What does Google say about SEO?

Can the canonical tag really be ignored by Google?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

The link rel canonical tag is a strong signal to indicate to Google which URL should be canonical, as it represents an explicit specification from the author. However, it is part of a set of weighted signals.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name

Does canonicalization really impact Google rankings?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Canonicalization is completely independent of ranking. The signals used to choose the canonical URL (like presence in the sitemap) do not serve to improve that page’s position in search results.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Search Console

Should you ditch infinite scroll to ensure proper indexing by Google?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

For infinite scroll, it is recommended to split the content so that it is accessible via specific URLs, to submit individual elements via sitemap, or to offer a paginated version as an alternative.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos Domain Name Search Console

Is it true that the Intersection Observer is really crawled by Googlebot?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

The Intersection Observer is a recommended approach for lazy loading with Googlebot. Google seems to trigger all intersection observers as long as they generate new content, within certain limits.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos Web Performance

Is it true that Googlebot uses a 10,000-pixel viewport?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★

The starting width and height of Googlebot's viewport should be 10,000 pixels in each direction, although it may vary depending on the configuration and is not guaranteed.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO

Why does Google set its crawler's viewport width to 1024 pixels?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★

Unlike height, which extends vertically, the viewport width seems fixed. Tests suggest it is 1024 pixels, but this is not officially confirmed and may change.

AI & SEO Mobile SEO

Do no-archive meta tags in JavaScript really work?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

No-archive meta tags inserted via JavaScript may not be reliably considered. Google cache might extract information before rendering, creating race conditions.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance

Does Google really analyze meta tags both before and after JavaScript rendering?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Meta tags on non-AMP pages are analyzed both before and after JavaScript rendering. However, some systems like caching may access the content before full rendering.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO Web Performance

Is Google truly keeping its rendering engine up to date as fast as claimed with Evergreen Chrome?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Google uses an evergreen version of Chrome for web page rendering. This version is updated a few weeks after each new stable release of Chrome. The system automatically manages errors and retries in case of rendering failure.

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

Does Google really utilize ALL of your structured data, including the invalid ones?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Google extracts all forms of structured data present on a page, not just those validated by the Rich Results Test. This data is used, among other things, to infer information about the entities present on the pages.

Domain Age & History Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO

How does Google determine the location and language of your pages during indexing?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Google determines during indexing which country or metropolitan area the pages are local to, as well as their language. These signals are used as ranking factors to give a slight boost to locally relevant pages.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Local Search International SEO

Does client-side JavaScript really enhance your SEO strategy?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Google can perfectly index and rank sites using client-side JavaScript, but developers should only use it when absolutely necessary. For simple sites like blogs or marketing sites, server-side rendering is preferable.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks

What JavaScript mistakes are silently killing your crawl budget?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★

Developers must avoid mistakes such as pointing all canonicals to the homepage, using fragments for routing, inadvertently blocking APIs in robots.txt, or misapplying noindex tags.

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

Why should SEO be involved from the technical architecture phase of a web project?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★

SEOs need to get involved right from the architectural decision-making phases and not wait until everything is developed. Developers must also take SEO, UX, accessibility, and design seriously rather than considering them as secondary.

AI & SEO

How does Google really detect duplicate content using checksums?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★

Google detects duplicate content by reducing the textual content to a digital fingerprint (checksum). This method allows for effective page comparison without having to analyze the entire text each time.

Domain Age & History Content

Does Google really ignore your navigation and footers when detecting duplicates?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Google uses algorithms to detect and remove repetitive content from pages (navigation, footer) when calculating the digital fingerprint. Only the central content of the page (centerpiece) is used to identify duplicates.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content Pagination & Structure

Do redirects really outweigh the HTTPS signal when it comes to choosing the canonical URL?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

A redirect (301 or any other type) carries significantly more weight in the canonicalization process than whether a page is on HTTPS or HTTP, as the user will ultimately see the destination of the redirect.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Redirects

How does Google really weigh canonicalization signals?

Gary Illyes Dec 10, 2020 ★★

Google employs machine learning to automatically calculate and adjust the weights of various canonicalization signals. Manual weight adjustments were too complex as altering one signal unpredictably affected all others.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Does Google really pay attention to your feedback on its SEO documentation?

Lizzi Harvey Dec 10, 2020 ★★

User feedback on Google documentation (via the feedback button, Twitter, and forums) is indeed read and processed by the documentation team. Specific and detailed feedback is most helpful for improving the content.

Content AI & SEO PDF & Files Social Media

Should you really reach out to the AdSense team to solve your PageSpeed performance issues?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★

For performance issues related to AdSense (yellow or red PageSpeed scores), Martin Splitt recommends contacting the AdSense team directly rather than the SEO team, as he does not know their codebase well enough to provide specific advice.

Domain Age & History Web Performance Search Console