What does Google say about SEO?

Why might Google merge your JS pages if the meta tags are identical?

Martin Splitt Sep 04, 2019 ★★

If Google only indexes the non-rendered version of a JavaScript page, it can lead to incorrect page merging if the meta tags are identical.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO

How does Google really decide the canonical URL for your pages?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2019 ★★★

Google chooses a canonical URL based on two main criteria: the site’s preference and the utility for the user. To indicate the site's preference, one can use the link rel=canonical annotation, redirects, internal links, and specify preferred URLs in ...

Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security Links & Backlinks Domain Name PDF & Files Redirects Search Console

How does consistent URL canonicalization impact your visibility on Google?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2019 ★★★

If you have a clear preference for certain URLs in search results, ensure you consistently apply these preferences across your site. This includes consistently using the desired internal links, updating the sitemap file with the correct URLs, and pro...

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

Can an incorrect canonical URL really harm your SEO ranking?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2019 ★★★

If Google's systems choose a different URL as canonical, it will not negatively impact the site's ranking in search results. Ultimately, the choice of the displayed canonical URL is mostly based on your preferences.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Do prolonged 500 errors really make your pages disappear from Google's index?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2019 ★★★

Pages that have returned 500 errors for an extended period may be removed from the index. They will be reindexed once Google sees that they are responding correctly again.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Is it really necessary to use the address change tool for migrating subdomains?

John Mueller Sep 04, 2019 ★★★

Site migrations can be handled without the Search Console's address change tool by correctly using 301 redirects.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Redirects Search Console

Does Web Traffic Really Influence Google Rankings?

Google Sep 02, 2019 ★★

Google's Webmaster Twitter account indicated that traffic to a website is not a relevance criterion for Google's algorithm.

Algorithms AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Social Media

Is an XML Sitemap Really Essential for Your Google Rankings?

Gary Illyes Sep 02, 2019 ★★★

Gary Illyes (Google) indicated on Twitter that XML Sitemap files still remain the second source of URL discovery for the search engine today (he had already said this in 2014, so the situation has not changed since)...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure PDF & Files Social Media Search Console

Does Google really take its time with tool migrations in Search Console?

John Mueller Aug 29, 2019 ★★★

In the new Google Search Console, we are not simply transferring features from the old version, but we are rethinking them. We assess whether these tools are still necessary to aid websites or if the issues have evolved. Our approach is to launch new...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Search Console

Does the Google Sandbox Really Exist or Is It Just an SEO Myth?

John Mueller Aug 26, 2019 ★★★

John Mueller himself indicated on Twitter that the notion of the Sandbox (the idea that a site, when it is created, is put "in quarantine" by the search engine before achieving the positions it aspires to) does not exist.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Social Media

Are Multilingual Backlinks Toxic to Your SEO?

John Mueller Aug 26, 2019 ★★★

John Mueller reminded us on Twitter that getting backlinks from sites that aren't in your language isn't necessarily a spam signal indicating that these links are "toxic"...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam Social Media International SEO

Can large websites rank well despite having mediocre pages?

John Mueller Aug 23, 2019 ★★★

Sometimes, large websites may have pages that aren't perfect, but the site as a whole is of good quality, allowing them to rank well despite some suboptimal pages.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Does AMP/mobile equivalence really affect Google rankings?

John Mueller Aug 23, 2019 ★★★

User experience and content on AMP pages should match those of normal pages to avoid poor user experience that could potentially harm rankings.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Mobile SEO

Should you really include a GTIN in your product structured data?

John Mueller Aug 23, 2019 ★★

Not providing a global product identifier does not prevent the indexing of your structured data, but including these identifiers helps group the product if multiple sellers are involved.

Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO

Do stock images really hurt your Google Images ranking?

John Mueller Aug 23, 2019 ★★★

New photos taken by a photographer and stock images are considered distinct images by Google Images, and each is indexed separately.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos

How does Google really handle duplicate content in search results?

John Mueller Aug 23, 2019 ★★★

If part of a page's content is copied, Google will try to filter duplicates by showing only one version of that content for a given query.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Is your website still not switched to mobile-first indexing?

John Mueller Aug 23, 2019 ★★★

Google has moved a significant part of the web to mobile-first indexing. If your site hasn't been migrated, it may be due to an automated assessment from the systems indicating that it is not yet ready.

Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO

Is Two-Wave JavaScript Indexing Really Disappearing?

Martin Splitt Aug 23, 2019 ★★★

The need for two waves of indexing for JavaScript sites is decreasing, with Gmail leveraging the latest version of Chrome, making indexing more efficient.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Is it really essential to highlight the medical validation of your health content through structured data?

John Mueller Aug 23, 2019 ★★

While it's not necessary to mention that the content has been verified by doctors, if you are doing something beneficial for your users, it’s helpful to highlight it, as it could underscore the value of your content.

Content AI & SEO

Why does blocking a page with robots.txt prevent Google from seeing your noindex tag?

John Mueller Aug 23, 2019 ★★

Using the URL Removal Tool does not change how pages are crawled or indexed. If a page is blocked by robots.txt, we will not see the noindex, so it is important to choose one method or the other.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Domain Name PDF & Files