What does Google say about SEO?

How can your homepage's performance elevate its ranking?

Google May 17, 2021 ★★★

If your homepage has excellent Page Experience results but your content pages are underperforming, your homepage might start to rank slightly higher while your other pages could lose positions.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Are links to noindex pages still beneficial for SEO?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★★

When a page becomes noindex or disappears from Google's index, the links pointing to that page lose their value. Google finds that if a page no longer exists, recommendations to it are no longer relevant. Links are followed among indexed canonical UR...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name

Should you reduce the number of pages on your site to boost your SEO?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★★

It is advisable to concentrate a site on fewer pages rather than having many individual pages. This avoids the need to gather signals for each page and allows for a stronger focus on the site's power. This consolidation may take several months to sta...

Domain Age & History Content Pagination & Structure

How does Google value content beyond basic facts?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★★

For factual content that is widely available (addresses, phone numbers), it's necessary to provide significantly more value than the simple facts that everyone knows. Otherwise, Google can point to any site that has the same information.

Content AI & SEO

Does Google Ads really impact the SEO of your pages?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★★

The ranking systems for Google Ads and organic search results are completely separate. Launching or stopping ad campaigns does not affect organic rankings. Google even refuses to answer SEO questions from advertisers.

AI & SEO Mobile SEO

Why shouldn't you rely on the site: command for diagnosing indexing?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★★

The site: command is not designed for diagnostic use. The numbers displayed are optimized for speed and provide an overview, not to be exhaustive. You should rely on Search Console data to know the actual number of indexed pages.

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

Should sites with 500 pages really be effortlessly indexed by Google?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★

For a site with 500 pages, Google should be able to index a large portion of the pages with minimal additional effort as long as the site is technically correct and has some signals of legitimacy. It's advisable to check the crawlability and actively...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Why does the transition from noindex to indexed take so long in SEO?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★

Moving pages from noindex to indexed can slow down indexing and create confusion for several months. This is a normal transition that requires patience for the systems to stabilize.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Pagination & Structure

How Does a Strong Website Enhance the Indexing of New Pages?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★

When a website becomes strong and high-performing in search, new pages created and linked from the existing site are better understood by Google. It is better to build a strong site instead of several individual small sites.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Should you check Google's cache to understand mobile or desktop indexing?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★

To check which version Google is indexing (mobile or desktop), you need to look at the cached version of the URL. This allows you to see if Google is indexing the mobile or desktop version, especially when there are content differences.

Content Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO Domain Name Web Performance

How do Core Web Vitals impact your SEO in real-time?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★★

The Core Web Vitals signal will be continuously active, based on the past 28 days of field data from the Chrome User Experience Report. Improvements are not visible immediately but only after 28 days. The distinction is made between Poor, Needs Impro...

AI & SEO Web Performance

Is it true that the PageSpeed Insights score doesn't impact SEO rankings?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★★

The PageSpeed Insights score of 0-100 is not a ranking factor and does not correspond directly to the Core Web Vitals. This score is based on lab tests, while Google uses real user data (field data) for rankings.

Domain Age & History Web Performance

Why should you avoid using 'Read More' as anchor text?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★

Google uses the anchor text of links to understand the context of the destination page. A generic text like 'Read More' provides no information. It is recommended to use descriptive text such as 'Read more about XYZ' to help Google categorize the pag...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Do Sitemaps Really Affect SEO?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★

The handling of sitemaps and coverage reports in Search Console has no impact on site ranking. If pages are indexed normally in the overall coverage report, the connection with individual sitemap files may vary without consequence.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks PDF & Files Search Console

Can tweaking titles and meta descriptions really save your SEO?

John Mueller May 14, 2021 ★★

Adjusting titles and meta descriptions can slightly refine positioning and help Google recognize the content of a page, but it won't resolve a significant drop in visibility. For major ranking changes, it's essential to significantly improve the over...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Do Images Really Improve Your Pages' SEO Rankings?

John Mueller May 10, 2021 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Twitter that adding images to a web page doesn't automatically give it a "bonus" in terms of SEO. A web page with images is not necessarily ranked better than the same page without images.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos Social Media

Is Page Load Time Really a Decisive SEO Factor for Your Google Ranking?

John Mueller May 10, 2021 ★★★

John Mueller, Gary Illyes and Martin Splitt (the stellar team from Google Zurich) imagined in one of their "Search off the record" podcasts a search engine named Steve that they would create from scratch. Of course, Steve wasn't very far from the "re...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Web Performance Social Media

Are Core Web Vitals truly a direct ranking factor or just a piece of Page Experience?

Patrick Kettner May 10, 2021 ★★★

Core Web Vitals are fundamental elements of the Page Experience ranking factor. These metrics are designed to measure and improve user experience on websites.

Domain Age & History Web Performance

Can improving Page Experience really be achieved through measurable concrete actions?

Patrick Kettner May 10, 2021 ★★

There are specific steps and concrete actions that site owners can take to enhance every aspect of their site concerning Page Experience, including the use of tools and code modifications.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

How is user experience now influencing site rankings?

Patrick Kettner May 10, 2021 ★★★

Google confirms that Page Experience is a new ranking factor that will be integrated into search results. It is a collection of metrics aimed at ensuring the best possible user experience on websites.

Domain Age & History