What does Google say about SEO?

Are ARIA Attributes Really Useless for Your Google Rankings?

John Mueller Oct 29, 2024 ★★★

John Mueller and Martin Splitt have spoken out about ARIA attributes, which are used to improve accessibility, stating that they have no direct influence on ranking or indexing in Google Search. While these elements can help users with specific needs...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Should You Really Invest That Much Time Optimizing Core Web Vitals?

John Mueller Oct 29, 2024 ★★★

Once again, John Mueller has downplayed the importance of Core Web Vitals in SEO rankings. While these metrics are taken into account by Google, they don't carry as much weight as content quality and user experience.

Content Web Performance

Should you really anticipate seasonal search peaks with an SEO editorial calendar?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 23, 2024 ★★★

For an effective SEO content strategy, it is recommended to create an editorial calendar by anticipating recurring special moments that internet users search for every year, such as seasonal changes. This allows you to prepare content before search i...

Content AI & SEO

Should you analyze topics instead of individual keywords in Google Search Console?

Hadas Jacobi Oct 23, 2024 ★★★

It is preferable to use topics rather than individual search terms to analyze trends. A topic groups multiple search terms including spelling mistakes, variations, acronyms and covers all languages, which generates higher search volume and more compl...

AI & SEO International SEO

Should you really sacrifice SEO planning time to cover breaking news in real time?

Hadas Jacobi Oct 23, 2024 ★★★

A well-defined SEO content strategy must combine advance planning of special moments throughout the year, while maintaining bandwidth to monitor and cover emerging news in real time.

Content AI & SEO

How can you leverage related queries to uncover untapped content opportunities before your competitors?

Daniel Waisberg Oct 23, 2024 ★★

To understand user behavior and identify content opportunities, analyze related queries by examining both the most popular terms and those experiencing the strongest increases in search frequency.

Content AI & SEO

Are you leaving regional search trends on the table? Here's how to leverage geographic data for massive local content wins

Daniel Waisberg Oct 23, 2024 ★★

Analyzing search trends by region and sub-region enables you to identify where interest concentrates for a specific topic, helping you adapt your content strategy to local needs and schedule your editorial calendar based on regional search peaks.

Content AI & SEO Local Search

Should You Stop Using Third-Party SEO Tool Metrics to Optimize Your Rankings?

John Mueller Oct 22, 2024 ★★★

In a recent discussion, John Mueller warned a Reddit user against excessive reliance on metrics from third-party SEO tools. The well-known Google employee emphasized that these tools don't have access to Google's data. Consequently, their data—whethe...

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

Do Google Doodles really affect your website's search rankings?

Jessica Yu Oct 17, 2024 ★★

Google maintains a strictly non-commercial policy for the Doodles displayed on its homepage. Unlike Google's advertising spaces, Doodles are designed as gifts to users and celebrate the best aspects of humanity, without any commercial intention.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Why does Google optimize the file size of its Doodles to such an extreme degree?

Jessica Yu Oct 17, 2024 ★★★

Google places great importance on the file size of Doodles because they are displayed on every search performed in a given country. The objective is to avoid slowing down the search engine, confirming that loading speed remains a technical priority f...

Content AI & SEO PDF & Files Web Performance Local Search

Can Google's Easter eggs actually degrade your search experience?

Jessica Yu Oct 17, 2024 ★★★

Before deploying Easter eggs or animations on search result pages, Google performs thorough testing to ensure it doesn't break the main search experience. Decorative features are implemented only if they do not interfere with the search function.

Domain Age & History

Does Google really use clicks on its Doodles as a ranking signal?

Jessica Yu Oct 17, 2024 ★★

Google does not monitor the search volume generated by clicks on Doodles as a performance metric. Since Doodles are highly visible buttons occupying significant space, this data is not considered a meaningful indicator for evaluating the success of i...

AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Does Google's 'push' vs 'pull' distinction really shape your SEO content strategy?

Jessica Yu Oct 17, 2024 ★★

Google distinguishes between Doodles ('push' approach visible to everyone) and Easter eggs ('pull' approach activated by specific searches). This distinction allows more creative freedom for Easter eggs because the user demonstrates specific interest...

Algorithms Content

Is Your robots.txt File Still Compliant Now That Google Only Recognizes 4 Directives?

Google Oct 15, 2024 ★★★

Google has updated its policy regarding the robots.txt file, clarifying that it only supports four fields: "user-agent", "allow", "disallow", and "sitemap". In other words, unsupported directives are simply ignored by Google's crawlers. This clarific...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO PDF & Files Search Console

Are you losing international traffic? Here's how to properly implement hreflang

Martin Splitt Oct 15, 2024 ★★★

Hreflang helps Google and other search engines link different versions of a page for different countries and display the correct version to users. It can be implemented via HTML tags, HTTP headers, or XML sitemap.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files Local Search Search Console International SEO

Can poorly formatted hreflang codes really damage your international indexation?

Martin Splitt Oct 15, 2024 ★★★

Hreflang attributes must be valid. You need to use language-country code variations that comply with standards so Google can correctly identify language versions.

AI & SEO International SEO

Should you really include a self-referential hreflang link on every page?

Martin Splitt Oct 15, 2024 ★★★

Each page should include a hreflang link to itself (self-referential) in addition to links to other language versions. For example, a German page should reference itself along with its English and Japanese versions.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks International SEO

Local domains, subdomains, or subdirectories: which structure should you choose for an international website?

Martin Splitt Oct 15, 2024 ★★★

For international websites, Google recommends using either local country-code top-level domains (such as .de or .it), subdomains, or subdirectories. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages, and you must choose based on your specific si...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name International SEO

Does Google really require all your hreflang versions to link to each other bidirectionally?

Martin Splitt Oct 15, 2024 ★★★

Each language version of a page must include hreflang links to all other versions. Bidirectional linking between all variations is essential for hreflang to work correctly.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks International SEO

Should you really create visible links between language versions for SEO?

Martin Splitt Oct 15, 2024 ★★★

You need to create visible links to different language versions to allow users to choose and help Googlebot discover these versions. Links benefit both users and crawling.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks