What does Google say about SEO?

Should you really be concerned about crawl budget for your site?

John Mueller Nov 19, 2020 ★★★

Crawl budget is not a concern for most sites, as Google has no trouble exploring enough URLs on the majority of websites.

Crawl & Indexing Domain Name

Is crawl budget really a non-issue for most websites?

John Mueller Nov 19, 2020 ★★★

Crawl budget is a topic that mainly affects large websites, typically those with more than a few hundred thousand URLs.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Does Google really adjust the crawl budget automatically based on your server's capacity?

John Mueller Nov 19, 2020 ★★★

Google’s systems automatically determine the maximum number of requests a server can handle over a given period. This parameter is automatically adjusted over time.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Is your server slowing down? Does Google really cut your crawl budget because of that?

John Mueller Nov 19, 2020 ★★★

When Google notices that a server starts to slow down or return server errors, the available crawl budget for crawlers is reduced.

Crawl & Indexing

Why does Google require full access to embedded resources to properly index your pages?

John Mueller Nov 19, 2020 ★★★

For rendering, Google's services must be able to access embedded content such as JavaScript files, CSS, images, videos, as well as responses from APIs used on the pages.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files

Does Google really cache the rendering of your pages to save crawl budget?

John Mueller Nov 19, 2020 ★★

Google makes extensive use of caching to try to reduce the number of requests necessary to display a page.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance Local Search

Why does rendering a page always result in more than one server request?

John Mueller Nov 19, 2020 ★★

In most cases, rendering a page leads to more than just a single request to the server, surpassing only the HTML file.

Domain Age & History PDF & Files

Is it really necessary to reduce embedded resources to improve the crawling of large sites?

John Mueller Nov 19, 2020 ★★★

For large sites, reducing the number of embedded resources necessary to display a page can aid in Google crawling.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Local Search

Does cutting down on embedded resources really boost speed and enhance crawling?

John Mueller Nov 19, 2020 ★★★

Reducing embedded resources generally makes pages faster for users, thereby improving both crawling and user experience.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance

Do Expired Domains Still Work for SEO in 2024?

John Mueller Nov 16, 2020 ★★★

John Mueller discussed the use of expired domain names in SEO during a hangout. He explained that Google is well aware of all this, and the way some people use expired domains for more or less justified reasons and following the engine's recommendati...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Search Console

How Do Search Algorithms Really Weight SEO Criteria?

Google Nov 16, 2020 ★★★

Fabrice Canel (Bing) explained in an interview that the weight given to each relevance criterion in the algorithm was determined by machine learning systems. He himself wouldn't be able to say, at any given time T, what the weight of any particular c...

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Why doesn't Google index your non-canonical AMP pages?

Gary Illyes Nov 16, 2020 ★★★

Non-canonical AMP pages (AMP as an alternative format) are not indexed. Google only indexes the main HTML version and presents AMP as an alternative format in search results for users.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Mobile SEO

Is it true that Google indexes canonical AMP pages just like classic HTML?

Gary Illyes Nov 16, 2020 ★★★

When a page is both standalone and canonical (standalone AMP), Google treats it exactly like a normal HTML page and it can be indexed in the same way as a classic HTML page.

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

Does AMP really enhance your Google rankings?

Gary Illyes Nov 16, 2020 ★★★

AMP is not inherently a ranking signal in Google's algorithm. The AMP badge displayed in search results is purely visual and does not affect positioning.

Algorithms Images & Videos Mobile SEO

Why does Google index your images with a completely separate system from the rest of your content?

Gary Illyes Nov 16, 2020 ★★

Google uses a completely different indexing mechanism for images. During content conversion, image tags are extracted and their URLs are sent to a specialized image indexer that performs image recognition.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Images & Videos Domain Name

Why is video indexing so complicated for Google (and how can you take advantage of it)?

Gary Illyes Nov 16, 2020 ★★

Video indexing is very complex because it requires processing around 20-24 frames per second plus the audio track to understand the content. Google uses the same indexing mechanism as for images, but in a much more complicated way.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos

Are Web Stories really indexed like regular pages by Google?

Pascal Birchler Nov 16, 2020 ★★★

Web Stories are built on AMP and are canonical AMP pages. They are treated like regular web pages that can be indexed and appear in search, Discover, and even image search.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Discover & News AI & SEO Images & Videos Mobile SEO

Does optimizing Web Stories really require specific SEO practices or just the basics?

Pascal Birchler Nov 16, 2020 ★★

To optimize Web Stories, you need to apply standard SEO practices: meta description, schema.org metadata. Specific AMP elements are also required, such as the poster image and the publisher logo, without which the Story would not be valid AMP.

Domain Age & History Content Structured Data AI & SEO Images & Videos Mobile SEO

Why does Google change results even during freeze periods for updates?

John Mueller Nov 16, 2020 ★★

Even during freeze periods for launches at Google, search results continue to evolve automatically as ranking systems are algorithmic. The constantly changing web means these modifications are automatically reflected in search.

Algorithms

301 Redirect or Canonical for Merging Two Sites: What's the SEO Difference?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2020 ★★★

To merge two websites, use a 301 redirect if you want to completely combine the sites and clean up the old one. Use the canonical if you want to keep the old site active for reasons other than SEO while concentrating your SEO efforts on the new one.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Redirects