What does Google say about SEO?

How does cleaning up your URL structure really enhance the ranking of your strategic pages?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★★

When poor pages (tags similar to categories) rank better than good ones, cleaning up the structure helps: reducing internal links to these pages, using rel=canonical, or redirecting to the desired pages concentrates value on fewer pages and makes the...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Pagination & Structure

Does hidden text for accessibility really harm your site's SEO?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★

Invisible titles for accessibility (voice navigation) are not treated as problematic cloaking. This is very common on the web. At worst, Google may consider this text less relevant because it is invisible to users, but it does not negatively affect t...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Pagination & Structure Penalties & Spam

Why do your impressions skyrocket on certain days in Search Console?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★

Regular spikes in impressions in Search Console can result from user search cycles (normal weekly variations) or traces left by position tracking tools. These traces are typically filtered but can persist in Search Console.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Search Console

How can you implement paywall schema when conducting A/B tests with multiple variations?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★

For A/B tests of paywalls with variations, implement the paywall markup corresponding to what all users see (the common denominator). Google does not need 100% exact markup for each page; recognizing that a paywall exists with variations is sufficien...

Domain Age & History Structured Data AI & SEO

Should you really show the complete content to Googlebot if the paywall blocks users?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★★

Googlebot must be able to see the complete content to understand the ranking topic, AND see the structured paywall markup. Users do not need to see this markup, but it is essential for Google to see it, especially if Googlebot receives the full conte...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Does Google rewrite your titles to manipulate your click-through rates?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★★

Google sometimes rewrites page titles based on user queries to better match what they are searching for. This occurs if the title is generic, duplicated across multiple pages, or simply a list of keywords. The rewriting aims to encourage clicks, not ...

Domain Age & History Content

Is it true that Google rewrites your title tags, and how can you ensure your original version gets displayed?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★

If Google frequently rewrites your titles, improving them to better match user intent increases the chances that Google will show your original title. A better title generates more clicks and can indirectly improve ranking through recommendations.

Content AI & SEO Local Search

Does a modified HTML title lose its ranking power in the SERPs?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★★

When Google changes the displayed title in search results, it does not disregard it for ranking purposes. The HTML title remains used for ranking; only the display in the SERPs changes according to the query.

Domain Age & History Content Featured Snippets & SERP

Should you stop optimizing for synonyms and geographical variations?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★★

With the development of machine learning, Google understands synonyms (accommodation/hotels) much better. It is not necessary to mention all the variations of words on a page; Google understands that they refer to the same thing. The same goes for ci...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Can an adult domain host non-adult sections without penalizing the entire site?

John Mueller Dec 11, 2020 ★★

Safe Search filters generally apply to a broad URL pattern across a site. If the majority of a domain is adult with a small non-adult segment, Google will likely filter the entire domain. Using subdomains or separate domains makes it easier to distin...

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Does Google really render ALL crawled pages with JavaScript?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Almost all crawled pages go through the JavaScript rendering process. The Web Rendering Service orchestrates numerous Chrome instances in the cloud to execute JavaScript and build the final DOM, exactly as a browser would.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Does PageRank really function the way we think it does?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Google still uses the original PageRank algorithm since 1996-97, but it has been significantly enhanced: more robust and less costly to execute. PageRank is now an integer ranging from 0 to about 65,000, not from 0 to 10 like the old toolbar.

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Should you really give up buying quality links for your SEO?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

You should not buy links, whether from link farms or even high-quality sources. A few high-quality links increase PageRank more effectively than many low-quality links.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Does Safe Search really apply during indexing?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★

Safe Search is a signal calculated during the indexing phase to determine if a page contains adult content. This helps prevent surprising users with inappropriate results for innocent searches.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Local Search

Are all indexing signals really ranking signals?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Among the many signals extracted during indexing, some become ranking signals (SafeSearch, country, language) while others do not (like most of the hashes used for canonicalization).

Crawl & Indexing Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO International SEO

Is it really necessary to aim for SEO perfection to rank?

John Mueller Dec 10, 2020 ★★

For small businesses, it is not necessary to be absolutely perfect in SEO. Being a bit better than competitors is sufficient. Efforts should be concentrated on what truly matters rather than aiming for perfection.

AI & SEO

Is it true that you need 3000 words to rank well on Google?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

There is no minimum word count required to rank well on Google. The claim that 3000 words are necessary to be ranked is completely false. Content length is not a ranking factor in itself.

Content AI & SEO

How does Google categorize your pages into duplicate clusters before selecting the canonical one?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★

When Google calculates and compares the digital fingerprints of pages, those that are similar or partially similar are grouped together in a duplicate cluster before selecting a canonical URL.

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

How does Google choose the canonical URL among more than 20 signals?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Google uses over 20 different signals to determine which page should be selected as the canonical URL in a cluster of duplicates. These signals include content, PageRank, HTTPS, sitemaps, and redirects.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security Links & Backlinks Domain Name Redirects Search Console

Is PageRank still influencing the selection of canonical URLs?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

PageRank is still used by Google as one of the signals to determine which page should become canonical among a group of duplicate pages, even after all these years.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Links & Backlinks