What does Google say about SEO?

Why doesn't Google penalize every single SEO mistake?

John Mueller Aug 06, 2021 ★★★

Google does not remove a site from the results for a single violation of the guidelines. If a site does certain things wrong but others right, Google ignores the bad practices and focuses on the rest. No one needs to do everything perfectly to be vis...

AI & SEO

Why doesn’t removing a redirect boost your SEO?

John Mueller Aug 06, 2021 ★★★

When you redirect a page, Google transfers the signals to the new URL. If you then remove the redirect, you will have two distinct pages that rank individually. You cannot artificially double your SEO value by adding and then removing redirects.

Domain Age & History Domain Name Redirects

Why isn't robots.txt enough to stop indexing on Google?

John Mueller Aug 06, 2021 ★★★

Robots.txt prevents the crawling of a URL but does not stop its indexing. Google may index a URL blocked by robots.txt based solely on its URL and the link anchors pointing to it. To prevent indexing, use the noindex meta tag.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name

Should you unlock JavaScript and CSS for Google?

John Mueller Aug 06, 2021 ★★★

JavaScript and CSS files should not be blocked by robots.txt. Google needs them to render pages and check mobile compatibility. These files will not be indexed individually but must be accessible for crawling.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO PDF & Files

How does changing the URL of an optimized image hasten its update in the index?

John Mueller Aug 06, 2021 ★★

Google crawls images less often than HTML pages. If you optimize an image (compression), use a new URL to prompt Google to detect the change more quickly when crawling the HTML page.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Are Core Web Vitals really based on actual user data?

John Mueller Aug 06, 2021 ★★

For Core Web Vitals, Google uses metrics from real users, regardless of what is indexed. Optimizing images improves user experience even if Google hasn’t recrawled the new versions yet.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Web Performance

Does the choice between WordPress pages and posts really impact SEO?

John Mueller Aug 06, 2021 ★★★

Google views all WordPress pages (pages, posts, categories) as simple HTML pages. Your CMS's internal structure is completely invisible to Google and has no effect on rankings. Choose according to your maintenance needs.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

How does Google really handle copyright-infringing content?

Aurora Morales Aug 04, 2021 ★★

Google does not allow content that infringes copyright. In line with this policy, Google responds to copyright infringement notices to comply with copyright laws worldwide.

Content

How Can Copyright Takedowns Influence Your SEO Ranking?

Aurora Morales Aug 04, 2021 ★★★

Websites with a high number of copyright infringement takedown notices may rank lower in Google search results.

AI & SEO Local Search

How does Google handle copyright infringement in search results?

Aurora Morales Aug 04, 2021 ★★★

When Google receives a valid copyright infringement notice, the affected URL is removed from Google search results. Google notifies both the complainant and the site owner through the Search Console.

AI & SEO Domain Name Search Console

Why is disabling AdSense monetization due to copyright infringement critical for SEOs?

Aurora Morales Aug 04, 2021 ★★

If you are an AdSense publisher and a valid copyright infringement notice is received against your site, the monetization of the content will be disabled on that page in accordance with the publisher program policies.

Domain Age & History Content

How can you effectively contest a content removal by Google?

Aurora Morales Aug 04, 2021 ★★

If you believe your page was removed in error, you can submit a counter-notification. If it meets all legal requirements, it will be forwarded to the complainant who has 10 business days to respond. Without a response, the content will be automatical...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Why doesn’t Google settle copyright disputes?

Aurora Morales Aug 04, 2021 ★★

Google cannot resolve disputes regarding copyright ownership of a particular content. In the event of an ongoing dispute after the counter-notification process, it is up to the parties involved to resolve the issue in court.

Content

Why does Google remove your content upon copyright claims?

Aurora Morales Aug 04, 2021 ★★★

Google is obligated by international copyright laws to remove content in response to valid copyright infringement claims. A valid claim will remove your URL from search results, and the content will no longer be accepted for AdSense monetization.

Content AI & SEO Domain Name International SEO

Should You Really Delete Your 301 Redirects After One Year?

Gary Illyes Aug 02, 2021 ★★★

Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that if you have set up a redirect from URL A to URL B for at least one year, after this timeframe, Google's processing of the redirect will become permanent, even if you remove this redirect...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects Social Media

Should You Really Replace All Your Nofollow Links with the Sponsored Attribute?

John Mueller Aug 02, 2021 ★★★

Following last week's launch of the Link Spam Update and the announcements made on this occasion, John Mueller indicated that it was not necessary for affiliate links already in "nofollow" to switch them to "sponsored". Both will work...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam

Do Links from .edu Sites Really Carry More SEO Weight?

John Mueller Aug 02, 2021 ★★★

John Mueller indicated on Twitter that Google doesn't ignore links from .edu sites any more than from sites created on other extensions. It ignores spammy links regardless of the extension of the site offering them...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Penalties & Spam Social Media

Does Google really ignore web workers in its rendering process?

Martin Splitt Jul 29, 2021 ★★

Web workers are executed and registered by Google, but the rendering system does not properly wait for events occurring in their separate environment. If a web worker makes a network request, Google does not necessarily wait for the response and the ...

AI & SEO

How do Promises and WebAssembly impact SEO rendering?

Martin Splitt Jul 29, 2021 ★★

Promises and WebAssembly work effectively for Google rendering as long as they execute on the main thread. Google waits for the main thread's task queue to be empty, and promises add elements to it.

Why has the Featured Snippet shifted from 'Position 0' to 'Position 1'?

Gary Illyes Jul 29, 2021 ★★★

Contrary to the popular belief that the featured snippet would be in 'position 0', Gary asserts it should actually be viewed as ranking in position 1. The use of the term 'position 0' was primarily to align with the language familiar to SEO experts.

Domain Age & History Content Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO International SEO