What does Google say about SEO?

Is it really a good idea to inject the canonical tag through JavaScript?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★★

Using JavaScript to inject the canonical tag into the head is perfectly acceptable, as long as it appears at the right place in the rendered DOM and points to the expected URL. Check with testing tools (Mobile-Friendly Test, Rich Results Test, Search...

Crawl & Indexing Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Local Search Search Console

Is Cloudflare Rocket Loader passing Googlebot's SEO test?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

Martin cannot claim that services like Cloudflare Rocket Loader are SEO-compatible without testing them. The recommended method is to use Google's testing tools (Mobile-Friendly Test, Rich Results Test, Search Console) to ensure that the content disp...

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

Does JavaScript really consume crawl budget?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

There is no specific quota or budget for JavaScript rendering. The crawl budget only relates to HTTP requests (crawling), which include JavaScript and API files. Thanks to caching, the impact of JavaScript on the crawl budget is limited. Only very la...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files Web Performance

Does Googlebot really ignore your WebP images served through Service Workers?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★★

Googlebot does not execute Service Workers. If a site uses a Service Worker to serve WebP images instead of JPEG/PNG, Googlebot will only see the original formats (JPEG/PNG), not the WebP. This does not affect image crawling, but Google will not inde...

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

Is GTM really sabotaging your loading time?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

Google Tag Manager is not inherently problematic, but it is additional JavaScript that loads other scripts, which impacts speed. If you can implement directly on the page or through your own JavaScript, it's preferable. Only use GTM if you do not hav...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance

Does JavaScript rendering really consume crawl budget?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★★

There is no specific quota or budget for JavaScript rendering or JS execution (no 'render budget' or 'JavaScript budget'). The crawl budget only pertains to HTTP requests (crawling), not rendering. The crawl budget includes JS/CSS/API requests, but c...

Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files Web Performance

Does Google Tag Manager really slow down your site, and should you abandon it?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

Google Tag Manager is a viable solution when developer resources are lacking, but it adds extra JavaScript and impacts speed. If you can implement directly on the page or with your own JavaScript, it's preferable. There is nothing inherently wrong wi...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance

Is serving a 404 to Googlebot while showing a 200 to visitors really cloaking?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

In a pre-rendered React SPA, serving an HTTP 404 code to Googlebot (via pre-render) while the user sees a 200 error page is generally not considered cloaking, unless you are doing something really dubious. If the 200 page for the user is also an erro...

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

Are 301, 302, and JavaScript redirects really equivalent for SEO?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★★

For Googlebot, there is no practical difference between a 301, 302, or client-side JavaScript redirect. Googlebot follows JavaScript redirects and treats them as normal redirects. There is no client-side 301 redirect because 301 is a server-side HTTP...

Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Redirects

Is server-side rendering truly essential for Google SEO?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★★

Server-side rendering (SSR) is not required for Googlebot as Google executes JavaScript and sees the content rendered on the client-side. However, SSR is highly recommended because it improves speed for users and works with bots that do not execute J...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Web Performance

Does serialized JSON in your JavaScript apps count as duplicate content?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

During SSR, application state is often serialized in JSON on the page, which duplicates the content once in the JSON and once in the DOM. Google does not consider this problematic duplicate content because only the DOM is taken into account for index...

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

Should you really be concerned about the 'Other Error' status in Google's testing tools?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★★

When testing tools (Mobile-Friendly Test, etc.) display 'Other Error' for certain resources, it usually indicates a timeout or quota limit, not a real problem. Googlebot during indexing is much more patient and can retry for hours. The testing tools ...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Web Performance Local Search

Should you choose one JavaScript framework over another for your SEO?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

There is no best JavaScript framework. The choice depends on the context: team size, skills, project type, need for TypeScript, backend integration. Angular is suitable for large teams with TypeScript and Java developers. React offers a DOM abstracti...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO

Should you ditch dynamic rendering for better SEO results?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★★

Google no longer actively recommends snapshot/dynamic rendering tools like Rendertron. It is a workaround, not a sustainable solution. If JavaScript is problematic for Googlebot, it likely is for users as well. It’s better to fix the code or consider...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Local Search

Should you really abandon client-side JavaScript for indexing product links?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

For an e-commerce site where product listings are loaded in JavaScript after the initial load, Google discovers the links only after rendering. However, 90% of pages are rendered in a few minutes, so the discovery delay is negligible. If the site is ...

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks

Is it really necessary to switch to a dedicated server to improve your SEO?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

The choice between shared or dedicated server has no direct impact for Google. However, if the shared server is very slow (high server response time), it could affect user experience and thus indirectly the ranking. Before switching servers, consider...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance

Is client-side hydration really a SEO concern?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★

Using hydration (SSR + client-side for certain components) is acceptable as long as testing tools show that Google sees the expected content. Some components can be client-only. Lighthouse will detect user experience issues (layout shift), but there ...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure Local Search

Is striving for 100 on Lighthouse really worth your time?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★★

The Lighthouse score offers a useful overview but does not reflect all nuances. A score of 5 clearly indicates a problem to fix. A score of 95 shows that there's still fine-tuning to do but with diminishing returns. Individual metrics should be analy...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance

Is it true that 5G will accelerate your site, or is it just a mirage?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★

Historically, increases in bandwidth and network speed (like 5G) have not made sites faster because developers simply use the additional bandwidth for heavier content (video, VR, etc.). Martin expects 5G to enable new use cases rather than speed up e...

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

Do Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights really have no impact on rankings?

Martin Splitt May 12, 2020 ★★★

Lighthouse and Page Speed Insights are tools for developers and SEOs, not direct ranking factors. They model user experience in terms of loading speed and are constantly evolving. These tools help determine how the site is perceived by users and wher...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance