What does Google say about SEO?

How can preloading web fonts help reduce CLS?

Patrick Kettner Oct 19, 2021 ★★

To minimize the impact of web fonts on CLS, it is recommended to use link rel='preload' for essential fonts, placed as high as possible in the head of the page, allowing the browser to start downloading earlier.

Domain Age & History Links & Backlinks Web Performance

Should you really avoid 'font-display: swap' to lower your CLS score?

Patrick Kettner Oct 19, 2021 ★★★

Using font-display: swap should be avoided as it tells the browser to display a fallback font first and then replace it with the web font regardless of loading time, which can cause significant shifts and increase the CLS score.

Domain Age & History Web Performance Local Search

How does 'font-display: optional' influence your SEO?

Patrick Kettner Oct 19, 2021 ★★

For non-essential web fonts, font-display: optional is recommended. This value tells the browser to abandon loading the font if it takes more than 3 seconds, thereby avoiding any subsequent layout shifts.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Why Should You Choose SVGs Over Icon Fonts for SEO?

Patrick Kettner Oct 19, 2021 ★★

It is recommended to use SVGs instead of icon fonts to avoid CLS problems. SVGs also offer better design capabilities, fewer issues in modern browsers, and improved accessibility.

Web Performance

Do CSS animations really have no impact on your CLS score?

Patrick Kettner Oct 19, 2021 ★★

CSS animations and transformations do not affect the CLS score because when a transform property is used, the element is moved onto its own layer, floating above the rest of the content without affecting the layout of other elements.

Domain Age & History Content Web Performance

Does it really matter whether you use absolute or relative URLs for SEO?

John Mueller Oct 12, 2021 ★★★

Google treats absolute URLs and relative URLs exactly the same way. There is no difference for SEO between these two approaches; both lead to the same outcome for search engines.

AI & SEO Domain Name

Is it really beneficial to mix absolute and relative URLs for SEO optimization?

John Mueller Oct 12, 2021 ★★

It is entirely possible to use both absolute URLs and relative URLs within the same website. This combination has no negative impact on organic search ranking.

AI & SEO Domain Name

Are URLs really the cornerstone of SEO?

John Mueller Oct 12, 2021 ★★

URLs are the foundation of all websites. Understanding how they function is essential for managing a site and its SEO.

Domain Name

How does using absolute URLs impact your SEO?

John Mueller Oct 12, 2021 ★

An absolute URL includes all the elements needed to access a page: protocol, domain, and full path. It's the equivalent of a complete address.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Should you be using relative URLs to boost your SEO?

John Mueller Oct 12, 2021 ★

A relative URL is defined in relation to the current location on the site. It functions correctly as long as it is implemented appropriately.

Content Domain Name Search Console

Why is Google's process for removing noindex pages taking so long?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★★

When Google crawls pages marked as noindex, they slowly vanish from the index. This process can take several months for around 100,000 pages. Google does not crawl these pages more frequently due to the noindex; on the contrary, it crawls them less o...

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

Should you really worry about the number of indexed pages for SEO?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★★

It is absolutely not the case that having more indexed pages means that Google considers your site better. For sites with 1,000 to 5,000 pages, Google views them all as small sites. The number of indexed pages is not a quality signal.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing

Why are redirects to parent pages considered soft 404s?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★★

When Google sees large-scale redirects from subcategories to parent categories, it treats this as soft 404s. There's little SEO difference between redirecting or returning a true 404. The choice between 301 and 302 doesn't matter in this case.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Redirects

Is a sitemap really enough to boost your crawling efforts?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★

A sitemap alone is probably not sufficient to signal Google to recrawl a URL. It is essential to ensure that the internal linking is also clear and points to these pages.

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

What Could Happen If You Move Your URLs Between Sitemap Files?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★

Google recommends keeping the same URL in the same sitemap file. If a URL moves to a different sitemap file, Google may have that URL recorded in its systems from multiple files with differing information such as modification dates, creating confusio...

Crawl & Indexing Domain Name PDF & Files Search Console

Is it true that recovery after an update isn’t just rolling back for your SEO?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★★

With core updates, it’s not about fixing something to revert to a previous state. When you enhance a site's relevance, Google sees a better site, not just the same site fixed. It’s not a recovery but an acknowledgment of an improved site.

AI & SEO

How do Google's core updates influence your site's overall relevance?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★★

Core updates do not focus on individual issues but on the overall relevance of the site. This includes usability, advertisements, but also content, its presentation, and the transparency of sources. For significant improvement, it's necessary to work...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Are gradual improvements truly visible between Google’s core updates?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★

If you make significant changes to a website, you should expect to see subtle improvements over time as Google recrawls the pages, even outside of core updates. If a core update had a major impact, you will notice a jump during the core update.

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Is it true that Google alters your SEO titles just to frustrate you?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★

Google isn't trying to frustrate SEOs by rewriting title tags. The goal is to improve the quality of search results so that people search more and visit more websites. HTML elements and their usage evolve over time.

Content

Is Using the Right Anchor Text Really the Key to Avoiding Over-Optimization?

John Mueller Oct 08, 2021 ★★

There's no need to worry too much about using a good anchor text. Use descriptive anchors that provide context about the linked page, including for internal linking. Users want to know what the link contains, so include that context instead of artifi...

Domain Age & History Content Links & Backlinks