What does Google say about SEO?

Does server performance really affect how search engines crawl your site?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2021 ★★★

It’s crucial for your server to handle a reasonable number of requests quickly. When a server slows down, search engines slow down their crawling as well.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance Search Console

Why should you steer clear of unnecessary URLs on your website?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2021 ★★★

Avoid cluttering your site with unnecessary URLs such as event calendars from far in the past or category pages featuring every possible filter combination. Search engines may get bogged down and miss the URLs that truly matter to you.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Domain Name

Why are internal links to new pages critical for SEO?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2021 ★★★

Create links to your new pages prominently on your site. The easier it is for Google's systems to recognize that a page is important, the easier it is to prioritize its crawl and indexing.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Links & Backlinks

Why is mastering dynamic sites crucial for SEO?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2021 ★★

On dynamic sites, work to keep functionalities open for users while preventing crawlers from getting lost in automatically generated URLs.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

How does the URL Inspection Tool transform your SEO strategy?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2021 ★★

For individual URLs, use the URL Inspection Tool in Search Console to submit your pages to Google.

Domain Age & History Domain Name Search Console

Why should you use sitemaps for SEO indexing?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2021 ★★★

Use a sitemap to automatically notify Google about new pages. It’s a recommended URL submission method.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Search Console

Why is your site's overall quality crucial for SEO?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2021 ★★★

Keep your site's overall quality at a high level. The easier it is for Google's systems to recognize that your site is essential for users, the better they can prioritize crawling and indexing.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Why doesn't forced indexing ensure a strong SEO ranking?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2021 ★★★

Forcing the indexing of a page does not mean that Google will prominently display it in search results, nor does it ensure that it will remain indexed over time.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Local Search

How does Google truly determine what qualifies as quality content in SEO?

John Mueller Jun 30, 2021 ★★★

Google's systems want to recommend fantastic content to users as quickly as possible. The best way to improve your visibility is to make your site excellent as a whole.

Content JavaScript & Technical SEO

Do domain extensions really influence SEO?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★★

Google does not differentiate between various generic domain extensions (.com, .net, .club, etc.) for SEO purposes. The only distinction taken into account for geographic targeting is between country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) and generic top-le...

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

Do links from low-visibility pages really affect SEO?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★

Links from pages that don't receive much visibility in search results and that search engines don’t regard highly will, in any case, not matter for SEO.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Should you really worry about characters in URLs for SEO?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★★

Google doesn't care much about the characters and words in URLs from an SEO perspective. URLs should be optimized primarily for users rather than for search engines. Google can process any technically valid URL.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Should you really worry about the type of traffic during a domain migration?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★

From Google's search perspective, the distinction between organic traffic and referral traffic during a domain migration is not significant. The difference may appear in Google Analytics but is not used for ranking.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Redirects

Does a partially translated site really affect its SEO performance?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★★

There is no obligation to translate the entire website to make it multilingual. You can translate as much or as little content as you wish. Google will independently index the available content in each language.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO International SEO

How can integrating sitemaps boost your SEO tracking efforts?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★

Although sitemaps are not mandatory, they are considered a best practice because they facilitate performance tracking in Google Search Console, particularly for multilingual or multi-regional sites.

Crawl & Indexing Web Performance Search Console International SEO

Why is localized content essential for international SEO?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★★

It is advisable to localize content as much as possible according to the targeted language and country. Even if Google can display a page in the search results, users will leave the site if they realize the content is not genuinely tailored for them.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Local Search International SEO

Is it true that changing your internal links won't harm your SEO?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★

Google uses internal links to understand how pages fit within a site, but these links can be altered. It's normal for sites to restructure over time and change their internal linking.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure

How does Google manage independent franchises without specific tags?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★

There is no meta tag or technical method to indicate to Google that independent franchise sites are linked to a corporate site. Google attempts to algorithmically determine which parts of a site belong together.

Algorithms Content AI & SEO

How does Google decide between recent and old content?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★

The priority between new and old content depends on the audience and the type of content. For current events, Google temporarily favors recent content. For permanent services like construction, evergreen content is more important.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Why do soft 404 errors fluctuate in your SEO reports?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2021 ★★

Google uses a machine learning system to detect soft 404 pages. These systems may require adjustments over time, which can result in fluctuations in the detection of these errors.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO