What does Google say about SEO?

Is Google really constantly testing its search results?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Google is constantly testing changes to search results to ensure their relevance and optimizes algorithms based on user testing results.

Algorithms

Should you buy your competitors' domains to boost your SEO?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★

Redirecting a competitor's domain can be useful if it brings significant direct traffic, but access to the disavow file requires verification in Search Console.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name PDF & Files Search Console

Why isn’t regular publishing enough to rank a new site?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Regularly publishing content on a new website does not guarantee a high position in search results, especially on highly competitive topics.

Content

Does the word count really impact Google rankings?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★

Google does not specify a minimum word limit for a page to be eligible for ranking, focusing instead on the relevance of the content to the end user.

Domain Age & History Content

Can optimizing your site's speed really influence Google to crawl faster?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

You cannot directly ask Google to ignore the loading speed of your site in order to increase crawling. Google adjusts its pace to avoid overloading the server.

Crawl & Indexing Web Performance

Do human translations really help you avoid duplicate content penalties?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Pages translated by humans are considered unique and non-duplicated content, even if they are based on the same source material.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Can invalid structured markup really penalize your entire site?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

In the case of invalid structured markup, only that specific content may be ignored or marked without affecting other valid markup types on the site.

Domain Age & History Content

Is it really necessary to consolidate your content on a single domain to rank?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

Using redirects or rel=canonical between old and new domains transfers ranking signals. Google advises consolidating relevant content under a single domain to enhance its authority.

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

Does Google Discover really operate without prior site validation?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★

Google Discover, unlike Google News, operates entirely organically, without any prior validation process for sites.

Discover & News AI & SEO

Are Sitemaps and Internal Linking Really Essential for Getting Crawled by Google?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

To assist in Google's crawling, it's essential to ensure good internal linking and include pages in the sitemap file. This facilitates the discovery of pages and their indexing by Google.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks PDF & Files Search Console

Does the perceived quality of a health site really depend on the expertise displayed by its authors?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

It is recommended to enhance the overall quality of a site by ensuring that sensitive information, such as medical content, is provided by qualified experts to improve its ranking.

AI & SEO

Should you really allow Googlebot to access all your paid content?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

For sites with a paywall, it is important that Googlebot can access the entire content for proper indexing, even if part of it is protected for end users.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing

Is it true that checking your title and meta description tags using site: is useless?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★

Titles and descriptions can be automatically generated to match a specific query, so a site query check does not necessarily represent the display for an end user.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Should you really block access to your staging environments instead of using robots.txt or noindex?

John Mueller Oct 03, 2019 ★★★

For staging sites, Google recommends blocking access via HTTP authentication or IP whitelisting to avoid accidental indexing, rather than using robots.txt or noindex.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO

Has nofollow really become just a hint for Google?

Google Oct 02, 2019 ★★★

From now on, nofollow link attributes will be considered as hints, rather than strict directives, which means that Google can choose to follow and index them. New attributes, rel='sponsored' and rel='ugc', have been added to specify the nature of the...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Why is my site dropping in rankings without being penalized?

Google Oct 02, 2019 ★★★

During a Core Algorithm update, it is possible for site rankings to fluctuate. These changes are not necessarily due to errors or penalties on the site, but may be part of the algorithm's regular adjustments.

Algorithms AI & SEO

Does quality content really suffice to rank on Google?

Google Oct 02, 2019 ★★★

Content quality is crucial for site rankings. Website owners should focus on creating valuable and informative content for users rather than solely on optimization for search engines.

Content AI & SEO

Does duplicate content really trigger a Google penalty?

Google Oct 02, 2019 ★★★

Duplication of content across different domains does not automatically result in a penalty. Google can choose to index one of the versions rather than penalizing, and each case is handled individually.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Should you stop using separate mobile URLs for your SEO strategy?

Google Oct 02, 2019 ★★★

For mobile-first indexing, it is recommended that sites avoid separate URLs for mobile and desktop versions and favor a responsive or adaptive solution.

Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO Domain Name

Is it true that Google really handles requests for the removal of personal information from third-party sites?

Google Oct 02, 2019 ★★

Google does not directly manage requests for the removal of personal information from third-party sites. Users need to contact the webmaster of the site in question for such requests.