What does Google say about SEO?

Should you index every product variant or consolidate low-traffic pages?

John Mueller Jun 06, 2019 ★★

It is recommended not to create individual pages for each product variant if they have low search demand, a noindex can be used to avoid indexing.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO

Do backlinks to a noindex page really lose their value?

John Mueller Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

If a page is noindex, Google treats that page's backlinks as if they hold less value, especially if the page is seldom referenced.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Should you really clean up all your URL parameters to improve crawling?

John Mueller Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

Google suggests examining the utility of URL parameters for crawling, excluding those that are unnecessary, and correctly defining canonicals when needed.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Does Google really evaluate every article on your news site?

John Mueller Jun 06, 2019 ★★

For news sites, Google mainly analyzes relevant and current sections to evaluate overall quality, not each article in isolation.

Discover & News

Are duplicates in Search Console really a concern for your SEO?

John Mueller Jun 06, 2019 ★★

Google explains that duplicate reports in Search Console are often accurate but that the impact can vary based on the size and type of the site.

AI & SEO Search Console

Does the Jobs API outperform sitemaps in indexing your job listings?

John Mueller Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

Using the API is more effective for managing frequently updated job listings, allowing for greater responsiveness compared to sitemaps.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Search Console

Do sitemaps really speed up the crawling of your pages?

John Mueller Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

The crawling speed via sitemaps depends on the reliability of the data provided, ranging from a few minutes to several hours.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Should you block the crawl of URL parameters that don't affect the main content?

John Mueller Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

If the parameters do not affect the main content, they can be excluded from crawling. Otherwise, check content accessibility via these URLs.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Does Google really index JavaScript sites as effectively as classic HTML?

Martin Splitt Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

JavaScript has made significant progress in terms of indexing by Google. Today, Google is capable of indexing sites that use JavaScript, contrary to common beliefs. Google's documentation on features and limitations is currently catching up.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files

Are SPAs with hash URLs doomed by Google?

Martin Splitt Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

Google does not retain the state of applications. When a user clicks on a search result, they are taken directly to the indexed page. JavaScript applications must have unique URLs that can be accessed directly. Avoid using hash URLs; ensure that the ...

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

Do AJAX calls really consume your crawl budget?

Martin Splitt Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

AJAX calls do not negatively harm crawl budget. The number of additional requests is accounted for, but thanks to caching, content already in cache does not count. Versioning AJAX calls can improve caching.

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

Does Googlebot crawl your JavaScript links even before rendering the page?

Martin Splitt Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

Googlebot follows a series of actions, starting with fetching the raw HTML to detect the necessary CSS, JavaScript, and images. Links in the initial HTML are also extracted for crawling, even if rendering occurs later.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing E-commerce Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks

Does pre-rendering really enhance crawling and user experience?

Martin Splitt Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

Generally, pre-rendering content is beneficial for user experience, in addition to facilitating crawling. It is crucial to provide the maximum amount of essential content right from the start while asynchronously loading images and other visual eleme...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos

Are Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights Really Enough to Optimize Performance for SEO?

Martin Splitt Jun 06, 2019 ★★★

It is essential to test speed and performance to optimize user experience. Use tools like Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights to understand content load and page responsiveness.

Domain Age & History Content Web Performance Search Console

Does Google's URL Parameters Tool Actually Deindex Pages?

John Mueller Jun 03, 2019 ★★

John Mueller reminded us in a recent hangout that the URL parameter handling tool in the old Search Console (a tool not yet transferred to the new version but still fully operational) doesn't specifically remove URLs containing the specified paramete...

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

Should You Still Worry About Negative SEO in 2024?

John Mueller Jun 03, 2019 ★★★

John Mueller explained once again during a hangout that there's no need to worry about "negative SEO" and that the search engine handles this quite well, ignoring "spammy" links. He added that he sees very few cases of this type occurring. He also ex...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks PDF & Files Penalties & Spam

Why is your SEO traffic dropping even when you haven't changed anything on your site?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★★

Traffic fluctuations on a website can result from changes in Google's algorithms. Some website models become less relevant over time as their need diminishes or as other platforms emerge. Additionally, algorithms evolve to better assess the quality o...

Algorithms AI & SEO

Does Google really use demographic data to rank your pages?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★★

Google does not explicitly take demographic information like age or interests into account in its search result ranking systems. Personalization effects may appear at an individual level, but there is no demographic factor as such in the rankings.

AI & SEO

Do Google’s mobile favicons really update automatically?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★

Favicon icons now appear in mobile search results. Google generally updates these icons automatically, so any changes you make to your favicon icons, like changing your logo, should be reflected in the search.

AI & SEO Mobile SEO

Can sensitive images really block the indexing of your pages?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★★

Pages that contain images that might be considered inappropriate can be excluded from the SafeSearch index. Google selects these pages based on a sensitive content filter algorithm, which can affect their visibility and indexing.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Local Search