What does Google say about SEO?

Why isn't your site showing up in Google's site: search results?

Google Dec 18, 2019 ★★★

If your site doesn't appear in a 'site:' search, there might be crawling or indexing issues. You can submit your sitemap and URLs to Google Search Console to manage your online presence on Google Search.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Search Console

Does page speed really affect Google rankings in 2025?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★★

The loading speed of a web page affects its ranking in search results, particularly on mobile. Very slow pages may see their ranking decrease. However, continuous speed improvement benefits user experience and indirectly SEO.

Domain Age & History Mobile SEO Web Performance

Is it true that you should forget about using the Google Indexing API for your standard pages?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★★

Currently, Google's Indexing API is restricted to job listings and live broadcasts. There is no confirmed timeline for its extension to other types of content.

Content Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Do Google’s Core Updates really reward 'quality'?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★★

Google's Core Updates aim to improve the assessment of the relevance and quality of pages. Webmasters should focus on creating high-quality, useful content to prepare for the effects of these updates.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content

Are expired domains really useless for SEO?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★★

Using an expired domain does not provide any intrinsic SEO benefit. Any perceived advantage likely stems from other factors, such as content quality or natural backlinks. Google assesses the relevance and quality of content independently of the domai...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name

Can structured data really trigger a penalty for cloaking?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★★

When correctly implemented, structured data helps Google understand the content of web pages. Ensure that structured data accurately reflects the information visible to users to avoid penalties for perceived cloaking.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Penalties & Spam

Does lazy loading really sabotage the indexing of your images?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★

Deferred loading of images via lazy loading can affect when Googlebot discovers images for indexing. Make sure that critical images for SEO are not omitted by the lazy loading technique.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos Web Performance

How can you manage the surge of Googlebot crawling that crashes your server?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★★

If your site is experiencing a sudden increase in Googlebot crawling that affects server performance, you can adjust the crawl frequency through Google Search Console or submit a request for a specific frequency.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Could automated queries to Google undermine your SEO strategy?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★★

Automated queries sent to Google without explicit permission violate Google's guidelines. It's important to respect these boundaries to avoid sanctions.

Has nofollow become just a suggestion that Google can ignore at will?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★★

Nofollow attributes are designed to indicate that certain links should not influence rankings in search engines. Google now views nofollows as hints rather than strict directives, and may choose to ignore them in some cases.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Does BERT really enhance Google's understanding of your content?

Google Dec 17, 2019 ★★★

Google's BERT algorithm is used to better understand complex queries in search results. This intelligence is specifically applied to natural language understanding in user searches.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content JavaScript & Technical SEO International SEO

Should you really avoid moving your blog to a subdomain?

John Mueller Dec 13, 2019 ★★★

Moving a blog to a subdomain may be perceived by Google as a site separation, requiring time to understand the context of the new sites, even if the content remains identical.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Can you really combine multiple structured data schemas on the same page?

John Mueller Dec 13, 2019 ★★★

It is acceptable to have multiple types of structured data on a page, such as for an e-commerce site and a local business.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Local Search

Do blog comments really count as main content in Google's eyes?

John Mueller Dec 13, 2019 ★★★

Blog comments are considered an integral part of a page's main content. They can enrich the page, especially if the initial post is short and the comments are of high quality.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Does Robots.txt really block the crawling of your images across all your domains?

John Mueller Dec 13, 2019 ★★★

The robots.txt file is specific to each hostname and protocol. Blocking on a main domain does not block crawling of subdomains or different domains. A 503 code in robots.txt can temporarily stop crawling.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name PDF & Files

Why does an old URL still show up in Google after a redirect?

John Mueller Dec 13, 2019 ★★★

When Google follows a redirect, the destination page is deemed valid, and an old URL might still show up in search if explicitly accessed, for example via a site:oldurl.com request.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects

Why do your content enhancements take months to impact your ranking?

John Mueller Dec 13, 2019 ★★★

Significant improvements in a site's content can take several months to be reflected in search results, with smaller sites generally updated more quickly.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

How does standing out from the competition truly affect your SEO?

John Mueller Dec 13, 2019 ★★★

In competitive sectors, it is crucial to stand out, not only through content but also through the overall offer one presents to attract and retain visitors.

Content AI & SEO Web Performance

Does the format of JSON-LD—graph or snippets—really affect your rankings?

John Mueller Dec 13, 2019 ★★★

There is no difference in terms of SEO whether the structured data is coded as a JSON-LD graph or separate snippets, as long as they can be correctly interpreted.

Structured Data JavaScript & Technical SEO

Does the canonical URL selected by Google really impact your rankings?

John Mueller Dec 13, 2019 ★★★

Google uses several signals to determine the canonical URL, such as 301 redirects, canonical tags, internal and external linking, and sitemap files. Even if Google chooses a canonical URL different from the desired one, it does not affect the ranking...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name PDF & Files Redirects Search Console