What does Google say about SEO?

Why Is Merging Content Riskier Than a Domain Migration?

John Mueller Feb 04, 2025 ★★★

According to John Mueller, content consolidation on a website is more complex for Google to handle than a simple site move. Indeed, when you decide to merge multiple pieces of content by reducing the number of URLs, Google takes longer to process the...

Domain Age & History Content Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Local Search Redirects

How Can You Prevent Google From Completely 'Forgetting' Your Indexed Pages?

Gary Illyes Feb 04, 2025 ★★★

Gary Illyes clarified the 'URL unknown to Google' status in Search Console. According to him, when a URL receives this status, it means it is literally unknown to Google's systems and therefore has no indexing priority. This response follows a questi...

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

Should you really optimize image alt text for SEO purposes?

John Mueller Feb 04, 2025 ★★★

John Mueller indicated that the decision to use alt text for an image should not be motivated solely by SEO considerations, but by accessibility reasons. On this occasion, he shares a decision tree from the W3C for the appropriate use of alt text.

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

Why do Search Console clicks and Analytics sessions never match up?

Cherry Prommawin Jan 29, 2025 ★★★

A click in Search Console is counted when someone clicks on a link in Google search results. A session in Google Analytics is defined as a group of user interactions with your site. These metrics are not equivalent and generate normal discrepancies.

Links & Backlinks Search Console

Why do Search Console and Google Analytics show conflicting data?

Daniel Waisberg Jan 29, 2025 ★★★

Search Console reports data only for the canonical URL selected by Google in search results, while Google Analytics reports all URLs that include the tracking code, which can create divergences between the two tools.

Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Search Console

Why does Search Console report more traffic than Analytics for your non-HTML content?

Daniel Waisberg Jan 29, 2025 ★★

Non-HTML pages are included by default in Search Console if they appear or are clicked in search results, whereas Google Analytics may not be configured to measure them, creating data discrepancies.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Search Console

Why do your traffic data differ between Search Console and Analytics?

Daniel Waisberg Jan 29, 2025 ★★

Search Console breaks down traffic by Web, Image, Video, News, and Discover. These segmentation categories differ from those used in Google Analytics, which explains certain data divergences.

Domain Age & History Discover & News AI & SEO Images & Videos Search Console

Why do Search Console and Google Analytics show different traffic numbers?

Daniel Waisberg Jan 29, 2025 ★★

Google Analytics automatically excludes traffic from identified bots and spiders, while Search Console doesn't necessarily filter them out, which can lead to differences in the traffic figures reported.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Search Console

Is Search Console really THE benchmark for measuring Google organic traffic?

Cherry Prommawin Jan 29, 2025 ★★★

The source of truth regarding Google organic search is always Search Console. Although Google Analytics also provides data on organic traffic, Search Console remains the official benchmark for measuring performance in Google search.

Web Performance Search Console

Does Search Console Really Only Track Data Before Users Click Through to Your Site?

Cherry Prommawin Jan 29, 2025 ★★★

Search Console provides data on what happens before users visit your site when they come from Google Search (impressions, clicks, positions, queries). It does not show what users do once they arrive on your site.

Search Console

Does Google really process Search Console data the same way for every single website?

Daniel Waisberg Jan 29, 2025 ★★

Search Console provides access to Google search data that is processed by Google uniformly across all properties. The way you configure your settings will have less impact on the data than it would in Google Analytics.

AI & SEO Search Console

Should you worry about discrepancies between Search Console and Google Analytics?

Daniel Waisberg Jan 29, 2025 ★★

If the difference between Search Console and Google Analytics data is small, you can ignore these discrepancies. Since the systems are different, these divergences are expected and normal.

AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Search Console

Should you really cross Search Console and Google Analytics data to optimize your SEO strategy?

Cherry Prommawin Jan 29, 2025 ★★★

Despite data differences, both tools are extremely valuable for providing a holistic view of your site's performance. Each tool is powerful on its own and offers information the other doesn't have, so using both together is worthwhile.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance Search Console

Should You Dynamically Modify Your robots.txt to Control Server Load?

John Mueller Jan 28, 2025 ★★★

John Mueller strongly advises against modifying the robots.txt file dynamically several times a day. He explains that this is not effective, as Google caches this file for approximately 24 hours. This recommendation follows a question from a technici...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO PDF & Files Web Performance

Should You Really Care About Word Count for SEO?

John Mueller Jan 28, 2025 ★★

John Mueller reacted to screenshots showing different SEO tools counting words differently on the same web page. He pointed out on Bluesky that this clearly demonstrates why word counting in itself makes little sense.

Domain Age & History Content Pagination & Structure

Can SEO really hurt your website instead of helping it?

John Mueller Jan 28, 2025 ★★

John Mueller has suggested that implementing certain SEO techniques could sometimes cause more harm than good for a website. He even goes so far as to imply that, in some cases, doing nothing would be preferable!

Content AI & SEO

Can Google Core Updates Actually Change Your Site Name in Search Results?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2025 ★★★

On Bluesky, John Mueller clarified that Core Updates, meaning the main algorithm updates, should not impact the display or change of site names in search results. This response followed a user who indicated that their company name had changed, then b...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Should You Stop Optimizing URLs for SEO in 2024?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2025 ★★★

On Bluesky, John Mueller recently confirmed that the URL alone provides only a minimal signal to search engines. According to him, what really matters is the content and all the other factors that provide strong signals. He illustrates his point by e...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure

Do You Really Need to Fix Every 404 Error Detected in Search Console?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2025 ★★★

John Mueller has provided clarification on the validation process in Search Console, particularly regarding the management of 404 errors and redirects during site migrations. He notably explained that the "mark as fixed" option primarily serves to tr...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Redirects Search Console

Should You Really Worry About a Massive Loss of Backlinks for Your SEO?

John Mueller Jan 14, 2025 ★★

When asked about the impact of a sudden and massive loss of backlinks on a site's ranking, John Mueller responded that SEO experts often tend to overestimate the importance of links. He suggested that, in many cases, these fluctuations can be attribu...

Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks