What does Google say about SEO?

Does HTTPS really boost rankings in Google Search?

John Mueller Sep 01, 2020 ★★★

Google Search gives a slight ranking boost to pages that properly use HTTPS. However, this ranking signal remains quite weak and is generally not visible separately from other ranking factors.

Domain Age & History HTTPS & Security AI & SEO

How long does Google really take to process an HTTPS migration?

John Mueller Sep 01, 2020 ★★★

Google typically processes HTTPS migrations in about a week on most sites, provided everything is configured correctly. The exact timing is not critical since users are redirected anyway.

HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Redirects

Why does HTTPS restrict access to critical SEO features?

John Mueller Sep 01, 2020 ★★

HTTPS is a necessary condition to use many features of modern browsers, including geolocation, autofill, camera access, progressive web apps, and push notifications.

HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Local Search International SEO

What triggers the same signals as a complete site move when migrating to HTTPS?

John Mueller Sep 01, 2020 ★★★

Moving from HTTP to HTTPS requires redirecting all users to the HTTPS version via server-side 301 redirects. Google considers this a site migration with a change of URL.

Domain Age & History HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects

Do free SSL certificates harm your Google rankings?

John Mueller Sep 01, 2020 ★★

Any SSL certificate supported by modern browsers like Chrome is suitable for Google Search. Free certificates, especially those provided by Let's Encrypt, are perfectly appropriate for an HTTPS migration.

HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Redirects

Should you really keep HTTP to HTTPS redirections forever?

John Mueller Sep 01, 2020 ★★★

HTTP to HTTPS redirections should ideally remain in place forever. Once a site has migrated to HTTPS, there is no reason not to maintain these redirections permanently.

HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Redirects

Should you really be worried about an HTTPS migration impacting your SEO rankings?

John Mueller Sep 01, 2020 ★★★

Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS generally does not negatively affect a site’s ranking. It is still the same website integrated in the same way into the web, and the HTTPS boost is too weak to be visible separately.

HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Redirects

Why Did Google Remove Regex from Search Console Before Even Launching It?

John Mueller Aug 31, 2020 ★★

A few weeks ago, the help documentation for the Search Console "Performance" report indicated that it was possible to use regex (regular expressions to filter data). Then John Mueller and Gary Illyes seemed to suggest on Twitter that they were not ye...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Web Performance Social Media Search Console

Do Links from Wikipedia Really Impact Your Google Rankings?

John Mueller Aug 31, 2020 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Reddit that links from Wikipedia to your site have no impact on your visibility in Google. And even more so for links created artificially and/or automatically on the online encyclopedia: "Randomly dropping a link in Wikiped...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam

Should You Include Category Pages in Your XML Sitemap?

Google Aug 31, 2020 ★★★

In response to a tweet asking whether category page URLs - article or product listing pages - should be included in the XML Sitemap, Fabrice Canel (Bing) answered yes, this file should include all URLs that are important to your site: "XML Sitemaps a...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Discover & News E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name PDF & Files Search Console

Why Are 15% of Google Searches Completely New Every Single Day?

Danny Sullivan Aug 31, 2020 ★★★

In 2007, Google indicated that 25% of the queries it processed each day were completely new and had never been typed into the search engine before. Then this figure dropped to 15% in 2013, as still announced in 2017. Danny Sullivan recently indicated...

AI & SEO Social Media

Should you really redirect all images during a site migration?

Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★★

It is essential to implement 301 redirects for all images during a site migration. Visual content is very important for SEO. Since refreshing in the image index takes time, you should monitor the server logs of the old domain and wait for the crawl a...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Redirects

Does a domain migration really lead to traffic loss?

Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★★

A well-executed domain migration does not necessarily result in overall traffic loss. If you simply copy the entire URL structure and content to a new domain, traffic will decrease on the old one and increase on the new one, but this is a smooth tran...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Redirects

Does a domain's purchase history truly hinder an SEO migration?

Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★★

The history of a domain plays a limited role in a migration. If a purchased domain has been used for spam, it is essential to clean up existing issues, possibly use the disavow file, wait for Google to understand that the content has been removed and...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name PDF & Files Penalties & Spam Redirects

Merging two websites: Why doesn’t Google treat this like a standard migration?

Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★★

Merging two websites into one is not a standard site migration. It involves creating a new site that combines two existing versions, which requires Google to re-crawl numerous pages. The outcome and processing speed heavily depend on how the merger i...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Web Performance Redirects International SEO

How long does it really take to transfer SEO signals during a migration?

Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★

The speed of signal transfer depends on the site's crawl budget, crawl frequency, and the number of external links. This can take anywhere from one day to several weeks depending on these factors. Sites with high crawl demand will see their signals t...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Web Performance Redirects

Should you really use Google Search Console's address change tool during a migration?

Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★★

The address change tool in Search Console explicitly tells Google that a migration is intentional and not temporary or accidental. This additional signal allows Google to reprioritize the crawl, make more informed decisions about signal transfer, and...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Redirects Search Console

Does a migration trigger a quality reevaluation by Google?

Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★

Google constantly reevaluates content quality, whether during a migration or not. A site migration does not trigger any special quality reevaluation. Google always assesses content in its current form, so quality changes can happen at any time, regar...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO Redirects

Should you really roll back after a site migration fails?

Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★★

Before contemplating a rollback, it’s essential to diagnose the cause of the issue (missing redirects, crawl problems, technical errors). If after a month no improvement is observed, no explanation is found, and there is no traffic recovery on the ne...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Redirects

Should you really leave the robots.txt file unchanged during an SEO migration?

Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★

Do not change the configuration of the robots.txt file during a migration. If certain URLs were blocked by robots.txt for good reasons before the migration, they must remain blocked after the migration. A migration is not a reason to change crawling ...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name PDF & Files Redirects