What does Google say about SEO?

Can you really rely on Google's cache: to diagnose an SEO issue?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

Google's cache: feature in Search is not a testing tool and should not be used to diagnose SEO issues. If the rendering appears incorrect, it means nothing. Official testing tools like Search Console URL Inspection should be used.

AI & SEO Domain Name Web Performance Search Console

Does client-side rendering really work with Googlebot?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★★

With Evergreen Googlebot using a recent version of Chrome, JavaScript-rendered content on the client side (widgets, AJAX components) will likely be seen and utilized by Google if it appears in the rendered HTML. There is fundamentally no issue with c...

Content Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks

Does FOUC really ruin your Core Web Vitals performance?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

FOUC (Flash of Unstyled Content) occurs because the browser can render content before downloading the CSS, using its default stylesheet. To prevent this, critical styles should be inlined directly in the HTML so they are parsed immediately.

Content E-commerce AI & SEO PDF & Files

Does JavaScript really drain your crawl budget?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

JavaScript sites may consume slightly more crawl budget if the JS makes additional network requests, but Google caches common resources. The actual impact on crawl budget is generally negligible except for very large sites (tens of millions of URLs) ...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Web Performance

Does URL Inspection really uncover canonical conflicts?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

The URL Inspection tool in Search Console can serve as an indicator to detect potential confusion regarding the canonical tag declared by the user versus the one detected by Google.

Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Search Console

Is it true that Google's cache is a trap for testing your page's rendering?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★★

Google's cache: function (cache URL) is not a reliable testing tool. If the rendering in the cache seems incorrect, it means nothing. Use the URL Inspection Tool in Search Console to test rendering, not the cache.

AI & SEO Domain Name Web Performance Search Console

Do failed screenshots in Google Search Console really block indexing?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

If the URL Inspection tool or headless Chromium tools cannot generate a screenshot of a long page, it is not an issue for indexing. Only the rendered HTML counts; the screenshot is optional and a generation failure (due to memory limitation, for exam...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Search Console

Should you still be concerned about native lazy loading for SEO?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

Googlebot Chromium supports native lazy loading of images (loading='lazy'), introduced in recent versions of Chrome.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Web Performance

Does Google really see the HTML you think is optimized?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★★

Google's testing tools (URL Inspection Tool, Rich Results Test, Mobile-Friendly Test) display the rendered HTML as seen by Googlebot. If an element appears in this rendered HTML, Google sees it. If it doesn’t appear, Google does not see it.

Crawl & Indexing Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP Mobile SEO Domain Name Local Search Search Console

Does late JavaScript really hurt your Google indexing?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★★

For scripts that modify elements like title tags or headings, it is recommended to load them as early as possible in the page rendering. Google uses heuristics to determine when the page is complete; if the script runs too late, Google may miss the m...

Domain Age & History Content JavaScript & Technical SEO

Does Google really rewrite your title tags and meta descriptions: should you still optimize them?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

Google can rewrite the title tags and meta descriptions displayed in search results, even if they have been correctly rendered by JavaScript. The appearance in the SERPs is not a good indicator to test if Google has indexed the rendered content.

Content Crawl & Indexing Featured Snippets & SERP JavaScript & Technical SEO

What’s the key difference between DOMContentLoaded and the load event that could reshape Google’s rendering approach?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

DOMContentLoaded fires when the HTML DOM has been fully parsed, before all external resources (images, iframes) are completely loaded. The load event waits for all resources referenced in the initial DOM to be downloaded. Resources loaded later by Ja...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO

Should you avoid using the canonical tag on the server side if it’s incorrect at the first render?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

Having an incorrect canonical tag on the server side and then correcting it on the client side can, in rare cases, cause confusion for Google, which may choose the wrong canonical. It is preferable not to have a canonical tag than to have an incorrec...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

How can you find out which canonical Google has actually retained for your pages?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

The URL Inspection tool in Search Console can be used to check if there is confusion regarding the canonical tag retained by Google, particularly in cases of mobile-first indexing or conflicting canonicals.

Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO Domain Name Search Console

Should you really worry about the screenshot in Search Console?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★★

In Search Console, if the rendered HTML contains the expected images and content, that’s sufficient. Screenshot generation failures or headless Chromium errors are not indexing issues. Only the rendered HTML counts for SEO.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Search Console

Is it true that native lazy loading is crawled by Googlebot?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

The headless Chromium-based Googlebot supports native lazy loading for images (loading='lazy' attribute).

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Web Performance

Is it really essential to split your JavaScript by page to optimize crawling?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

It is possible and recommended to load scripts (like reCAPTCHA) only on the pages where they are necessary, using code splitting techniques to optimize performance.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance Search Console

Why are your mobile Lighthouse scores consistently lower than on desktop?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

Lighthouse scores are always lower on mobile than on desktop because mobile processors are throttled to simulate real-world conditions. Mobile devices are generally less powerful than computers. Mobile optimization must be prioritized.

Mobile SEO

Is your lazy loading preventing Google from detecting your images?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★★

If lazy loading shows placeholder URLs in the rendered HTML instead of the real image URLs, Google will only see the placeholders. This indicates an incorrect lazy loading implementation that needs to be corrected.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos Domain Name Web Performance Local Search

Should you really align desktop, mobile, and AMP behaviors to avoid SEO pitfalls?

Martin Splitt Jun 17, 2020 ★★

Using different approaches or user behaviors between desktop, mobile, and AMP (for example, layers on mobile vs full pages on desktop) is not recommended. This complexity invites more potential problems than real advantages.

Domain Age & History Mobile SEO