What does Google say about SEO?

Do you really need to follow the H1-H6 hierarchy to rank on Google?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★★

Google does not require a perfectly hierarchical heading structure. Having an H3 without a parent H2 or multiple H1s on a page is acceptable. There is no SEO advantage to having a clear structure, nor is there a disadvantage to not having one. Headin...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Should you redirect WordPress attachment pages to media files for better SEO?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

Redirecting WordPress attachment pages to media files likely does not impact SEO significantly, as Google typically does not index these attachment pages in a visible way. Images are indexed from the blog posts or main pages where they are embedded.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Discover & News AI & SEO Images & Videos PDF & Files Redirects

Why does Google sometimes ignore your 301 redirects and choose the old URL as canonical?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★★

Even with 301 redirects in place for a long time, Google may choose the source URL over the target URL as the canonical URL. Google uses many factors (internal links, external links, sitemaps, annotations) to determine which URL to display. This is n...

Crawl & Indexing Links & Backlinks Domain Name Local Search Redirects Search Console

How can you align all canonicalization signals to influence Google's choice?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★★

To influence the choice of the canonical URL by Google, all canonicalization factors must be aligned: internal links, sitemap files, hreflang annotations, and other cross-links must all point to the URL you wish to see indexed.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name PDF & Files Search Console International SEO

Why does Google admit that the hreflang/canonical operation is intentionally confusing in Search Console?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★★

Google groups international pages with the same content into a canonical cluster, selects a canonical URL, and then uses hreflang to display the appropriate URL based on the user's location. In Search Console, data is based on the canonical URL, whic...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Local Search Search Console International SEO

Does BERT really make exact match keywords obsolete in SEO?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★★

With BERT and the advancements in machine learning, the importance of having exact keywords on your pages is diminishing. It’s no longer necessary to include all variants (singular/plural, common misspellings) as long as you genuinely align with what...

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Is it enough to use the right text in FAQ Schema markup, or do you need to copy the exact HTML?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

For FAQ Schema, the visible text on the page must correspond to the text in the JSON markup, but the HTML may vary slightly. You can have affiliate links in the visible text and remove the A tags from the JSON. The links can even be kept in the marku...

Domain Age & History Content Structured Data AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks

Should you really standardize your URL structure for better rankings?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

Google does not require a consistent URL structure on your site. Mixed structures (with and without subfolders) technically work. However, a clear structure helps better analyze performance in Search Console and Analytics, not directly improve SEO ra...

Content AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Web Performance Search Console

Does Google really show only one site when content is syndicated across multiple domains?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

If you publish the same content on two different sites, Google is expected to choose only one to display in the results as Top Stories, not both. Just because the same content is published does not mean it holds the same value across both locations.

Content AI & SEO Local Search

Is it really necessary to write lengthy articles to rank your recipe pages?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★★

Google does not count the number of words on a page. There's no need to fill your recipe pages with thousands of words or long stories to rank well. Short pages with precise content can rank very well, particularly with the help of structured data.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

AVIF in Image SEO: Why Does Google Still Ignore This Format in Search Images?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

AVIF is not listed in the public documentation for Image Search and is likely not supported at this time. Evergreen Googlebot can render these images for text-based web search, but not for Image Search. Support could come as usage and browser support...

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

Can missing subfolders in a URL actually harm your pages' SEO?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

It is not necessary for all subfolders of a URL to be functional. Google treats URLs as individual identifiers of content. If /play/movie exists but /play returns 404, this does not affect the indexing of /play/movie. However, be aware of breadcrumb ...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Structured Data AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure

Does Google always index the canonical page before the source page?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

There is no fixed order between indexing duplicate content and processing the canonical tag. Sometimes Google directly follows the canonical link and indexes the destination page; other times, it first processes the original page. The process depends...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Can Google truly spot all expired domains repurchased for their backlinks?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

Google's systems attempt to understand how to manage expired domains repurchased for their backlinks. Google generally succeeds in identifying cases of abuse, although this is not always perfect. The legitimate transfer of site ownership is normal an...

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Pagination & Structure

Should you still structure your pages now that Google understands passages?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

Passage ranking helps Google better understand poorly structured pages, but that doesn't mean webmasters should do nothing. Properly structuring your content remains a best practice. It's more about helping Google understand the existing content than...

Domain Age & History Content Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Should you prioritize a long hub page or multiple detailed pages for your SEO?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

There is no definitive answer indicating that a long page is better than several short pages. The strategy depends on your objectives. Having fewer, stronger pages can be effective, but sometimes separate detailed pages are necessary. A/B testing is ...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

How many EMDs can you buy without triggering a doorway page filter?

John Mueller Nov 10, 2020 ★★

Buying multiple exact match domains (location + product) can be viewed as doorway pages by Google. For 10-15 domains, this is probably not a major issue. Beyond 100 or 1000 domains, the risk that Google only indexes a single main site significantly i...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Penalties & Spam Local Search International SEO

Why Can Google Deindex 18,000 Pages in Just a Few Days Without It Being Abnormal?

John Mueller Nov 09, 2020 ★★★

John Mueller indicated on Twitter, in response to a webmaster who was surprised that, on a site he was managing, 18,000 URLs had been deindexed in a few days by Google, that this kind of thing could happen and that it didn't surprise him that much.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Social Media

What happens when a page contains two conflicting canonical tags?

John Mueller Nov 09, 2020 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Twitter that if a page contains two "canonical" tags, each pointing to a different URL, this information will be considered "undefined" by Google and neither of the two tags will be taken into account.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Social Media

Do YouTube videos really enhance a web page's ranking?

Google Nov 05, 2020 ★★★

Embedding YouTube videos or others on a website does not directly improve search results rankings. The positive effect comes from enhancing the user experience when the video genuinely helps in understanding the content.

Content AI & SEO Images & Videos