What does Google say about SEO?

Why can Google Search Console screenshots mislead you about your site's indexation?

Martin Splitt Jul 24, 2025 ★★

To verify how Google sees a page, you must always look at the rendered HTML rather than the screenshot, because Google uses a technique called viewport expansion that can produce misleading screenshots.

Domain Age & History Content Mobile SEO

Why does Google require <img> tags for stock images instead of CSS?

Martin Splitt Jul 24, 2025 ★★

Even though stock images probably won't be indexed (Google acknowledges they already exist elsewhere), from a semantic standpoint, if they're part of the page's content, they should be in the HTML with tags, not in CSS.

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

Can CSS Harm Your SEO Just Like JavaScript Does?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2025 ★★

CSS is like JavaScript: it's perfectly acceptable to use it (everyone does), but it offers a lot of flexibility and power, which can sometimes lead to building things that don't work as intended for SEO.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Pagination & Structure

Why Won't Google Index Your Content Despite Flawless Technical SEO?

John Mueller Jul 22, 2025 ★★★

On Bluesky, John Mueller indicated that if a technically sound site is poorly indexed by Google, it often means that Google considers its quality or relevance insufficient. Google does not index all content: only sites and pages deemed useful, releva...

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

Why Does Google Struggle to Properly Index Your Login Pages and Member Areas?

John Mueller Jul 22, 2025 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Bluesky that login pages for services (such as analytics or billing interfaces) are difficult to rank well in Google or Bing search results. These pages requiring authentication pose problems for search engines that struggle...

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

Should You Hide Information from Structured Data If It's Not Publicly Visible?

John Mueller Jul 22, 2025 ★★★

On Bluesky, John Mueller explained that information not visible to logged-out users should not appear in structured data. If content, such as a product's price, is only displayed to logged-in users, it should not be marked up or communicated to Googl...

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO

Is It Really Safe to Modify Your Website to Test and Improve Your SEO?

John Mueller Jul 22, 2025 ★★

In the Search Off The Record podcast, John Mueller and Martin Splitt stated that it is perfectly acceptable to modify your site in order to test or improve your search engine rankings. However, you need to consider the risk/benefit ratio: running a t...

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Search Console

Can you display different prices based on geographic location without triggering an SEO penalty?

John Mueller Jul 22, 2025 ★★

It is possible to display different prices for the same product across different US states on a website. Google can handle this price variation in search results, provided the implementation is correct and transparent to users.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Local Search

Can you really control which sitelinks Google displays under your search results?

John Mueller Jul 17, 2025 ★★★

There is currently no direct way to prevent a specific subpage from appearing as a sitelink in Google search results. Google does not offer a granular control mechanism to manage sitelink display at the level of individual pages.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Should you block a page from being indexed just to prevent it from appearing as a sitelink?

John Mueller Jul 17, 2025 ★★★

The only workaround solution to prevent a subpage from appearing as a sitelink is to completely block its indexation. However, this approach will also prevent the page from appearing in all search results, not just as a sitelink.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Links & Backlinks

Can you really control which sitelinks Google displays in search results?

John Mueller Jul 17, 2025 ★★

Webmasters do not have precise control over which pages appear as sitelinks in search results. Google automatically determines these links based on their relevance and usefulness to users.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Does hreflang really block geographic access to your website?

Martin Splitt Jul 16, 2025 ★★★

The hreflang attribute does not block or restrict access to a website from other countries. It is a signal for language and regional targeting by search engines, not a geographic access restriction.

Domain Age & History International SEO

What's the Real Secret to Creating SEO Content That Users Actually Want?

John Mueller Jul 15, 2025 ★★★

In the Search Off The Record podcast, Google's John Mueller and Martin Splitt discussed the best way to create content for SEO. They explain that writing well is not enough: you must above all meet user expectations. A common problem is writing conte...

Content AI & SEO Local Search

Does the Order of Links in Your Disavow File Really Matter to Google?

John Mueller Jul 15, 2025 ★★★

On Bluesky, John Mueller explained that the order of URLs or sites listed in the disavow file has no importance whatsoever. Google does not process this file in real-time, but takes it into account during the natural recrawl of the web.

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

How do you choose an SEO expert who actually delivers business results?

John Mueller Jul 15, 2025 ★★★

In the Search Off The Record podcast, John Mueller says that it's relevant to hire an expert when SEO becomes too time-consuming and diverts the business owner from their priorities. He also emphasizes the importance of measuring SEO results not only...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Should you really be asking your customers to shape your SEO strategy?

Martin Splitt Jul 10, 2025 ★★★

An effective method to develop a content strategy is to ask existing customers directly how they found you, what they were looking for, and where they performed their searches.

Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Is Google's SEO Starter Guide really the best foundation to learn search engine optimization from scratch?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2025 ★★★

Google recommends starting with the SEO Starter Guide to establish common vocabulary and understand the fundamentals of search engine optimization, particularly for small businesses and beginners.

AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Should small businesses really give up on generic search queries?

Martin Splitt Jul 10, 2025 ★★★

You need to be honest with yourself about the feasibility of ranking for certain terms. Highly competitive generic terms are unrealistic for small businesses—it's better to target more specific and local queries instead.

AI & SEO Local Search

Should you really define goals and conversions before optimizing your SEO?

Martin Splitt Jul 10, 2025 ★★★

Before working on SEO, it is essential to clearly define your website's objective and desired conversion. This helps guide your content strategy and identify what is truly necessary.

Content AI & SEO

Can small websites really test freely without major SEO risks?

Martin Splitt Jul 10, 2025 ★★

For small businesses, it's possible to test different content approaches without fear of severely damaging the site. Changes can be tested over a few weeks to evaluate their impact.

Content AI & SEO