What does Google say about SEO?

Why is your new favicon taking so long to appear in Google search results?

Google Jul 18, 2024 ★

Favicons generally don't change quickly, so Google's systems don't refresh them often. After a favicon update, you need to verify that all relevant files are updated (there may be multiple favicons tagged in separate files) and then simply wait longe...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files

Do links on crawl-blocked pages really lose all their SEO value?

Google Jul 18, 2024 ★★★

When a page is blocked from crawling or indexation, you must consider this from the user's perspective: if a page is not available, they cannot do anything with it, so links on that page become somewhat irrelevant. If an important part of the site is...

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

Does Google really require a specific sitemap structure, or can you organize them however you want?

Google Jul 18, 2024 ★★

Sitemap files can be organized as desired. Documented limits indicate 50,000 pages per sitemap file. If sitemap files are generated automatically, it is sufficient to fill them up to this limit.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name PDF & Files Search Console

Why Does Reddit Outrank Expert Sites on Google – Is Credibility Still Enough?

John Mueller Jul 16, 2024 ★★

John Mueller explained why content from Reddit could outrank expert websites in search results pages. He emphasized the need to learn to look beyond the simple dimension of credibility, specifying that Google sought to provide relevant and useful res...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Should You Really Worry About Having a Massive Disavow List?

John Mueller Jul 16, 2024 ★★★

When asked about the potentially harmful impact of massive link disavow lists, John Mueller stated that there was no cause for concern regarding their existence or removal.

Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Does Google really render every single HTML page without exception?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★★

Google renders all crawled HTML pages, without exception. Only non-HTML content types like PDFs are not rendered. The rendering process, although resource-intensive, is applied systematically to all HTML pages to index content exactly as a user would...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO PDF & Files

Does Googlebot really follow Chrome in real-time?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★★

Since 2019, Googlebot has automatically tracked the stable version of Chromium thanks to continuous integration. Previously, updates had to be done manually, which created a significant lag in support for new JavaScript features like ES6.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Pagination & Structure

Does Google really crawl structured data injected through JavaScript?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★★

Implementing structured data via JavaScript works correctly because Google excels at executing JavaScript. However, you must ensure that the page is not too fragile in case of errors during resource loading or API calls.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Does Google really keep cookies between each page render?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★

Cookies are enabled at the browser level during rendering. If a page sets a cookie, Google will see it during that session. However, each render is a completely new browser session, and cookies are not preserved between renders.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Does Google really ignore cookie consent banners when crawling your site?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★

Google does not interact with cookie consent dialogs. When a page displays a banner asking to accept or refuse cookies, Google does not click any button and continues rendering without making any choice.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Local Search

Should you stop using dynamic rendering based on Googlebot's user-agent?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★★

Serving different content specifically to Googlebot based on user-agent is discouraged and can cause problems. These implementations often become obsolete during bot updates and can result in broken or incomplete content being displayed only to Googl...

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

Is the URL inspection tool really reliable for testing how Googlebot renders your pages?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★★

The URL inspection tool in Search Console is the best way to test whether Google can properly render a page. If this tool works correctly, it's generally possible that Googlebot can also render the page correctly.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Search Console

Does Google Really Treat JavaScript Redirects the Same as Server-Side Redirects?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★★

Google follows JavaScript redirects in the same way as server-side redirects. The only difference is that they must be processed at the rendering stage rather than at the crawling stage. There is no different specific SEO treatment.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Redirects

Why will Google's rendering never truly match a standard browser's behavior?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★

Google's rendering is as close as possible to a normal browser, but with efficiency optimizations. For example, the requestIdleCallback event is simulated because Google's browser is never truly idle, which could affect some sites that depend on it.

AI & SEO

Should you really unblock all your resources in robots.txt to avoid indexing problems?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★★

If an API or resource is blocked by robots.txt, Google cannot retrieve it during rendering. If this resource contains essential content such as the main page content, it will create an indexing problem because the page will appear incomplete.

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

Is JavaScript error handling now the hidden factor that determines whether Google can index your site?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★

Pages must handle JavaScript errors gracefully. If an API call fails with a 429 error or other issue, the page should not completely fail but instead display a clear error message or partial content rather than a blank page or redirect.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Local Search Redirects

Does Google really render every HTML page even if most don't need JavaScript?

Zoe Clifford Jul 11, 2024 ★★

Although rendering consumes server resources, pages that don't require JavaScript for indexing remain cost-effective to render. Google renders all HTML pages even if many don't need JavaScript, because the cost remains low for these pages.

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

How could AI Overviews shape your current SEO strategy?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★★

AI Overviews (formerly known as SGE) are now available in select countries and incorporate generative AI into Google search when appropriate. Google monitors feedback and continuously improves when and how these AI previews are displayed.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Is it true that no steps are needed to optimize your presence in AI Overviews?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★★

No action is required on the part of publishers to be eligible for AI Overviews. Site owners can utilize traditional snippet controls at the page or section level if they wish to limit the information displayed.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Are the new e-commerce metrics in Search Console a game changer for your SEO strategy?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★

Google has recently added shopping ads that appear in Google Images to the search performance reports in Search Console, simplifying the verification of product visibility in search.

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