What does Google say about SEO?

Why do your Search Console data fluctuate so much from one query to another?

John Mueller Apr 21, 2021 ★★

The metrics in the search performance report are based on real search results, but these real results can vary greatly from one search to another.

AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Does Google Search Console's average position really reflect the reality of your rankings?

John Mueller Apr 21, 2021 ★★★

The data from the search performance report in Google Search Console is based on actual search results displayed to users, not theoretical numbers.

Web Performance Search Console

Why do your Google rankings change based on who is searching and where they are?

John Mueller Apr 21, 2021 ★★★

You won't always see the same ranking when checking for yourself, usually due to personalization, geographic targeting, or temporary visibility in search results.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Do Core Web Vitals Really Take 28 Days to Impact Your SEO Rankings?

John Mueller Apr 19, 2021 ★★★

John Mueller explained in a webmaster hangout that Core Web Vitals "scores" (LCP, CLS, FID) would not be calculated in real-time (unlike filters such as Panda or Penguin, for example) starting next May, since 28 days of accumulated data are required ...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO Images & Videos Pagination & Structure Web Performance

Why Does Google Ignore CSS-Displayed Images for Indexing Purposes?

John Mueller Apr 19, 2021 ★★★

John Mueller reminded us on Twitter that Google only indexes an image if it is displayed using an tag. Images displayed via CSS (particularly background images) are not taken into account, nor are any ALT attributes, of course.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos Social Media

Should You Split Your YMYL and Non-YMYL Content Across Two Separate Websites to Improve Your SEO?

John Mueller Apr 19, 2021 ★★★

We're familiar with the concept of "YMYL: Your Money, Your Life" sites and their significance, particularly during recent Google "core updates," in the realm of E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). On this subject, John Mueller expl...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Should you really create geolocated content for all your pages?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★★

Google differentiates between geographic targeting and hreflang. Geographic targeting improves rankings in specific countries when users search for something local. If users are searching with local intent (e.g., repairman), creating geolocated conte...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files Local Search International SEO

Should you really index all your pagination pages?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★★

For pagination, differentiate between divided content (multi-part articles) that must be indexable, and category pages that serve only to find links to other content. For these latter pages, pages 2, 3, etc. can be set to noindex or canonical to page...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Discover & News Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure

Is excluding Googlebot from adblock detection considered cloaking?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★

Excluding Googlebot from an adblock detection system is generally not considered cloaking. Google acknowledges that Googlebot has a unique setup without adblock. This is acceptable as long as fundamentally different content is not shown. HTML adblock...

Content Crawl & Indexing Pagination & Structure Penalties & Spam

Should you really optimize the entire site to rank a single page?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★★

Google primarily looks at the page for ranking purposes, but always in the context of the entire site. To effectively rank a particular page, you need to improve the overall site, particularly the internal linking, headers, and content from related p...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Are Expired Domain Redirects Really Ignored by Google?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★★

Buying expired domains and redirecting them to your site is an old tactic that Google can recognize. By default, Google's algorithms try to ignore these redirects. If it’s too integrated into the site and cannot be ignored, Google may become more cau...

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Redirects

Does switching CMS really destroy your organic search rankings?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★★

Switching CMS (e.g., from Squarespace to WordPress) will likely affect your ranking, positively or negatively depending on the quality of the migration. Google does not only look at text but at everything: internal linking, URLs, historical signals, ...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Redirects

Is UX really a Google ranking factor or just a side effect?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★★

Google does not have a pure 'user experience' ranking factor, but rather elements related to it: the page layout algorithm (meaningful unique content above the fold vs. ads) and Core Web Vitals (loading speed, CLS, FID) that will be taken into accoun...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Does hreflang really boost rankings, or is it just an SEO myth?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★★

Hreflang does not serve to improve rankings, but to ensure that Google shows the correct language version of a page already ranked in different countries. This is different from geographic targeting, which gives a slight ranking boost for local queri...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Local Search International SEO

Can you really combine noindex and canonical without SEO risks?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★

Theoretically, using noindex and canonical together is contradictory because it states that the pages are equivalent but must be treated differently. In practice, this causes no issues. If internal indexing, the sitemap, and links are correct, using ...

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

Is crawl budget really something to worry about for your website?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★★

Crawl budget only becomes a real concern for sites with hundreds of thousands or millions of pages. For sites with a few thousand or tens of thousands of pages, Google can crawl everything, even in a day if the server permits. There’s no need to opti...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Should you really include your m-dot pages in your hreflang annotations?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★

For sites with separate mobile versions (m-dot), while it's not mandatory to list them in the sitemap, it is recommended to include them if you want to apply hreflang annotations to mobile pages. The m-dot pages must point to their m-dot equivalents ...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Search Console International SEO

Should you create a robots.txt blocked intermediary site to manage thousands of redirects?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★

To manage thousands of redirected domains (e.g., domain marketplace), create an intermediary site where all domains redirect, block this site with robots.txt, and then redirect to the main site. This way, users follow the path normally, but Googlebot...

Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name

Are breadcrumbs really beneficial for SEO, or are they just a UI gimmick?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★

Breadcrumbs have two SEO functions: helping crawl via internal linking (but not necessary if the site is already well-linked), and displaying structured navigation in search results through breadcrumb structured data. For small well-linked sites, it’...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Local Search

Should you really focus on optimizing entire pages instead of individual passages?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2021 ★★

Passage ranking helps Google identify important parts of very long pages. However, it is essential to continue optimizing the entire page, not just individual sections. For SEO-optimized sites, it may be more effective to divide long pages into separ...

Domain Age & History Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO