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 it take over a month to remove the Sitelinks Search Box from your Google results?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★
Adding the meta tag that removes the Sitelinks Search Box results in a gradual removal from the results. Processing can take time, sometimes a month or more, similar to the time required to add custom search markup, which can also take more than a mo...
Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks
Is it really necessary to use noindex to hide your low-traffic local pages?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★★
For a news site, having 90% of articles that generate little organic traffic is normal. These local or ephemeral articles are not low quality, just less popular. Noindex is only useful if the content is genuinely poor quality (badly written, deficien...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Discover & News AI & SEO Local Search
Is it really necessary to block social sharing URLs that generate 500 errors?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★
500 errors on internal URLs redirecting to external social networks do not pose a problem for Google. These URLs can be blocked by robots.txt to prevent their appearance in Search Console crawl errors. They will not show up in normal search results.
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Social Media Search Console
Why does Google remember your SEO history even after a drastic content change?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★★
Historical data influences ranking. An older site has accumulated signals (links) over the years. Some algorithms (adult content, quality) have a memory: a site that changes from adult content to general can remain temporarily filtered by SafeSearch....
Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks
Does temporary removal in Search Console really block PageRank?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★★
Temporary removal in Search Console only hides the page from search results, without altering its indexing. Google continues to crawl, index, and pass PageRank through the links on this page. The removal is immediate for display, but actual indexing ...
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Web Performance Search Console
Does a clean 301 redirect really transfer 100% of PageRank without any loss?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★★
A clean, page-by-page 301 redirect, with no remaining content on the old site, transfers all signals (including PageRank) to the new domain. A partial or late redirect (e.g., a year later) forces Google to recalculate the signals from both sites, mak...
Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Redirects
Why is it never enough for Google to copy content word for word during a migration?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★★
Copying content word for word during a migration (e.g., from WordPress to React) is not enough. Google also analyzes titles, headings, images, design, navigation, and the structure of internal links. Altering these elements can change the understandi...
Domain Age & History Content Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Redirects
Does JavaScript server-side rendering hide invisible SEO errors from users?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★
JavaScript server-side rendering (SSR) produces static HTML similar to WordPress, but if SSR is configured specifically for Google, numerous errors can occur that are invisible to normal users. Comparing the old site with the new one through a crawli...
Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name
Do page metadata really impact your Google ranking?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★
Most metadata is ignored by Google for ranking. Some are useful for social media (thumbnails). Structured data and meta descriptions can influence appearance in the SERPs but not ranking. A different SERP appearance can, however, change user behavior...
Domain Age & History Content Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO
How can fixing a failed migration within 48 hours completely change your rankings?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★★
After a problematic migration, identifying and fixing differences as quickly as possible is crucial. The longer you wait, the more Google systems learn about the new site as a different site and adjust rankings accordingly. Quick fixes allow Google t...
AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Redirects
Can you deploy structured data through Google Tag Manager without touching the source code?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★
For sites where developers are not available, Google Tag Manager allows you to add structured data that will be detected by Google. It's more complex than the Data Highlighter but provides an alternative to prove the value of structured data before s...
Domain Age & History Structured Data AI & SEO Images & Videos Pagination & Structure
Can a redesign really boost your SEO signals instead of destroying them?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★
A site migration doesn't always result in a loss of signals. Often, it corrects structural issues and enhances signals. Google needs to reassess these improvements, which takes time, but allows the site to benefit from the work carried out. It is cha...
AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Redirects
Will Google introduce accelerated validation for your content overhauls in Search Console?
John Mueller May 29, 2020 ★★
Google is considering extending the validation process for fixes in Search Console (currently limited to technical issues and structured data) to content overhauls. This would trigger expedited re-crawls and processing, and display a progress indicat...
Content Crawl & Indexing Structured Data AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Local Search Redirects Search Console
Do PWAs really receive the same SEO treatment as traditional sites?
Martin Splitt May 27, 2020 ★★
For Google, Progressive Web Apps are primarily websites. The fact that it is a PWA has no particular impact on SEO. The same testing tools apply: Mobile-Friendly Test, Rich Results Test, URL Inspection Tool in Search Console.
Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name Search Console
Should you stop using Google Cache to diagnose your indexing problems?
Martin Splitt May 27, 2020 ★★★
Google Cache is a fallback feature when a site is offline, created long ago and not actively maintained. It sometimes displays the original HTML, sometimes the rendering, and sometimes an old version. It is not a reliable diagnostic tool to see what ...
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Web Performance Local Search
Should you really worry about a low crawl rate?
Martin Splitt May 27, 2020 ★★★
A low crawl rate is not problematic if Google has already seen and indexed all the content. The crawl rate is neither an indicator of quality, demand, nor traffic. It has no direct impact on ranking or indexation.
Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO
Why does Googlebot still crawl using HTTP/1.1 instead of HTTP/2?
Martin Splitt May 27, 2020 ★★
Googlebot still uses HTTP/1.1 for crawling. JavaScript optimization strategies must take this limitation into account, even though HTTP/2 offers multiplexing advantages for modern browsers.
Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security JavaScript & Technical SEO
Does Google really ignore Cache-Control headers for crawling?
Martin Splitt May 27, 2020 ★★★
Google generally ignores Cache-Control headers because many resources are under-cached. To force re-downloads, it's better to use versioned URLs with hash (e.g., app.abc123.js) rather than relying on Cache-Control.
JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Web Performance
Is the first wave / second wave model of JavaScript rendering still relevant?
Martin Splitt May 27, 2020 ★★★
The concept of 'first wave' and 'second wave' was a simplification to explain the crawling and rendering process. Google no longer uses it because it is misleading. The median time between crawling and rendering is 5 seconds, and at the 90th percenti...
Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO
Is it really true that JavaScript-rendered content can be indexed by Google without any friction?
Martin Splitt May 27, 2020 ★★★
If the content appears in the 'Rendered HTML' tab of testing tools (Mobile-Friendly Test, Rich Results Test, URL Inspection Tool), it is correctly indexable by Google, even if it is not in the original HTML source code but injected via JavaScript.
Content Crawl & Indexing Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Search Console
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