What does Google say about SEO?

Should you really delay AdSense JavaScript to boost your SEO?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★

Delaying the loading of AdSense JavaScript code can enhance user experience by allowing the site to become interactive and visible more quickly, with the main content available before the ads load.

Content JavaScript & Technical SEO

Why won't Google reveal the dimensions of Googlebot's viewport?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

The dimensions of the viewport used by Googlebot are an implementation detail that can change at any time without notice. Google does not voluntarily disclose these exact dimensions because websites should not rely on them.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Local Search

How does Googlebot really handle content at the bottom of the page?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Googlebot does not utilize scrolling but expands the viewport vertically. When new content is detected, the viewport grows larger, within certain limits related to memory constraints.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO

Does Google really skip indexing content that relies on viewport size?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

Important content for SEO should not depend on a specific viewport size to load. If it's important to Google, you need to find a way to include it regardless of screen dimensions.

Content AI & SEO Mobile SEO

Should you serve meta tags server-side or accept that they might be changed by JavaScript?

Martin Splitt Dec 10, 2020 ★★★

It is recommended to always render meta tags consistently before JavaScript intervention, or at minimum to omit them if the server version and the JavaScript-rendered version cannot be consistent.

JavaScript & Technical SEO

Does Google really have a guess on how to rank a new site before it even has any data?

John Mueller Dec 09, 2020 ★★

For a new site, Google does not know its acceptance in the web ecosystem. Systems make assumptions about the initial ranking, which can be optimistic or pessimistic, until enough signals are gathered.

AI & SEO

Why do new sites experience roller coasters in the SERPs?

John Mueller Dec 09, 2020 ★★

Position fluctuations for a new site are normal: Google may initially rank it optimistically and then adjust downward, or conversely start pessimistically and then improve. It's a learning phase, not a penalty.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Should you really worry about the crawl budget if it's under a million URLs?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★★

If your site has fewer than a million URLs, you generally don't need to worry about crawl budget. This figure serves as a reference baseline.

Crawl & Indexing Domain Name

Is Crawl Budget Really a Thing or Just an SEO Myth?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★★

Crawl budget is the number of URLs that Googlebot can and must crawl. The instructions come from the crawl scheduling system, which estimates which pages need to be recrawled and which sections require discovery.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Domain Name

Can Googlebot really stop crawling your site due to server error codes?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★★

Googlebot automatically slows down if the site sends 429 or 50x codes, or if response speed significantly decreases. Crawling can even stop completely if these signals persist.

Crawl & Indexing Web Performance

How can you spot a genuine crawl budget issue on your website?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★

To identify crawl budget issues, check for URLs that have never been crawled in your server logs and monitor refresh rates. If certain sections aren’t refreshed for months despite modifications, it’s an indicator.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Is your API usage secretly draining your crawl budget?

Martin Splitt Dec 09, 2020 ★★

For sites sensitive to crawl budget, client-side JavaScript with multiple API requests (e.g., 5 requests per page on 10 million pages) counts against the crawl budget and can accumulate quickly.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks

Does Google really mean it when they say every URL counts toward your crawl budget?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★

Every crawled URL counts against the crawl budget: alternate language versions, CSS files, images. Even 170 language variations of a page all consume budget; they are not exempt.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos Domain Name PDF & Files

Is it true that HTML is actually faster to parse than JavaScript for SEO?

Martin Splitt Dec 09, 2020 ★★★

Browsers excel at parsing HTML as soon as it is received. JavaScript requires fetching the entire blob, parsing it, executing it, making network requests for data, and then creating the HTML. Pure JavaScript will always be slower than receiving HTML ...

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Why does Google refuse to answer your SEO questions in private?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★★

Google cannot answer SEO questions in private (email, DM) because it would create an unfair advantage. Questions must be asked publicly on Twitter, in webmaster help forums, or during public office hours.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Social Media

Does spending more on Google Ads really boost your SEO?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★★

The amount spent on Google Ads or other Google products (Cloud, etc.) has no influence on SEO questions or organic ranking. The Honest Results policy strictly prohibits it.

E-commerce AI & SEO

Should you still report spam to Google if reports are never handled individually?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★★

Google encourages the submission of spam reports through the dedicated form. These reports are analyzed as a whole to identify trends, not individually. Google is looking for scalable solutions to address identified types of spam. Don’t expect rapid ...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam Search Console

Is it true that Google refuses to give direct SEO answers?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★

Google cannot always give direct answers to SEO questions, but providing general direction can be very helpful. Seeing the path to take may be sufficient for a webmaster to debug an issue on their side.

AI & SEO

Does the Google feedback form in the SERPs really work?

Gary Illyes Dec 09, 2020 ★★

The feedback form directly within Google search results is reviewed by analysts. Some feedback is escalated internally if it is actionable. It's a legitimate way to report search quality issues.

AI & SEO

Is it a myth that JavaScript rendering really helps with SEO?

Martin Splitt Dec 09, 2020 ★★

Pre-rendering, SSR, and dynamic rendering were not created for SEO. They exist primarily for developer experience (maintaining a single codebase) and especially user experience (loading speed).

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO