What does Google say about SEO?

Are mobile interstitials truly all penalized by Google?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★★

Google penalizes intrusive full-screen interstitials on mobile. Serving a reduced interstitial (lower third) to organic visitors and a full-screen version to other channels is acceptable, provided Googlebot sees the enhanced version. Legal interstiti...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure Redirects

Do intrusive interstitials really have a measurable impact on your SEO?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

There is no indicator in Search Console to measure the impact of intrusive interstitials. It is a light ranking factor used in the algorithm. The impact does not apply to the entire site but rather to generic queries with high competition, not to bra...

Algorithms AI & SEO Search Console

Is it really enough to just have an alt attribute for your graphics and infographics?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

For graphics and charts included in a blog article, Google recommends adding them as images with a descriptive alt attribute that contains critical information. It is not necessary to convert the graphic into HTML or code, as the information can be i...

Domain Age & History Content Discover & News AI & SEO Images & Videos

Is it really necessary to duplicate the text of infographics for Google to index them?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

Google treats infographics as standard images. If important text is embedded within the image, it is recommended to also provide this content in textual form in an article or post to ensure better indexing and understanding.

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

Why can a site that steals your content rank better than you?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★★

Google uses many ranking factors. A competing site that copies content can still rank better if other signals (speed, UX, backlinks, overall structure) are better. You need to improve the site as a whole, not just the textual content.

Content Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Web Performance

Is it really necessary to wait for ranking fluctuations to stabilize before taking action?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

Google continuously makes changes to search results. When a site experiences ranking fluctuations, it's advised to let the situation stabilize, consult with other webmasters, and then improve the site overall instead of looking for a unique factor.

AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Can deep linking to a mobile app really boost your website's SEO?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

Linking a website to a mobile app through deep linking does not confer any direct positive ranking effect to the website. Simply creating links to quality content (app or otherwise) does not automatically enhance the ranking of the source site.

Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO

Is it true that Google advises against using reverse proxies for migrating from a subdomain to a subfolder?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

To migrate from a subdomain structure to a subfolder, Google recommends using classic 301 redirects instead of a reverse proxy. Redirects are well controlled and avoid technical complexity and outage risks.

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

Should you really invest in a reverse proxy to mask Google's hacking warnings?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

Rather than investing in a complex architecture to limit the display of a hacking warning, it is better to prevent hacking or to quickly fix it. Google has difficulty in isolating the warning to just one part of the site.

Domain Age & History JavaScript & Technical SEO Pagination & Structure

Should you really set noindex for low-content user profile pages?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★★

User profile pages with little content generally do not drag a site down. Google focuses on important pages. Noindex is only useful if profiles are exploited by spammers or if their massive volume (millions) prevents the exploration of priority pages...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam

Are Multiple Redirect Chains Really Hurting Your SEO?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★★

Redirect chains (http → www → https) do not pose a problem. Googlebot follows up to 5 redirects in a day and then continues to the next ones. Once the final URLs are known, Google focuses on them. There is no magic number or penalty related to redire...

Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security Domain Name Redirects

Could separating each step of a site migration save you weeks of SEO diagnostics?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★★

During a domain merge or migration, Google recommends separating the different steps (changing the domain, URL structure, CMS, design) to easily identify the source of any potential issues. Merging content takes longer to stabilize than a simple move...

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

Do pop-under ads really penalize your organic SEO?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

Pop-under ads are considered a very old technique, poorly supported by modern browsers. Google assesses page quality by considering the visibility of the main content. The SEO impact depends on the implementation and actual user experience.

Domain Age & History Content

Should you ignore mobile errors in Search Console if the live test comes back clean?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

If the live Mobile-Friendly test in Search Console detects no issues, but errors persist in the reports, it is likely that Google was unable to process the CSS during certain crawls. In such cases, you should trust the live test and ignore the warnin...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Search Console

Should you really nofollow your menu links to optimize crawling?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

To prevent Google from following internal menu links, the nofollow attribute can be used. However, in most cases, it is unnecessary to hide these links. If a page should not be indexed, it's better to use noindex on the destination page.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure

Does Google Ads really penalize the speed of your pages in PageSpeed Insights?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★★

Google's speed testing tools are agnostic to the origin of scripts. If a Google Ads script slows down a page, the tool will report it without special treatment. Users care about speed, not about the source of the code.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance

Should you really aim for 100/100 on PageSpeed Insights to rank well?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★★

The PageSpeed Insights score is a set of metrics used to identify weaknesses, not a magic number to optimize to 100%. In the future, Google will rely on Core Web Vitals rather than this overall score. It is essential to focus on the Core Web Vitals d...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance

Can image metadata really enhance your SEO performance?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★

Google indexes certain image metadata, primarily to understand the licensing and copyright information displayed in Google Images. This metadata is not a ranking factor but remains useful for providing this information.

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

What is the optimal number of internal links per page for SEO?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★★

There is no magic number of internal links per page. Using the same link multiple times on a page is acceptable. The key is to have a clear site structure that allows Google to understand the hierarchy and relationships between pages.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure

Does a completely flat site structure really hurt SEO?

John Mueller Jul 24, 2020 ★★★

Creating a completely flat structure where all pages are at the same level and link to each other prevents Google from understanding the relationship and relative importance of the pages. A balanced hierarchy (categories, subcategories, products) is ...

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure