What does Google say about SEO?

Does Googlebot really follow HTTP redirects to HTTPS like a regular browser?

John Mueller Oct 28, 2020 ★★

When Googlebot accesses an HTTP URL that redirects to HTTPS (which is typically the case for a site with both HTTP and HTTPS), it will follow this actual server-side redirect normally.

Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects

Does Publishing First Really Guarantee Google Will Recognize You as the Original Author?

John Mueller Oct 27, 2020 ★★★

John Mueller indicated on Twitter that the fact that Google indexes content first does not make that content original and "canonical". In other words, just because a spammer plagiarizes your content before it gets indexed by the search engine doesn't...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam Social Media

Can Your Slow Site Penalize Your Fast Pages?

John Mueller Oct 27, 2020 ★★★

John Mueller explained in a hangout that generally, the search engine uses granular data to analyze and test each page of a site. But sometimes, particularly regarding web performance (loading time), it lacks sufficient data to obtain a relevant resu...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Should You Really Limit the Number of Outbound Links on a Web Page?

John Mueller Oct 27, 2020 ★

For years, Google has indicated that there is no limit to the number of outbound links (internal or external) on a web page that are read by the search engine's robots. However, Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that such a limit (the number of outbou...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam Social Media

How Does Google Rank Specific Passages Within a Page Without Creating a Separate Index?

Danny Sullivan Oct 27, 2020 ★★★

Google recently announced that it would strengthen its ability to rank certain parts of a text (such as a paragraph), even when these are included in overall content with a different meaning. On this subject, Google provided some additional clarifica...

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

Should you really list all your products on your e-commerce site to rank higher?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★★

To help users find and navigate an e-commerce site, all products sold must be clearly published, whether in-store, online, or both. This assists Google in indexing this information and presenting it to users searching for products to buy.

Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO

How can you create effective product pages that truly impress Google?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★★

You need to create pages on the site that explain the products for sale, called Product Detail Pages (PDP). These pages must include high-quality images with a neutral or transparent background from various angles to help visitors decide what to buy ...

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO

Have complete purchase details become a Google ranking factor?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★

Product pages must display purchase information such as availability, pricing, shipping fees, and taxes. This information informs users how to pay and when they can receive the product.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO Local Search

Are customer reviews really a determining factor in Google's ranking?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★

Adding customer ratings and reviews is essential to help buyers in their search for products and their purchasing decisions.

E-commerce AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Local Search

Why have product structured data become essential for ranking in e-commerce?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★★

Adding product structured data to detailed pages allows Google to provide enriched search and image results. If the markup is correctly implemented, users can see the price, availability, and review ratings directly in Google search results.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO Images & Videos Local Search

How does Google use Search Console to highlight structured data issues?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★

Ensuring that structured data works as intended is crucial. When Search Console detects a new type of structured data on the site, a report appears summarizing errors, warnings, and invalid items, and owners receive an email.

AI & SEO Search Console

Do structured data warnings really block rich results from appearing?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★

Warnings may provide a somewhat reduced experience for users, but products can still appear in rich results in search. Examples of warnings could be a missing description, review, URL, or brand.

E-commerce AI & SEO Domain Name Local Search

Does the Rich Results Test really replace Search Console for validating your structured data?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★

In addition to the Search Console interface, the Rich Results Test can be used to verify the validity of the structured data of a given page. This tool can check the syntax of structured data and in some cases provide a preview of what the result mig...

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

Is the CTR of product pages really a key SEO lever to prioritize for optimization?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★★

It's essential to check the click-through rate (CTR) of the most important detailed product pages. If the CTR is low, it means that users are not clicking on search results, and you should consider improving the descriptions, titles, or adding struct...

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce AI & SEO

Why do some product listings generate no rich results on Google?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★★

You need to check if a specific group of pages is not generating product results, which could reveal opportunities to improve the implementation of structured data. For example, some products not generating rich results could indicate a specific temp...

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO

Why does Google place such a high emphasis on detailed product descriptions and specifications?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★★

Product pages must include a detailed description highlighting features and specifications. This helps users find products by searching for these details, both on the site’s internal search and Google.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO

Why does Google insist that you upload ALL your inventory to Merchant Center?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★★

It is recommended to upload the complete product inventory to Google Merchant Center for products sold online and offline. This allows for quicker data updates (prices, stock levels), provides richer data (location information), and offers more contr...

Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Local Search International SEO

Does Google Really Favor Merchant Center Over Structured Data? Here's What You Need to Know!

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★★

If structured data is implemented and a feed is uploaded to Merchant Center, Google will generally prioritize feed data.

E-commerce

Do structured data errors really block the indexing of your pages?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★★

Errors in structured data disqualify content from appearing in rich results, but the page can still be displayed for relevant searches as a simple blue link. For instance, if the markup is missing the Price, Currency, or Rating Value fields, this wil...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO

Should you really click ‘Validate Fix’ in Search Console after correcting your structured data?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 20, 2020 ★★

After correcting structured data errors, you need to click on Validate Fix, and Google will validate the changes made.

Search Console