What does Google say about SEO?

Subdomains vs Subdirectories: Does this distinction still matter for SEO?

John Mueller Jul 12, 2019 ★★★

Google generally treats subdomains and subdirectories similarly, with signals transferred in case of redirection. Therefore, structural choices do not have a particular preference for SEO.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Redirects

Can the Search Console's Parameter Handling Tool really break your indexing?

John Mueller Jul 12, 2019 ★★★

The Parameter Handling Tool is used by Google to ignore certain URL parameters specified by webmasters. Incorrect use can limit indexing, so it should be used cautiously.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Search Console

Can You Really Optimize for Discover Without Keywords?

John Mueller Jul 12, 2019 ★★

Discover content is not limited to news sites. Blog articles and forums can also appear, but it's challenging to optimize for Discover since it doesn't rely on traditional keywords.

Content Discover & News AI & SEO

Do URL parameters after the ? really matter to Google for indexing?

John Mueller Jul 12, 2019 ★★★

Google takes URL parameters into account after the question mark but ignores the fragment identifier (#). For stable URLs, some parameters can be managed via the Search Console's parameter management tool.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Search Console

Are emojis in meta descriptions an SEO booster or just a useless gimmick?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★★

Google does not view the use of symbols such as emojis in meta descriptions as manipulation or spam. It does not harm the site's ranking, but may not provide any added value.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam

Should you really point the canonical tag to the desktop version in a mobile-first world?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★★

With mobile-first indexing, Google uses the mobile version as the canonical version for indexing. The rel='canonical' link should point to the desktop version to maintain the relationship between the desktop and mobile versions.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO Domain Name

Should you really fix every 404 error on your site?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★★

A 404 error indicates that the content no longer exists and does not need to be fixed with a redirect. It is a normal state and does not negatively affect the site's ranking.

Content Redirects

Why do the total clicks in Search Console never match the sum of clicks per query?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★

The total clicks displayed in the upper graph of Search Console may differ from the cumulative clicks of individual queries due to filters applied to infrequent queries.

AI & SEO Search Console

Why are your rich snippets disappearing without affecting your domain trust?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★

Domain trust is assessed at the site level. Some pages may not display rich snippets due to algorithmic limitations or errors without affecting the entire domain.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Structured Data AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Local Search

Are systematic link exchanges really detected by Google's algorithms?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★★

In cases of exchanged links, if it appears to be a systematic pattern, it may attract the attention of the algorithms. Organic mentions should not pose problems.

Algorithms AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Can empty pages be indexed if they offer user value?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★★

Pages without current content that are helpful to users can be kept in the index if they provide some value. The key is to ensure they do not disappoint the user.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Is it really necessary to avoid reusing a URL to update a Google News article?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★

Reusing URLs for content updates may conflict with Google News guidelines, as it complicates the assignment of specific dates.

Content Discover & News Domain Name

Why does it take Google so long to recognize a corrected canonical tag?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★★

Google takes canonical tags seriously. If they are corrected after an initial incorrect indexing, it can take time for the changes to be recognized.

Crawl & Indexing

Does Google really crawl some URLs only once every six months?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★★

Google classifies URLs according to the presumed frequency of their changes. URLs that are rarely modified may be crawled once every six months.

Crawl & Indexing Domain Name

Can your sitemap really kill your crawl budget?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★

A sitemap with incorrect modification dates can lead to the deactivation of the update signal, which means that these URLs may not be crawled as frequently.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Search Console

Should you really prefer the 410 code over the 404 to speed up deindexing?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★★

410 errors are processed faster than 404s because they indicate that the content has been permanently deleted, while 404 simply indicates that the content is currently not findable.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Is Google Search Console really using an outdated version of Chrome for rendering?

John Mueller Jul 11, 2019 ★★

Google Search Console tools currently use an outdated version of Chrome for rendering. An update is planned to reflect the version used by the crawlers.

Crawl & Indexing Search Console

Should you really place hreflang on non-canonical URLs?

John Mueller Jul 09, 2019 ★★★

There's no need to use HREF lang on non-canonical URLs since they do not show up in search results. Any hreflang annotation associated with a non-canonical URL will not be utilized.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name International SEO

Should you really banish nofollow from your internal links?

John Mueller Jul 09, 2019 ★★★

It is not recommended to use nofollow for internal links if you want Google to explore and understand the importance of those pages. Internal links without nofollow help Google recognize the order of importance of your pages.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Does lazy loading really block the indexing of your images in Google?

John Mueller Jul 09, 2019 ★★★

For images deferred via lazy loading, ensure that Googlebot can find the img element during page rendering. Only images that are useful for search traffic should be indexed.

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