What does Google say about SEO?

Can you really boost your site's crawl budget by contacting Google?

Gary Illyes Aug 08, 2024 ★★★

Requests submitted via the Googlebot issue report form cannot be used to increase a site's crawl volume. This form is intended solely to report over-crawling problems or server overload issues.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Search Console

Why does Google crawl some sites more frequently than others?

Gary Illyes Aug 08, 2024 ★★★

Crawl volume is determined by the server's technical capacity to handle requests and by the quality/usefulness of content for users. These two aspects define the frequency and intensity of crawling.

Content Crawl & Indexing

Do URL parameters really create an infinite crawl space for Google?

Gary Illyes Aug 08, 2024 ★★

URL parameters can generate a nearly infinite number of versions of the same page. Google must crawl a large sample to determine whether the parameters actually modify the content. Webmasters can use robots.txt to block URL spaces with unnecessary pa...

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

Why do hashtags and URL anchors complicate Google's crawling process?

Gary Illyes Aug 08, 2024 ★★

URL fragments (hashtags/#) exist only on the client side and Googlebot cannot access them without rendering. This complicates crawling and the discovery of content based on anchors.

Content Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name

Is Google really hiding the secret to faster indexing in your Crawl Stats?

John Mueller Aug 08, 2024 ★★★

Webmasters should check crawl statistics (Crawl Stats) in Search Console to diagnose crawl problems. Average response time is displayed there: several seconds of response time constitute an objective issue that slows down crawling.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Search Console

Is a slow server response time killing your crawl budget?

John Mueller Aug 08, 2024 ★★★

If a server takes 3 seconds instead of 100 milliseconds to respond, that represents 20 to 30 times more time. Across millions of URLs, this significantly reduces the number of pages Google can crawl. Webmasters must optimize server response time.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Domain Name

Does Googlebot really crawl links sequentially like a user navigating from page to page?

Gary Illyes Aug 08, 2024 ★★

Contrary to popular belief, Googlebot does not follow links page by page like a user would. It first collects the links and then returns to them independently. This technical distinction is important for understanding crawler behavior.

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

Should you really optimize crawl budget when Google has unlimited resources?

Gary Illyes Aug 08, 2024 ★★

Google has sufficient resources for crawling. Crawl optimizations (reduction of unnecessary URLs, improvement of response times) primarily benefit websites by allowing Google to crawl genuinely useful URLs rather than low-value content.

Content Crawl & Indexing Domain Name

Is Google Really Pushing the If-Modified-Since Header to Cut Crawl Costs?

Gary Illyes Aug 08, 2024 ★★★

Servers should properly implement the 304 Not Modified response to the If-Modified-Since header. This saves bandwidth and server resources by avoiding retransmitting unchanged content. Currently, this feature is not being used widely enough by websit...

Content AI & SEO

Are sitemaps really essential for optimizing your site's crawl performance?

John Mueller Aug 08, 2024 ★★

Sitemaps have been an important crawl optimization since Google's early days. While some use them incorrectly, they remain a recommended tool to help search engines discover content efficiently.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Search Console

Does product variant markup really change the game for e-commerce SEO?

John Mueller Aug 07, 2024 ★★★

Google now offers specific markup to tag product variants (like different colors of the same item), enabling better representation of product variations in search results.

Domain Age & History Discover & News E-commerce AI & SEO

How can you optimize Sitemaps for large e-commerce sites according to Google's latest guidance?

John Mueller Aug 07, 2024 ★★

Google offers specific recommendations on using Sitemaps to optimize large e-commerce sites, with a dedicated article addressing this challenge.

Crawl & Indexing Discover & News E-commerce Search Console

Should you deploy return policy markup at the organization level instead of the product level?

John Mueller Aug 07, 2024 ★★★

Google now allows you to add structured data to indicate return policy information at the entire organization level, rather than only at the product level.

E-commerce AI & SEO

How can you leverage merchant listing tracking in Google Images through Search Console to boost your e-commerce visibility?

John Mueller Aug 07, 2024 ★★★

Merchant listings appearing in Google Images are now tracked and reported in Google Search Console, providing greater visibility into the performance of these placements.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO Images & Videos Web Performance Search Console

Will Google's new product documentation really streamline your e-commerce implementation process?

John Mueller Aug 07, 2024 ★★

Google has restructured and improved its documentation regarding structured data for products, making implementation easier for e-commerce websites.

E-commerce PDF & Files

Should You Switch Your Mobile URLs (m.url) to Canonical URLs with Mobile-First Indexing?

John Mueller Aug 06, 2024 ★★★

John Mueller from Google advises against changing mobile-specific URLs (m.url) to canonical URLs, even with mobile-first indexing. He explains that this change could cause major technical issues for large sites. He recommends maintaining existing con...

Content Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Images & Videos Mobile SEO Domain Name

Can robots.txt really protect your site from unwanted crawlers?

Gary Illyes Aug 06, 2024 ★★★

Google has confirmed that the robots.txt file does not have the capability to prevent unauthorized access to a website. Gary Illyes from Google explained that this file merely requests that robots avoid certain parts of the site, without guaranteeing...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Pagination & Structure PDF & Files

Should You Use the X-RateLimit Header to Control Googlebot Crawling?

John Mueller Aug 06, 2024 ★★★

On Mastodon, a user asked John Mueller whether Google respects the X-RateLimit-Limit header when crawling websites. His response: "I've never heard of it," adding: "We document the use of http codes 429 and 503 to request slowdowns."

Content Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO PDF & Files

Why Can't Google Trends Ever Tell You the Real Number of Keyword Searches?

Daniel Waisberg Jul 31, 2024 ★★★

Google Trends normalizes data using a search interest metric on a 0-to-100 scale, where 100 represents the highest point. The data doesn't show absolute search volume, but allows you to compare the relative popularity of a term over time.

AI & SEO

How can you leverage 20 years of Google Trends history to supercharge your SEO strategy?

Daniel Waisberg Jul 31, 2024 ★

In Google Trends, it's possible to customize the date range and go back to 2004 to analyze the historical evolution of search terms across different Google properties.

Domain Age & History