What does Google say about SEO?

Search through official Google statements about search engine optimization

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9260 statement(s) found
Are title tags still essential for SEO success?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★★
Title tags still matter for rankings, even though Google sometimes rewrites them. Even when a system rewrites the title, Google still uses the original title tag as a relevance signal for search.
Content
Is it true that Google won’t allow a meta tag to prevent title rewrites?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★
Google does not plan to create a meta tag that would allow disabling title rewriting. The issue is expected to be resolved by improving algorithms, not by adding an extra setting, as this need did not exist before.
Algorithms Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO
Are you really adding SEO value by linking to the same page twice?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★
Adding a second link to a page that is already linked in the main navigation generally does not provide any significant SEO benefit. The anchor text can offer more context if the first one is not descriptive, but there is also no downside to doing so...
Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure
Does the meta description really influence SEO results?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★★
The length of the meta description does not influence ranking. There is no ideal length to target. Google may use content from the page instead of the meta description, and the snippet can vary depending on the query.
Domain Age & History Content Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO
Do blocked pages by robots.txt really impact your site's overall SEO quality?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★
Indexed but blocked pages by robots.txt are not considered for the overall quality of the site. Google does not know their content, and they do not appear in search results.
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO
Why does Google consider platform issues as site problems?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★★
When a technical issue occurs on a hosting platform (Wix, Shopify, etc.), Google views it as a problem with the site itself, not with the platform. Technical problems are generally resolved quickly once fixed.
Content JavaScript & Technical SEO
Should you still optimize Core Web Vitals once they're in the green?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★★
Once Core Web Vitals are in the green zone according to real user metrics, further improving the scores offers no additional SEO benefits. Being in the green simply ensures the stability of good performance.
Domain Age & History AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Web Performance Search Console
Why doesn’t hreflang affect your SEO?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★★
The implementation of hreflang does not impact a website's ranking. It's a technical element for multilingual and multi-regional management, but not a ranking signal.
Content AI & SEO International SEO
Do old 404 errors still influence your SEO rankings?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★★
404 errors on old URLs that Google is still trying to crawl do not affect ranking at all. It's perfectly normal for a site to generate many 404 errors on URLs that no longer exist.
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name
Are post-interaction interstitials really considered acceptable for SEO?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★
An interstitial shown after significant user interaction (e.g., scrolling to the bottom) may be acceptable. However, a fixed banner is preferable. Watch out for the Cumulative Layout Shift that some interstitials may cause.
AI & SEO Pagination & Structure
Should you really optimize Core Web Vitals to rank at the top?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★★
Core Web Vitals are part of the Page Experience ranking factor, but they don't replace everything. No site is perfect in all aspects. You can rank well by excelling in certain areas without being perfect everywhere.
Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Web Performance
Is manipulating the back button harmful to your SEO strategy?
John Mueller Aug 28, 2021 ★★★
Manipulating the browser's back button to prevent the user from returning to Google is a terrible practice. The WebSpam team can take action against sites that do this, as it is considered a sneaky redirect.
JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam Redirects
How can you optimize snippets to boost your SEO?
John Mueller Aug 26, 2021 ★★★
The snippet is a brief description displayed for each page in the search results. Google's systems attempt to describe how this particular page might be useful for the user's query. Google can display different texts depending on what has been search...
Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Local Search
How does Google decide which search snippets to display?
John Mueller Aug 26, 2021 ★★★
Google typically focuses on the meta description tag to create snippets, and at times it also pulls text directly from the page content.
Domain Age & History Content
Why doesn't the snippet influence rankings?
John Mueller Aug 26, 2021 ★★★
The snippet shown in search results is not a ranking factor. However, it can assist users in deciding which result to click on, so it's worth verifying.
AI & SEO
How does the data-nosnippet attribute affect your SEO strategy?
John Mueller Aug 26, 2021 ★★★
Google has introduced the 'data-nosnippet' attribute, which allows you to specify text to be excluded from snippets. This attribute can be applied to specific HTML elements, and Google will then know not to display this text in the snippet.
Content Local Search
Why does the data-nosnippet attribute take time to gain traction?
John Mueller Aug 26, 2021 ★★
In order for the data-nosnippet attribute to be taken into account, Google must re-crawl and re-process the page. Therefore, the change will not be immediate.
Domain Age & History AI & SEO
Could hiding text in snippets actually enhance your SEO performance?
John Mueller Aug 26, 2021 ★★
It may be relevant not to display certain elements of the page in snippets, specifically dynamic content or information that you prefer to show only in the context of your own page.
Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO
Do Core Updates Really Target Spam or Is There Another Purpose?
John Mueller Aug 23, 2021 ★★★
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that all the "core updates" implemented over the past several years were not solely intended to combat spam practices...
Algorithms Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam Social Media
Why Does Google Only Index 80% of Your Website's Pages?
John Mueller Aug 23, 2021 ★★★
John Mueller explained during a webmaster hangout that it was common for Google to index - as an example - only 80% of a website's content (and therefore refuse to index 20%). This can stem from the overall quality of the site, deemed not satisfactor...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects Search Console
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