What does Google say about SEO?

Search through official Google statements about search engine optimization

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9617 statement(s) found
Why does Google sometimes show both HTML and AMP versions of the same page simultaneously in the SERPs?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★
Normally, if Google detects a valid AMP page for a URL and the user's browser supports it, the AMP version should be displayed in both the News carousel and mobile organic results. If both versions (HTML and AMP) appear simultaneously in the SERPs, i...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Discover & News Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Images & Videos Mobile SEO Domain Name
How can you effectively organize sitemaps when managing thousands of subdomains?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★★
To submit sitemaps covering thousands of subdomains, several options are available: via robots.txt (free location, including on dedicated external domains), via Search Console (the sitemap must then reside on a verified domain within the same account...
Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Search Console
How can you effectively manage thousands of subdomains in Search Console?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★★
Search Console limits each account to 1000 verified properties. For sites with thousands of subdomains, this requires creating multiple Search Console accounts, making management more complex (for example, for urgent URL removals). The new Search Con...
AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Search Console
Does Search Console really account for all the clicks you think it does?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★
Google does not rely on Analytics to measure search-related metrics. In Search Console, clicks on results are tracked even if the user opens the link in a new tab (right-click), via tracking mechanisms embedded in SERP links. Analytics, for its part,...
Domain Age & History Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Search Console
Is it true that hidden CSS content is really indexed in a mobile-first manner?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★★
With mobile-first indexing, Google only indexes the mobile version of a site, including for desktop searches. If a site uses responsive design where some desktop elements are hidden via CSS/JavaScript but present in the HTML, these elements are still...
Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO
Why does your SEO site swing between positive and penalized without apparent reason?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★
Google's algorithms do not always operate through gradual transitions but sometimes in steps: a site can fluctuate from one side to the other of a quality threshold during algorithm reevaluations. A site located near this threshold may see its status...
Algorithms AI & SEO International SEO
What URL structure should you choose to boost your international ranking?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★★
For geo-targeting, Google needs to be able to clearly identify distinct sections of the site: ccTLD (e.g., .de, .fr), subdomains, or subdirectories configured in Search Console. For language targeting (hreflang), any URL structure is acceptable, incl...
Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Local Search Search Console International SEO
When it comes to duplicate content across two sites, does Google really impose penalties or not?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★★
Google does not automatically penalize when a business operates two distinct websites with identical content (e.g., a main site + a site dedicated to a specific section). The two sites are treated independently. However, creating 10 or 20 similar sit...
Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Penalties & Spam
Should you optimize separately for the singular and plural forms of your keywords?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★★
Google treats singular and plural forms as slightly different queries, even though they are recognized as synonyms. For plural queries, systems often prioritize list, comparison, or category pages. For singular queries, an individual product page may...
Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO
Can you really merge multiple domains using Google's Change of Address Tool?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★
The Change of Address Tool could technically be set up to consolidate multiple domains into one, but that is not its intended use. It is designed to replace an old site with a new one (signal transfer), not to add signals from multiple sites. Unexpec...
Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name
Does Google really index all the keywords on a page or is there selective filtering?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★★
If Google indexes a page, it indexes its complete content with all its keywords. There is no system that indexes the content but ignores the keywords. If a page does not rank for certain competitive keywords, it is a matter of time, content quality, ...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO
Should you really optimize geographic accessibility for Googlebot to crawl your site?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★
Google generally crawls from the United States. If a site is accessible only from the USA, Googlebot will be able to index it. However, restricting access for US users would also block Googlebot and prevent indexing. External links to the site are co...
Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Local Search International SEO
Subdomain or Subdirectory: Which URL Structure Should You Choose for a Multilingual Site?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★★
For a multilingual site, Google accepts any URL structure (subdomain, subdirectory, parameters) as long as there is one language per URL. For a multi-country site (geo-targeting), subdomains, subdirectories, or separate domains must be used, and the ...
AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Search Console International SEO
Can blocking CSS or JavaScript via robots.txt hurt your mobile ranking?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★
Blocking resources (CSS, JS, cookies, popups) via robots.txt is acceptable as long as Google can still render the page and assess its mobile compatibility. Blocking all CSS/JS would render the page unreadable on mobile and negatively affect mobile-fr...
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure PDF & Files
Why does Google display inconsistent sitelinks when your internal anchors are clean?
John Mueller Jun 26, 2020 ★★
Sitelinks and their descriptive text are generated from the site's structure and the internal anchor texts recognized by Google. Inconsistent text may indicate a problem with anchor recognition (JS, character encoding) or poorly linked pagination (Go...
Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Local Search
Is 'it depends' really the most honest SEO answer from Google?
Martin Splitt Jun 24, 2020 ★★
Google officially recognizes that 'it depends' is a valid and frequent answer in SEO because many different factors and contexts come into play. Recommendations cannot always be universal and must adapt to each specific situation.
Content
Is it true that “creating the best possible site” has become Google’s worst SEO advice?
Martin Splitt Jun 24, 2020 ★★
Google acknowledges that telling webmasters to “build the best possible site” is not sufficient. The SEO community needs concrete and actionable recommendations to prioritize optimizations (HTTPS, speed, etc.), not just generic advice.
HTTPS & Security Web Performance
Is page speed really just a secondary ranking factor in Google?
Martin Splitt Jun 24, 2020 ★★★
Google refutes the claim that page speed is the most important ranking factor. While speed is a factor to consider, it is not the primary criterion for ranking.
Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance
Why is "it depends" considered the most honest answer in SEO according to Google?
Martin Splitt Jun 24, 2020 ★★
Google asserts that even though no one wants to hear it, "it depends" is the real answer to many SEO questions. Recommendations are contextual and vary based on the specific situations of each site.
Why does Google crawl your JS/CSS files but never indexes them?
Martin Splitt Jun 23, 2020 ★★★
Crawling involves making an HTTP request and retrieving the result. Rendering executes the crawled JavaScript in a browser to produce the content. Indexing stores useful content to display to users. JavaScript/CSS files are crawled and rendered, but ...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files Local Search
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