What does Google say about SEO?

Are Your Images Invisible to Google Costing You Valuable Traffic?

Kristina Azarenko Feb 25, 2021 ★★

If Google can't index your images properly, you're missing out on visual search. This is especially crucial for sites that rely heavily on visual search, such as travel websites with destination photos.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos

Does Google really render all JavaScript pages without limitation?

Martin Splitt Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

Google does indeed render all pages, and it is acceptable to use JavaScript to generate content. This is the reality of the modern web, and Google must work within this framework.

Domain Age & History Content JavaScript & Technical SEO Pagination & Structure

Should you still optimize JavaScript for search engines other than Google?

Martin Splitt Feb 25, 2021 ★★

Martin Splitt specifies that he is specifically talking about Google Search. Other search engines may have different compromises and do not necessarily render all JavaScript pages.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Should you really prioritize HTML over JavaScript for your main content?

Kristina Azarenko Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

It is preferable to have as much content as possible in the initial HTML rather than in JavaScript, especially for important elements like canonical tags and title tags. This makes the site more robust and faster for users.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Should you really ditch JavaScript libraries for native lazy loading solutions?

Martin Splitt Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

For lazy loading images, it is recommended to either use the browser's native lazy loading with the 'loading=lazy' attribute, or a solution based on Intersection Observer rather than libraries that can cause issues.

Domain Age & History Images & Videos Web Performance

Does PageRank really operate just like it did back in 1998?

Gary Illyes Feb 25, 2021 ★★

In response to the question about the evolution of PageRank, Gary Illyes confirms that Google still uses PageRank in the same way as at the beginning.

Domain Age & History Links & Backlinks

Is dynamic rendering really dead for SEO?

Martin Splitt Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

Google ceased recommending dynamic rendering with the release of Evergreen Googlebot in May 2019. While it is still supported, it is no longer considered a reasonable solution, and it's better to invest in server-side rendering.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Is JavaScript really wreaking havoc on your Core Web Vitals?

Martin Splitt Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

Excessive use of JavaScript can negatively impact all three Core Web Vitals metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (loading delay), First Input Delay (interaction block), and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability).

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Pagination & Structure Web Performance

How can you escape Google's duplicate content filter?

Gary Illyes Feb 25, 2021 ★★

When multiple sites have the same product description, Google only displays one version. To stand out from the cluster of duplicate content, you need to add substantial and high-quality content to ensure your page is distinguished from others.

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce Local Search

Should you really limit the length of title tags to 60 characters?

Gary Illyes Feb 25, 2021 ★★

There is value in having title tags longer than the display space in snippets. Google does not set a specific character count. The advice is to keep the title precise and relevant to the page, without overly worrying about the exact length.

Domain Age & History Content JavaScript & Technical SEO

Does submitting a sitemap really ensure your pages get indexed?

Google Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

Submitting a sitemap or requesting indexing does not promise that Google will index the pages. These are suggestions, not guarantees of indexing.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Search Console

Do crawl errors really block your content from being indexed?

Google Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

Server errors and connectivity issues (like being unable to access robots.txt) prevent Google from seeing the content, which directly impacts indexing and search performance.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Web Performance Search Console

Does Google really deindex outdated pages to protect your site?

Google Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

Pages that hold no user value (like completed job listings) can be removed from the index. Keeping numerous outdated pages can harm user perception of the overall site.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing

Does duplicate content really lead to a Google penalty?

Google Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

Duplicate content does not lead to a penalty. Google simply chooses a canonical version to display. The risk is that the wrong version is selected as the main one, not a sanction.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Local Search

Does the DMCA really protect your content from scraping?

Google Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

For sites that illegally copy content, it's recommended to use the DMCA procedure. Google does not automatically penalize the original, but duplicated content can affect the choice of the canonical version.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Do we really need to mark up article reviewers for SEO?

Google Feb 25, 2021 ★★

There is no dedicated structured markup for article supervisors/reviewers. The 'editor' schema can be used broadly, but Google does not use this data for display. The visible display is sufficient.

Domain Age & History Discover & News AI & SEO

Are cookie and legal interstitials really harming your SEO?

Google Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

Cookie interstitials or legal age verification are exempt from penalties. Google distinguishes between intrusive interstitials and legally required interstitials based on their purpose, without disclosing the precise technical criteria.

Content

Why does JavaScript remain the most expensive resource for loading your pages?

Martin Splitt Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

Among all assets (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, videos, audio), JavaScript is the most costly resource because it must be downloaded, parsed into machine format, and then executed before content appears. This can never be as fast as direct HTML cont...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO

How can you tell if your site is affected by manual actions or algorithmic declines?

Gary Illyes Feb 25, 2021 ★★★

A manual action is targeted and occurs when a site violates guidelines (link manipulation, spam content). An algorithm change is not targeted and aims to resolve a systemic issue in search results. You have control in both cases, but the manual actio...

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

Your site isn’t indexed but no technical issues are found: should we really blame content quality?

Google Feb 25, 2021 ★★

When a site is not indexed and no technical issues are detected, there is no problem on Google's side. Improving content quality is recommended rather than searching for technical causes.

Content Crawl & Indexing