What does Google say about SEO?

Search through official Google statements about search engine optimization

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9617 statement(s) found
Does migrating to a new domain really erase SEO penalties and bad signals?
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★★
Migrating to a new domain to evade low-quality content or spammy links does not work. Google continually evaluates content, and low-quality material remains poor regardless of where it’s moved. Some signals may get lost during migration, but the fund...
Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Penalties & Spam Redirects
How does Google really transfer signals during a domain migration?
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★★
When Google crawls the old site and detects the redirects, it checks that the new site is a one-to-one copy of the old one. If that's the case, signals from the old domain are transferred to the new domain without needing to re-crawl everything. Craw...
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Redirects
Should you really avoid changing everything at once during an SEO migration?
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020 ★★★
You shouldn't take advantage of a migration to simultaneously change multiple elements (URL structure, technology, content). Modifying all variables at the same time makes it impossible to identify the cause of a potential problem. You should proceed...
Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Redirects
Should You Index Automatically Translated Content Without Human Review?
Gary Illyes Aug 24, 2020 ★★★
Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that the official recommendation was not to index content that would be translated automatically (with software/algorithm like GPT-3) without subsequent human review. He gave as an example a completely incomprehensibl...
Algorithms Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam Social Media International SEO
Should You Really Optimize Keywords in URLs to Improve Your SEO?
John Mueller Aug 24, 2020 ★★★
John Mueller explained on Twitter that keywords present in the URL carry low weight in the search engine's algorithm.
Algorithms Content AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Social Media
Does the Mobile First Index Really Apply Automatically to New Websites?
John Mueller Aug 24, 2020 ★★★
Google indicated in May 2019 that starting from July 1st of that same year, all new sites discovered by the search engine's crawlers would automatically be integrated into the Mobile First Index. John Mueller indicated this week on Twitter that this ...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name Redirects Social Media
How Does Google Actually Determine the Canonical URL of Your Pages?
John Mueller Aug 24, 2020 ★★★
John Mueller provided on Twitter a list of criteria that Google takes into account to define what the canonical URL of a page is (and therefore its "canonicalization"): redirects, internal links, external links, XML Sitemap, hreflang tag, canonical t...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name PDF & Files Redirects Social Media Search Console International SEO
Should you still invest in AMP to optimize speed and ranking?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★★
Speed is a ranking factor, but AMP is not necessary for having fast pages. You can create very fast non-AMP pages and slow AMP pages. What matters is the actual measured performance, not the AMP format itself.
Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO Web Performance Search Console
Have links in guest posts really lost all SEO value?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★★
If you are doing guest articles primarily to obtain links, it's safe to assume that these links generally hold no SEO value. This position from Google has been consistent for several years.
Discover & News AI & SEO Links & Backlinks
Does a poorly configured sitemap really diminish your crawl budget?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★★
The Crawl Budget is determined by two factors: Google's demand (how many pages need to be recrawled) and technical limits (server capacity, optional limit in Search Console). A poorly configured sitemap does not reduce the crawl budget; it merely cau...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Search Console
Does Google really track HTML links that are hidden by JavaScript?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★★
If an HTML link exists in the code but a JavaScript event captures the click (for example, to display a dropdown menu instead of navigating), Google can still see and follow that HTML link. The element must remain present in the rendered DOM, even i...
AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Local Search
Is it really necessary to optimize the first link on a page for SEO?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★★
Contrary to the common belief that only the first link matters, Google can take multiple links pointing to the same URL on a page into account and combine their anchor signals. There is no need to manipulate the order of links to place the richest an...
Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name
Do site-wide links in the menu and footer really dilute the PageRank of your strategic pages?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★★
Having multiple site-wide links to the same page (for example, in the menu and footer) does not significantly dilute the PageRank passed to other pages. Google understands that certain pages, like the privacy policy, are linked everywhere without bei...
Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Web Performance
Should you really keep nofollow on your footer links and service pages?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★
There is no need to use rel=nofollow on links to privacy policy pages or other service pages to prevent them from ranking. Google inherently understands that these site-wide linked pages are not the main content of the site, even without a nofollow d...
Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Web Performance
Why does Google make it impossible to use Search Console Insights without Analytics?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★
Google Search Console Insights combines data from Google Analytics and Search Console to provide a simplified view. Both data sources are required for the tool to function since it integrates information from both platforms.
JavaScript & Technical SEO Search Console International SEO
Does Nofollow still affect crawling without passing on PageRank?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★★
Google can now follow nofollow links to discover new URLs and potentially index them. However, the transmission of PageRank and ranking signals through these links remains independent of the crawl decision: just because a nofollow URL is crawled does...
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name
Should you really index all paged pages to optimize your SEO?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★★
For pagination, all pages should be indexable if they contain important content or links. They must be connected with standard HTML links (next/previous). Google can crawl and index these pages without special configuration if they are properly linke...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure
Are URL parameters still an obstacle for organic search?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★
URLs with parameters (query strings) have been perfectly acceptable to Google for a long time. The URL parameter management tool is only useful for very large sites (millions of pages) generating an excessive number of duplicate URLs that complicate ...
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure
Are sitemaps really essential for Google indexing?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★
Google discovers new URLs through various means: internal links, RSS feeds, tweets, public mailing lists, external links. The sitemap is not the only source. Google does not guess URLs; it must find them somewhere on the web.
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Search Console
Why does Google require a canonical on ALL AMP pages, including standalone ones?
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020 ★★★
All AMP pages must have a rel=canonical, whether they are connected to a traditional HTML version or are standalone AMP pages. In the case of standalone AMP, the canonical points to the page itself.
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO
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