What does Google say about SEO?

Can Google really canonicalize a no-index page?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

Google tries to avoid selecting a no-index URL as canonical. However, if a systemic pattern of duplicate content is detected, the algorithm can sometimes make poor canonicalization choices.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Can featured snippets truly escape any manual influence?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

The choice to display a featured snippet is algorithmic; if a site or its content is deemed inappropriate, it will not be shown as a featured snippet. This cannot be manually influenced through lists.

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

Does Google really require a separate URL for each language, or can parameters suffice?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

Different translations of content should be on distinct URLs. It is not necessary to use subdirectories or subdomains; URL parameters can be used.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure International SEO

Should you submit the mobile or desktop URL via the indexing API?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

When using the indexing API, provide the mobile version URL of the page as that is what we will index for mobile-first.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name

Should you really exclude XML sitemaps with an HTTP no-index?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

A sitemap file with an HTTP no-index header does not affect Google's processing. It simply prevents the sitemap URL from appearing in regular web search results.

Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Domain Name PDF & Files Search Console

Why does Google crawl no-index pages less often and how can you prevent their demotion?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★

Pages often marked as no-index may be crawled less frequently, classified as soft 404 by Google, and thus viewed with lower priority.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO

Should we still use separate mobile URLs (m-dot) for our site?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

We recommend against using separate mobile URLs, instead opting for a single URL for both desktop and mobile content to simplify indexing and avoid confusion.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name

Is responsive web design really essential for good Google rankings?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

We recommend using responsive web design rather than dynamic serving or m-dot, to ensure better compatibility with indexing.

Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO

Could overly promotional rich snippets harm your Google ranking?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★

Being too promotional in rich snippets will not affect your ranking but could prevent the display of rich results.

Domain Age & History Structured Data AI & SEO

How can you effectively isolate adult content for SafeSearch to work properly?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★

Clearly separate adult content from the rest of the site, ideally through subdomains or subdirectories, to facilitate management by the SafeSearch filter.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Do server errors really destroy your crawl budget?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

Frequent technical access errors can lead Google to significantly reduce the crawl rate, affecting the indexing frequency.

Content Crawl & Indexing

Could your site's dark mode really impact your organic search ranking?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★

Implementing a dark mode via CSS does not affect SEO. It is a visual design choice that is independent of current search algorithms.

Algorithms AI & SEO Images & Videos

Should you really keep canonical and alternate tags after switching to mobile-first?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

Keep standard links between mobile and desktop versions, even with mobile-first indexing. Do not modify existing canonical or alternate tags.

Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO

Can user-generated content damage your SEO?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★★

User-generated content is seen as part of the site and reflects the overall quality. Content errors can influence the perception of your site's quality.

Content AI & SEO

Does Google's cache really reflect what Googlebot indexes of your JavaScript?

John Mueller Oct 18, 2019 ★★

In Google's cache, JavaScript cannot always be displayed correctly as it requires certain conditions to execute, which may not reflect actual indexing.

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

Should you really point hreflang to the canonical version of the page?

John Mueller Oct 17, 2019 ★★★

It is advised to always point hreflang attributes to the canonical version of the page. This helps Google understand the correct canonical version, especially in cases of pages with tracking parameters.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO International SEO

Should you really mass delete low-value pages from your website?

John Mueller Oct 17, 2019 ★★★

Massively deleting pages with little content is not an issue for Google. It is possible to remove numerous low-value pieces of content without negative impact, even in the thousands.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Does Google always rewrite your meta descriptions?

John Mueller Oct 17, 2019 ★★★

Google frequently adjusts meta descriptions to better match the user's search. The provided descriptions may not be used if they do not seem relevant according to Google.

Should you really delete large amounts of content to enhance your crawl budget?

John Mueller Oct 17, 2019 ★★★

There are no downsides to deleting a large number of pages at once. This is not considered problematic and may even improve crawling by reducing the number of pages to explore.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing

Should you still optimize your meta descriptions if Google rewrites them?

John Mueller Oct 17, 2019 ★★★

Meta description tags will remain important, although Google may choose to generate a snippet from the page content if it seems more relevant for a specific search.

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