What does Google say about SEO?

Do privacy policies really impact your Google ranking?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★★

Google's Quality Raters review aspects like privacy policies during algorithm testing, but their reviews are not used to evaluate individual websites. Changes on a website are taken into account automatically as the algorithm re-examines the site.

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance Local Search

Should you really block the indexing of all your internal search results pages?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★★

It is recommended to block the indexing of internal search results pages, as they tend to be of low quality and could overload the server. Google may sometimes index search pages that are particularly useful, such as those that function as category p...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

How does Google actually lift manual penalties for artificial links?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★★

For manual actions regarding artificial links, Google can focus on specific link patterns, particularly associated with reputation management campaigns. Resolution often requires addressing these links directly, as Google only penalizes clearly defin...

AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO

Does changing your hosting provider hurt your website's SEO?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★★

Changing a website's IP address, such as during a hosting change, does not have a direct impact on rankings in Google search results. The essential factor is that the site must be accessible to users and crawlers.

Crawl & Indexing

Should you really optimize news article URLs with keywords?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★

It is not mandatory to include keywords in article URLs to make them more visible. Keywords slightly modify relevance, but the impacts are generally minimal and do not notably affect ranking for large sites.

Discover & News AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure

How long does it really take for Google to digest a URL migration?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★★

Changing a website's entire set of URLs leads to several months of ranking fluctuations since Google has to reevaluate all new URLs and their associations. The speed of processing then depends on the size of the site and its associated content.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Is it true that mobile-first indexing is automatically applied to all your new content?

John Mueller May 31, 2019 ★★★

Mobile-first indexing is automatically applied to new domains but not necessarily to new sites created on existing domains. This method changes the crawling and indexing approach but does not directly affect rankings.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name

Why is Google pushing JSON-LD as the preferred format for structured data?

Martin Splitt May 29, 2019 ★★★

Microformats have evolved into structured data, now primarily implemented by JSON-LD. This simplifies markup, as JSON-LD is easier to use than microdata attributes in HTML.

Domain Age & History Structured Data AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Do structured data testing tools really guarantee rich results display?

Martin Splitt May 29, 2019 ★★★

The Structured Data Testing Tool and the Rich Results Test allow you to test the validity of structured data. The Rich Results Test even provides a preview of how elements might appear in search results, although there is no guarantee of that display...

Domain Age & History Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Can we really pinpoint the three most important ranking factors?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★★

John Mueller indicates that ranking factors can change according to queries and over time. Therefore, it is difficult to speak universally about the three most important ranking factors. However, he mentions that some factors are often overlooked by ...

Content AI & SEO

Should you really stop stuffing your pages with keyword variations?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★★

Google understands synonyms and general subjects of a page, so it's unnecessary to place all variations of keywords on pages exactly as they are searched. It's enough to be explicit about the page's topic.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Are non-compliant favicons really algorithmically processed by Google?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★

John Mueller prefers that the handling of non-compliant favicons be managed algorithmically to avoid manual actions. If a favicon is updated according to the guidelines, it could be automatically approved.

Algorithms Content AI & SEO

Is it true that Google now defaults to mobile-first indexing for all new sites, and how can you avoid unseen pitfalls?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★★

Starting July 1st, new sites will be indexed by default using mobile-first indexing. However, no warning will be sent if a site encounters problems related to this indexing.

Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO

Do Google testing tools really misrepresent your site's true status?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★★

Testing tools like the mobile-friendly test are speed-oriented and may not load all resources on a page, which can lead to irrelevant errors for ranking.

Domain Age & History JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO

Is JavaScript crawl budget really a non-issue for your website?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★

The crawl budget pertains to all the URLs that we retrieve from the server, including the resources necessary to render a JavaScript page. However, for most sites, the crawl budget is not an issue.

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

Should you really translate URLs for a multilingual website, or can you keep them in one language?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★★

According to John Mueller, URLs can be in the target language or not. What is crucial is to ensure that each version has a unique URL for indexing and to use hreflang to indicate the alternative versions.

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

Can you really redirect multiple domains to a single site without facing Google penalties?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★★

Redirecting multiple domains to the same site is acceptable if it represents a genuine content relocation. Google's systems may ignore these redirects if they appear to be merely an attempt to gain PageRank.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Pagination & Structure Redirects

Are subdomains really penalized by Google regarding quality?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★★

Subdomains can be evaluated differently in terms of quality and relevance compared to the main domain. Translating templates without the primary content can de facto reduce the perceived relevance by Google.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Local Search Search Console International SEO

Are indexing issues for your fresh content really that common?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★

Indexing problems with new or fresh content can be typical and are not necessarily linked to global bugs within Google. Everything has returned to normal after recent incidents.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Subdomain or subdirectory for hosting your blog: does URL structure really impact SEO?

John Mueller May 28, 2019 ★★★

Choosing to place a blog on a subdomain or a subdirectory is largely a matter of personal preference. John Mueller notes that both approaches work and that it's more about technical management than SEO.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name