What does Google say about SEO?

Does Google Really Keep Testing Your Old 301 Redirects for Years?

John Mueller Aug 23, 2021 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Twitter that when a redirect is set up, the search engine will try for years, again and again, to test them to see if they are still in place: "We have a long memory. I think we'll keep retrying for years, intermittently. Ge...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects Social Media

Why do some high-quality pages fail to attract traffic?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

Pages that receive little traffic are not necessarily of poor quality. On certain sites, long-tail pages can be just as useful as main pages; they simply cater to a more niche audience. Google does not view them as problematic.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

How does the canonical tag lead to your content vanishing from the index?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

When a canonical tag is used to merge pages, Google only indexes the canonical page. The content of the non-canonical page completely disappears from the index and can no longer be found in search, even for queries specific to that content.

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

How does Google's new removal tool transform your SEO strategy?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

The temporary removal tool in Search Console simply hides pages in search results for 6 months, without altering indexing or crawling. Google continues to crawl and reindex the page normally during this period to detect any potential noindex.

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

Should you choose robots.txt or noindex for your important pages?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

Blocking an important page with robots.txt may keep it in the results if it's the most relevant page (e.g., homepage). With noindex, it disappears entirely. For less important pages, robots.txt and noindex have similar effects since Google has other ...

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

Do temporarily removed pages really influence the overall SEO quality of a website?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

Pages hidden via the temporary removal tool remain indexed and are still taken into account in the overall quality assessment of the website. If they represent a significant portion of the site, they can affect the perception of quality.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Should you worry about media attachment pages for SEO?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★

The media attachment pages automatically generated by WordPress (an image with header/footer) are not considered problematic by Google. They do not negatively impact the overall quality of the site as they are generally not displayed in search result...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos

Is it true that links to a noindex page can lose their SEO value?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

Noindex pages can initially pass link signals, but when the noindex status becomes permanent, Google eventually ignores them completely, and links pointing to these pages no longer convey any value. There is ambiguity regarding the duration of value ...

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

How does combining similar content really strengthen your SEO pages?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

Instead of having multiple mediocre pages on similar topics that compete with each other, it’s better to create a single strong page that encompasses all variations. This is especially important in highly competitive industries.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Is it true that you can't use Google My Business reviews in schema?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

Including Google My Business reviews in schema markup on your site goes against Google's policies regarding structured data for reviews. Reviews must be collected directly from the website to be properly marked up.

Domain Age & History Structured Data AI & SEO Local Search

Does Server Response Time in Search Console Really Impact Your SEO Rankings?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

The server response time displayed in Search Console (crawled from the US) is not used for ranking purposes. Google employs Core Web Vitals based on actual user experiences to determine ranking speed factors.

Crawl & Indexing Web Performance Search Console

How do content silos truly impact your SEO?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★

Creating content silos with thematic internal linking is not primarily an SEO technique. It is useful for helping users comprehend the site's expertise on a topic, which indirectly aids Google in better understanding the content.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Should you focus on concentrated traffic or dispersed traffic for SEO?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★

Google does not favor pages that rank for a few keywords with high traffic, nor those that rank for many keywords with low traffic. It's a strategic decision based on competition and the site's objectives.

Domain Age & History

How can you avoid the negative impacts of network caching on your SEO tests?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★

To bypass network caching issues when testing with PageSpeed Insights, adding a random parameter after the URL (e.g., ?123) generally forces intermediate servers to fetch the most recent version of the page.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Domain Name Web Performance

Could having too many language versions actually weaken your SEO performance?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

Creating numerous language or country versions of a website (e.g., 15 versions) dilutes the overall strength. Each version becomes individually weaker and may rank less effectively. It's essential to find a balance based on the site and the users.

AI & SEO

How does the disavow file truly impact your link profile?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★

When a disavow file is deleted or modified, Google takes it into account immediately, but the effect unfolds gradually as the affected links are recrawled. It is better to update the file than to delete it.

Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO Links & Backlinks PDF & Files

Are Session Interstitials Really Impact-Free for SEO?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

Intrusive interstitials are a ranking factor only at the moment the user arrives on the site. Interstitials shown during the session (e.g., between levels of a game) do not present an SEO problem and remain a choice between the site and the user.

Why does Google prioritize field data over lab data for SEO?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

For ranking, Google uses field data from Search Console that shows the real-world experience of users, not lab data from Lighthouse. While Lighthouse tests are useful for identifying improvements, they do not determine ranking.

AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Why is it essential to separate UGC on subdomains for effective SEO?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

For platforms hosting user-generated content, it is recommended to separate the clean editorial content on a distinct domain and isolate each user on subdomains. This helps Google evaluate quality individually and limits the impact of spam.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Penalties & Spam

Why are banners often preferred over intrusive interstitials in SEO?

John Mueller Aug 20, 2021 ★★★

Instead of a full-screen pop-up, use a banner that does not cover all the main content. Banners are not considered intrusive interstitials and do not negatively affect Page Experience, provided that the main content remains visible and accessible.

Domain Age & History Content