What does Google say about SEO?

Should you really update a page's publication date to improve its ranking?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★

You can update a page's date when making significant changes, but doing so for mere rearrangements of images in a gallery misleads users. It doesn't affect Google rankings. Only modify the date for substantial content changes.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos

Do News sitemaps really speed up the indexing of your content?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

News sitemaps (limited to 1000 URLs) help Google index content from sites already identified as news sources more quickly. However, using a News sitemap will not speed up indexing if Google is not already attempting to index your content quickly. Thi...

Content Crawl & Indexing Discover & News AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Web Performance Search Console

Why does your site fluctuate between page 1 and page 5 of Google's results?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

Significant fluctuations between page 1 and pages 4-5 indicate that Google's algorithms are uncertain about how to rank the site. The solution is to significantly improve the overall quality of the site. It generally takes 3 to 4 months for Google to...

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Does fact-check markup really enhance your page rankings?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★

Fact-checking tags or fact-check articles are rich results that alter the presentation in search results, but they do not constitute a direct ranking signal. Simply having this markup will not improve the site's ranking.

Domain Age & History Discover & News Structured Data AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Is it true that you can ditch AMP to appear in Google Discover?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

Google does not require AMP to appear in Discover. Normal web pages can also appear there. The main difference is the thumbnail size: larger by default for AMP, but web pages can have the same size using the meta robots max-image-preview tag.

Domain Age & History Discover & News AI & SEO Images & Videos Mobile SEO

Should you really add a self-referencing canonical tag on every page?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

Using a self-referencing canonical tag (pointing to the same page) is recommended because it helps Google identify the preferred version when a page can be crawled with different URL variations (www/non-www, URL parameters, etc.). This is particularl...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Should we still use rel=next and rel=previous tags for pagination?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

The rel=next and rel=previous tags are ignored by Google. Google's systems can now automatically recognize the current pagination and treat it as standard internal links. These tags can remain on pages for accessibility, but Google no longer uses the...

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

Is it true that the number of words doesn’t really matter for Google rankings?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

The number of words per page is not a Google ranking criterion. Google does not count words and will never refuse to display a page just because it has less than 400 words. What matters is the unique value and usefulness to users, not the content's l...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Local Search

Can database-generated sites really rank on Google?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

Creating millions of pages from a database (cities × services, for example) is technically easy, but Google looks for real added value. If this data already exists elsewhere on the web, you need to provide something substantially different and useful...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Should you really abandon separate mobile URLs (m.example.com)?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★

Google still supports separate mobile URL configurations (m.example.com and www.example.com) with appropriate canonical and alternate tags. It's no longer recommended for new sites (it's better to have a single responsive version), but it works perfe...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos Mobile SEO Domain Name

Should you really worry about the difference between 301 and 302 redirects?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

A 302 redirect (temporary) in place for several years will be treated by Google as a 301 redirect (permanent). Google will index the destination page and no value is lost just because it's a 302. After several years, Google considers the redirect to ...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Redirects

How long can you keep a 503 code without risking deindexation?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

The 503 server code (temporary error) should be used for no more than a few days, between 2 and 7 days. After this period, Google will start to deindex the affected URLs. There is no exact time limit, but a temporary error must remain temporary.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Should you really clean up your artificial links if Google already ignores them?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

Google's algorithms generally detect and ignore artificial or spam links before they are even removed. Therefore, removing links already ignored by Google will have no impact on ranking.

Algorithms JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam

Are editorial collaborations with backlinks really risk-free according to Google?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★

Inviting experts to enrich content and crediting them with a link is acceptable. If these experts then freely mention this collaboration on their site, it remains within the guidelines, provided there is no obligation.

Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure

Does an inactive spam domain automatically regain its reputation after a decade?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★

If a domain hosted a spam site 10 years ago, the negative effects do not persist after such a long period of inactivity. Old toxic links eventually cease to have any impact.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Penalties & Spam

Should you really update the publication date after every small change on a page?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★

Changing the publication date of a page with every small modification (like rearranging images) may seem misleading to users and does not affect rankings. It is better to change the date only during significant updates.

Domain Age & History Images & Videos

Do News sitemaps really accelerate the indexing of your news articles?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★

News sitemaps allow for faster crawling only if Google is already trying to quickly index the content of a news site. Putting content into a News sitemap does not speed up indexing if Google is not already actively crawling the site.

Content Crawl & Indexing Discover & News AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Search Console

Can self-referential canonical tags really safeguard your site from URL duplications?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

Using a canonical tag pointing to the page itself allows Google to manage URL variations (www/non-www, UTM parameters, etc.) and consolidates indexing on the preferred version even if different URLs exist.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Can database-generated sites still rank by automatically cross-referencing data?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★★

Creating millions of pages by automatically cross-referencing data (cities × services, for example) is not enough. Algorithms seek unique value beyond the simple compilation of data already available elsewhere on the web.

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Why does it really take 3 to 4 months for a revamp to be recognized by Google?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2021 ★★

After significant qualitative improvements on a site, it takes about 3 to 4 months for Google to recrawl the content and understand that the site has fundamentally changed. The technical recrawl can take about a month.

Content Crawl & Indexing