What does Google say about SEO?

Do Core Web Vitals apply to subdomains or just the main domain?

John Mueller Feb 19, 2021 ★★★

Data from the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) is maintained at the origin level, which means the hostname including the subdomain and the protocol. If you have different subdomains, they will be treated separately regarding Core Web Vitals.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Web Performance

How does Google really handle canonicalization and hreflang on multilingual sites?

John Mueller Feb 19, 2021 ★★★

Google recognizes identical content across different country versions, clusters it, and chooses a canonical URL for indexing. With correct hreflang, Google displays the appropriate local URL in the results, but bases its ranking on the indexed canoni...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Local Search International SEO

How can you identify and fix low-quality content after a Core Update?

John Mueller Feb 19, 2021 ★★

For a site affected by a core update, a good approach is to review the content deemed most relevant in Google via Search Console and ensure that this content is of the highest quality, addresses the need behind the query, and is trustworthy.

Algorithms Content AI & SEO Search Console

Should you really worry if the homepage outranks your internal pages?

John Mueller Feb 19, 2021 ★★

This is not necessarily something to fix if your homepage outranks your internal pages. For individual queries, Google attempts to recognize which is the most relevant result from your site and to display it. This is not considered a bad thing.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Why does Google struggle to understand pages overwhelmed with ads?

John Mueller Feb 19, 2021 ★★

On many pages where there is a map in the center and essentially everything else is ads, Google's systems can struggle to understand why this page should be relevant. You need to rethink how you want to be found in search.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

How does Google identify poor quality auto-generated content?

Google Feb 17, 2021 ★★

Text that makes no sense to readers but contains search keywords, poor quality translations produced by uncurated automated tools, and the assembly of content from different web pages without sufficient added value are considered problematic forms of...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO International SEO

Does unique content really make an affiliate site stand out?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★★

Unique, high-quality, and relevant content adds value for users and sets your site apart from others, thereby increasing the chances of being well-ranked in Google search results.

Content AI & SEO

Are thin affiliate sites with duplicate content really penalized by Google?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★★

Thin affiliate sites composed of content that appears in many other places on the web can be viewed negatively by search engines and users.

Content

Is it true that Google punishes affiliate sites that simply copy and paste?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★★

To make an affiliate site stand out, one must consider why a user would want to visit your site first instead of the original merchant's site. The site must add value beyond merely republishing content from the original merchant.

Content AI & SEO

Does fresh content really boost your Google ranking?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★

Up-to-date and relevant content is more useful for users and, therefore, more attractive to search engines that want to keep their results fresh.

Content AI & SEO

Why does Google penalize satellite pages even when they target different regions?

Google Feb 17, 2021 ★★

Having multiple domain names or pages targeting specific regions or cities that redirect users to a single page, or pages created to direct visitors to the actual usable or relevant portion of your site are examples of satellite pages.

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

What really happens to a site that breaks Google's guidelines?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★★

Sites that do not comply with monetization and organic search guidelines can be removed from the search index and have their ads disabled.

Crawl & Indexing

Is thin content really penalized by Google, or is it just a correlation?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★★

Google can classify pages that have thin content with little or no added value as low quality. This impacts both organic search rankings and the site's monetization strategy.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Can Google really detect and penalize content that is auto-generated with manipulative intent?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★★

Content that is automatically generated with the intent to manipulate search rankings can be subject to algorithmic or even manual actions from Google.

Algorithms Content AI & SEO

Should you really avoid making your site all about affiliate marketing?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★

Avoid making the affiliate program the central part of your site’s content. Highlight your unique and interesting features, such as price information or product categories.

Content E-commerce AI & SEO

Does consistently creating 'unique and valuable content' truly guarantee a better Google ranking?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★

Regularly create unique and valuable content that will interest your frequent users. This helps build a loyal readership and can create a reliable information source on the topic you are writing about.

Content AI & SEO Web Performance

Why does Google deprioritize satellite pages in its search results?

Aurora Morales Feb 17, 2021 ★★★

Satellite pages are sites or pages created with minimal unique content targeting specific keywords. They are made solely for search engines with little or no original content, and search engines deprioritize them.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Should You Remove User Comments from Your Pages to Boost SEO?

John Mueller Feb 15, 2021 ★★★

John Mueller explained during a webmaster hangout that if you remove user comments from a web page, there will inevitably be an impact on the page's ranking: "From our perspective, we consider comments to be part of the content. We also recognize, in...

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

Should You Really Trust Google Patents for Your SEO Strategy?

John Mueller Feb 15, 2021 ★★★

John Mueller indicated during the same hangout that when Google files a patent application, it does not necessarily mean that what is described in the patent is integrated into the relevance algorithm used by the search engine.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Do Short Domain Names and URLs Actually Boost Your SEO Rankings?

John Mueller Feb 15, 2021 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Twitter that using a short domain name or short URLs (number of words or characters) does not provide any "bonus" in terms of SEO.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Social Media