What does Google say about SEO?

Do language selection interstitials really block Google’s crawl?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★★

Google recommends using banners instead of interstitials for language selection to allow Googlebot to access the page content.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing International SEO

Should you really limit the number of H1 and H2 tags on a page?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★★

Google is flexible regarding the use of H1, H2 title tags, etc. There is no maximum number of H tags per page.

Domain Age & History Content

Does Google rely on external scores to evaluate a website's reputation?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★

Google probably does not use scores like those from the Better Business Bureau in its algorithmic evaluations, as they are not available internationally.

Algorithms International SEO

Can you use the same customer reviews across multiple pages without facing SEO penalties?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★

Google allows the use of customer review texts on multiple pages, but the reviews must precisely represent the main topic of each page for structured data.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Local Search

Can mobile-first indexing hide your poorly linked product pages?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★★

With mobile-first indexing, Google will only use the mobile version to index a site, which can affect poorly linked product pages.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing E-commerce Mobile SEO

Can you really paginate differently between mobile and desktop without risking SEO?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★

Differences in pagination between mobile and desktop versions do not pose a problem if the content is accessible on the mobile version and does not hinder content discovery.

Content Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure

Can 503 errors really make your website vanish from Google?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★★

Server responses of 503 slow down Google's crawling, and if persistent, make Google consider the page as unavailable and removes it from the results.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing

Do Knowledge Graph carousels really affect your SEO ranking?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★

The carousels displayed in the Knowledge Graph for a site are algorithmically generated and do not affect the overall ranking of a site in normal search results.

Algorithms Content Featured Snippets & SERP

Should you really redirect an old category to just one of the new URLs?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★

When a category URL is split into several, the old URL can be redirected to one of the new URLs, and the new pages should be linked normally within the site structure.

Domain Age & History Domain Name Pagination & Structure

Does internal duplicate content really harm your SEO ranking?

John Mueller Nov 13, 2018 ★★★

Google does not penalize for duplicate content within the same site, like product reviews or repeated legal mentions across different pages.

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce

Does Using the Same Google Account for Search Console and Analytics Hurt Your SEO?

John Mueller Nov 12, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller indicated on Reddit that having the same Google account (same login, same email address) for Search Console and Analytics across multiple sites, or using different accounts, has no impact on rankings—neither negative nor positive.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam Search Console

Should You Merge Multiple Pages Into One to Improve Your SEO?

John Mueller Nov 12, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller explained in a hangout that combining multiple pieces of content into a single page could be beneficial for SEO but sometimes also fail to deliver good results. It will be beneficial for SEO if the different pieces of content address the...

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce AI & SEO International SEO

Should You Really Use the Same Title Tag for Both Desktop and Mobile?

John Mueller Nov 12, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller advised on Twitter to use only one Title tag, identical for both desktop and mobile versions of a web page. And, within the framework of the Mobile First index, it's the mobile version's tag that will be used for analysis and display in ...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Featured Snippets & SERP Mobile SEO Social Media

Can You Copy-Paste Legal Pages Without Hurting Your SEO?

John Mueller Nov 12, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller indicated on Twitter that it poses no problem for the search engine if you copy/paste the content of pages such as Terms of Service, Terms of Sale, Legal Notices or other administrative pages from one site to another.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Social Media

Can You Really Opt Out of Google's Mobile First Indexing?

John Mueller Nov 12, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller responded to a question on Twitter asking whether one could request not to be moved to the Mobile First Index. The answer was negative.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Social Media

Do 301 Redirects Between Unrelated Pages Really Lose All Their PageRank?

John Mueller Nov 05, 2018 ★★

John Mueller provided more information during a hangout on how a 301 redirect passes "link juice" (PageRank) from one page to another. He initially indicated, as was already known, that 301 and 302 redirects passed PageRank, somewhat like a "canonica...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO Domain Name Redirects Search Console

How Does Googlebot Actually Interpret Your Website's JavaScript?

Martin Splitt Nov 05, 2018 ★★★

Google's Martin Splitt indicated during a hangout that there was still a gap between how current browsers (example: Chrome version 70) parsed and displayed a web page and how Googlebot saw it (more like Chrome version 41 according to a communication ...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO

Why Does Google's Structured Data Testing Tool Crawl Your Site in Desktop Mode Instead of Mobile?

John Mueller Nov 05, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Twitter that Google's structured data markup testing tool crawls the submitted URL as a "neutral" crawler, which is interpreted most of the time by the site as a "desktop" crawler and not mobile, therefore.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name Social Media

Is the Speakable Tag Really Worth It for Your Voice SEO Strategy?

Google Nov 05, 2018 ★★★

The Search Engine Roundtable website reported that the Speakable tag was not working on the recent Google Home Hub smart display, information confirmed by Google.

AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Does client-side rendering really pose a problem for SEO?

Martin Splitt Oct 31, 2018 ★★★

Client-side rendering is generally not an issue for SEO, unless content changes very quickly or the site is very large, which can lead to delays in indexing.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks