What does Google say about SEO?

Should you really index temporary product pages or let them disappear?

John Mueller Oct 04, 2019 ★★★

For limited-duration product pages, Google recommends using the unavailable_after meta tag to control indexing, or simply not indexing them if they disappear quickly.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

How can you ensure Google is correctly indexing your JavaScript?

John Mueller Oct 04, 2019 ★★★

To ensure correct indexing of JavaScript websites, use the URL inspector to check that Google can access JavaScript files and server endpoints. Follow Google's recommendations for JavaScript.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name PDF & Files Search Console

Do links really lose value over time?

John Mueller Oct 04, 2019 ★★★

Links do not lose their value over time, but if the page hosting the link becomes less relevant or buried within the site, its value may decrease in the overall context of the linked site.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Should you still use rel=next and rel=prev for pagination?

John Mueller Oct 04, 2019 ★★★

Google ignores the rel=next and rel=prev annotations for indexing paginated pages. Make sure that the URL parameters are properly managed in Search Console.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Pagination & Structure Search Console

How long do ranking fluctuations really last after a website redesign?

John Mueller Oct 04, 2019 ★★★

When redesigning a website, expect ranking fluctuations that may last several months. Be prepared to monitor redirects and internal links to prevent traffic loss.

Links & Backlinks Redirects

Why is Google pushing for JSON-LD for structured data instead of other formats?

John Mueller Oct 04, 2019 ★★★

Use JSON-LD to add structured data to your pages because it is easier to implement. Test the tags with the available testing tools to ensure that they are properly indexed.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Structured Data JavaScript & Technical SEO

Does the length of a content really affect its Google ranking?

John Mueller Oct 04, 2019 ★★★

Content length is not a direct ranking factor, but the quality and relevance of the content are essential. Focus on writing high-quality content.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Are the Quality Rater Guidelines the key to surviving Google's health updates?

John Mueller Oct 04, 2019 ★★

It's recommended to consult the Quality Rater Guidelines to understand how Google evaluates the quality of websites, particularly in the health sector, to adapt to algorithm updates.

Algorithms Discover & News AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Is it really necessary to avoid multiple H1 tags on a single page?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Google's systems have no problem with the presence of multiple H1 tags on a page. This practice is common on the web. Title tags help to understand the context of different sections of a page, but the priority should be given to user experience and a...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Why doesn’t Google crawl all your pages with the same frequency?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Google does not crawl all pages of a site at the same frequency. Some pages are analyzed multiple times a day, while others are checked only every few weeks or months. Typically, indexed pages are crawled at least once a year.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Web Performance

Does keyword stuffing in URLs and alt text really hurt your SEO?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Keyword stuffing is an issue when the same keyword is used excessively in the text, which can negatively affect a page's ranking. Mentions in URLs and alt text generally do not count as keyword stuffing.

Domain Age & History Content Images & Videos Domain Name Penalties & Spam

How long does it really take for Google to reindex after a site relaunch?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★

After a domain change or URL structure update, it is normal for Google to take some time to reindex the site. Old URLs may temporarily appear in search results, even if they redirect correctly.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure

Can Quality Raters really penalize your site?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Manual penalties are applied by Google's spam-fighting team and are visible in Search Console. Quality Raters do not impose penalties but help improve algorithms.

Algorithms AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam Search Console

Does the URL removal tool really take your pages out of Google's index?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★

The URL removal tool in Google Search Console allows you to temporarily hide URLs from search results, but it does not remove them from the index.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Search Console

How often does Google truly change its ranking algorithm?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Google performs both minor and major updates to its algorithm. Minor updates occur frequently, while major updates, which are significant, happen less often and usually take a few days to a week to be fully rolled out.

Algorithms AI & SEO

Are your forum or customer reviews dragging down the ranking of your entire site?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★

It is possible that your quality content is impacted by lower-quality user-generated content, such as a forum, thus influencing the overall ranking of the site. It is recommended to properly manage and moderate this content.

Content AI & SEO

Why do external links within the text outperform those in footnotes for Google?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Google recommends placing external links directly in the textual content rather than in footnotes to better understand their context and relevance.

Domain Age & History Content Links & Backlinks

Does max-snippet really control all your snippets in the SERPs?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

The meta robots max-snippet tag limits the length of text snippets in search results, but does not apply to rich results using structured data.

Content AI & SEO

Do no-snippet tags really influence your page rankings?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Using no-snippet tags allows you to control which parts of your content appear in previews, but does not affect the page ranking.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Does Google really rewrite your title tags at will?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Google regularly adjusts the displayed length of the title tag and can automatically generate titles based on the query to enhance user understanding.

Content