It is perfectly acceptable to use a canonical tag on advertising landing pages to point to the main product page. This allows for the transfer of authority from received links to the preferred canonical page, as long as the pages are crawlable and no...

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

How do web fonts disrupt SEO with Cumulative Layout Shift?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★

External font files can lead to CLS issues if content initially displays without the font and then rearranges once the font is loaded. Chrome DevTools allows you to block the font URL to test if it is indeed causing the layout shift.

Domain Age & History Content Domain Name PDF & Files Web Performance Local Search

Why does Google filter adult content sites even with exact match queries?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

Google's systems can filter adult content sites for certain queries if the search intent does not align with that type of content, even when the site has the exact name of the query. This is to avoid showing unexpected adult content to users searchin...

Content AI & SEO

What should you do when facing persistent 503 errors in SEO?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

If 503 errors last more than a few days, URLs may drop out of the index because Google considers it a persistent server error. Recovery requires a new crawl, which can take a few days to a week. For important pages, use the URL Inspection tool to man...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Search Console

Is resubmitting your XML sitemap really a waste of time?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★

Resubmitting an XML sitemap without real changes is not a strong signal for Google. If you manually modify all the dates to force a recrawl, Google will detect that all the dates are identical and will deem it as unhelpful.

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

Why doesn’t Google take action against copycat websites?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

Google generally does not impose a manual action solely because other sites are copying your content. Automated systems manage these situations well. If you receive a manual action for unnatural links with only sites that copy your content, there is ...

Content Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam

Should You Use the Disavow Tool for Mass Copied Sites?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

If your site is being copied by hundreds of spammy sites creating unnatural links, you can use the Disavow Links tool with the domain directive to submit all these domains to Google, which will then ignore these links. This tool is not directly in Se...

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Penalties & Spam Search Console

Should submitting a DMCA complaint really be free for SEOs?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★

Submitting a DMCA complaint should be free. If someone is charging you for this service, it's likely a third-party company. You can submit DMCA complaints directly to Google or the host using their abuse address, free of charge.

AI & SEO

Should you manually review automatic translations for SEO?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

Google's position remains unchanged: automatic translation without human revision is considered automatically generated content, which goes against the guidelines. Automatically translating millions of pages without review is not acceptable for index...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Pagination & Structure International SEO

How can hreflang solve international content issues in SEO?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

If different country versions of a site share common content but the wrong version appears in the wrong country, this is exactly the scenario that hreflang is designed to address. Its implementation is justified even for news content.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Social Media International SEO

How does a translation button affect SEO?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★

Displaying a button that allows users to click and view an automatically translated version is acceptable to Google, as the translation occurs at the user's request and is not indexed directly.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Local Search International SEO

How can you optimize hreflang without a guarantee of total success?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★

Geotargeting and hreflang are never 100% perfect. It's recommended to have a backup solution with a JavaScript banner informing users that a better version exists for their language or location, allowing them to navigate to the correct version.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Local Search International SEO

Is it necessary to translate every page of a website to rank well?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

Google evaluates language page by page, not at the site level. It's perfectly acceptable to translate only a portion of a website's content. You can start with certain pages and gradually expand. It's normal to link to English content from a translat...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Pagination & Structure International SEO

How Do Keyword Variations with or Without Spaces Impact SEO?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★

Google processes variations of queries with or without spaces by identifying tokens and synonyms. Words that always go together are treated as an entity. It's essential to test real search results to determine if it's necessary to include both variat...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

How does Google automatically simplify certain URLs?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★

Google has lightweight automatic canonicalization systems that simplify certain URLs even before processing canonical tags or redirects, like automatically removing 'index.html' from a URL. These systems operate very early in the crawling process.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects

How does Google approach adult sites based on search intent?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

Google has nothing against adult sites, and many users explicitly search for them. However, algorithms try to match results to perceived search intent. If the intent clearly does not align with adult content, these sites will be filtered to avoid a p...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO

Are unlinked brand mentions an overlooked SEO opportunity?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

Simply put, unlinked brand mentions are not used for PageRank or understanding the link graph. They are difficult to interpret (positive, negative, sarcastic) and too easily manipulated. However, they can indirectly generate brand awareness and brand...

Domain Age & History Links & Backlinks

How does Google really handle client-side rendering?

John Mueller Dec 18, 2021 ★★★

Google can process client-side rendering and essentially renders every crawled page. Hundreds of thousands of indexed pages prove that rendering works. However, some configurations don’t work, particularly using the # (hashtag) symbol to structure UR...

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