What does Google say about SEO?

Can featured snippets come from URLs outside of position #1?

John Mueller Jan 31, 2020 ★★★

Featured snippets do not necessarily have to come from URLs ranked in the first position, but Google must find them relevant to the query.

Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Domain Name

Do URLs with recent dates really boost your SEO?

John Mueller Jan 31, 2020 ★★★

The fact that a page has a recent date in its URL does not provide any intrinsic SEO advantage. The relevance of the content outweighs its perceived freshness.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Domain Name

Should we really be worried about nofollow links in spam examples?

John Mueller Jan 31, 2020 ★★★

Even if nofollow links are included in a spam link example, they often illustrate the type of practices to avoid rather than a comprehensive list of problematic links.

JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam

Do you really need to duplicate breadcrumbs on the mobile version to stay indexed?

John Mueller Jan 31, 2020 ★★★

With the shift to mobile-first indexing, only the content and markup present on the mobile version are taken into account. Breadcrumbs that are only available on the desktop version will no longer be used.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Structured Data Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure

Should you really recrawl a page to get Google to acknowledge your link changes?

John Mueller Jan 31, 2020 ★★★

Google evaluates pages based on the current status of links and content. Changes made to links, such as removing a nofollow attribute, are taken into account during the recrawl of the affected page.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Is your site losing traffic because your mobile version hides content?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★★

With mobile-first indexing, Google will only index the content available on the mobile version of your page. If your intention is to show less content on mobile than on desktop, it is this content that will be used for indexing. This includes text, i...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO

Should you really migrate from data-vocabulary.org to schema.org to avoid penalties?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★★

Google has decided to cease support for structured data using data-vocabulary.org starting April 6, 2020. Search Console will issue warnings for pages using this schema, urging sites to transition to schema.org markup.

Domain Age & History Structured Data Search Console

Is BERT really changing how Google understands your pages?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★★

BERT is used by Google to better understand user queries and the pages in its index. It's a modern approach to grasping natural language.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing International SEO

Should you give up the featured snippet to maintain your organic position?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★★

To reduce duplication in search results, Google has modified the display of featured snippets. The same page will no longer be shown as both a traditional search result and as a featured snippet.

Domain Age & History Content Featured Snippets & SERP

Can mixed HTTPS/HTTP content truly kill your SEO?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★

Chrome has changed the way it handles mixed content on secure HTTPS pages, becoming stricter to avoid unprotected elements like images or scripts that render the page insecure.

Domain Age & History Content HTTPS & Security Images & Videos

Should you change your Googlebot detection due to the user agent update?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★

The Googlebot user agent will be updated regularly in line with the versions of Chrome being used. This may require adaptation for sites that only recognize Googlebot by the exact text of the user agent.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

What changes has Google made to Discover data in Search Console?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★★

Google has altered the Discover report in Search Console to provide more recent data, similar to that of the search performance report. This allows for a more precise representation of the content that users appreciated without having to search for i...

Content Discover & News AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Is it true that Google is permanently phasing out data-vocabulary.org markup for breadcrumbs?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★★

Google will stop supporting data-vocabulary.org markup starting April 6, 2020. Sites using this markup will receive warnings in Google Search Console encouraging them to switch to schema.org markup, particularly for breadcrumbs.

Domain Age & History Structured Data Pagination & Structure Search Console

How is BERT truly transforming the way Google evaluates your content?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★★

Google employs BERT to better understand natural language, both for discerning user intents and for analyzing the content of indexed pages. This enhances the relevance of search results by adapting content more accurately to queries.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing International SEO

Is Mixed Content HTTPS Putting Your Google Rankings at Risk?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★

Chrome is becoming stricter in handling mixed content, where a page secured by HTTPS includes unsecured elements. This makes pages vulnerable. Site administrators must ensure that all content is served over HTTPS.

Domain Age & History Content HTTPS & Security AI & SEO

Does mobile-first indexing really exclude any content that's absent from your mobile version?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★★

With mobile-first indexing, Google only indexes the content visible on the mobile version of the pages. Elements such as text, images, links, and structured data must be present on mobile to be indexed. It is important to keep this in mind when creat...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO

Should you really aim for Featured Snippets if Google removes the traditional result?

John Mueller Jan 30, 2020 ★★★

Google has altered how Featured Snippets are displayed by removing duplication. Previously, a page could appear both as a traditional result and in an optimized line. Now, that page will only appear as an expanded Snippet.

Domain Age & History Content Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Local Search

How can you effectively optimize your images for SEO?

John Mueller Jan 27, 2020 ★★★

John Mueller shared some advice on the #AskGoogleWebmasters YouTube channel regarding image optimization. In short: use explicit file names, properly fill in the ALT attribute, provide a caption, offer lightweight but high-quality images and hosting ...

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

Does Hidden Text Really Penalize Your Organic Search Rankings?

John Mueller Jan 27, 2020 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Reddit that "another site is not going to rank better than yours because it has hidden text." Conversely, he also clarified that "simply having hidden text on a page will not get the site banned from Google," and he adds: "M...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Web Performance

Do .gov or .edu Domain Extensions Give You an SEO Advantage?

John Mueller Jan 27, 2020 ★★★

John Mueller has once again reiterated that having a website with a ".gov" extension is not an SEO bonus. A .gov site will not rank better, all things being equal, than a .com site or any other extension.

Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name