What does Google say about SEO?

Is it really smart to rely on average position in Search Console to gauge your visibility?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

The average position displayed in Search Console is the highest average position of your site in search results for tracked queries.

Search Console

Does Google tailor its algorithms to fit your industry?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

Google's algorithms do not vary specifically by industry or search volume, but automatically adapt to changes in the search environment.

Algorithms AI & SEO

Are Google's algorithm updates really just 'normal'?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

Updates from September's algorithms and others are standard updates that aim to enhance the relevance of search results over time.

Algorithms

Can mobile-first indexing happen without a responsive mobile site?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

The transition to mobile-first indexing does not depend on the mobile compatibility of pages. Non-mobile-friendly pages can still be indexed as long as they are accessible.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO

Does duplicate content really harm your SEO?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

Duplicate content generally does not affect ranking if your content is well indexed. Google will usually prioritize the most relevant source.

Content Crawl & Indexing

How long does it really take for Google to assess the quality of a new page?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

Algorithms do not have a defined timeframe for assessing the quality of a page. This depends on the expertise of the content creator and fast indexing.

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

Does duplicate content from third parties really hurt your Google ranking?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★

Copied pages generally do not harm your ranking if your pages are well-ranked. This depends on the context and the relevance of the pages.

Domain Age & History Content Links & Backlinks

Do internal link anchors really boost SEO or sabotage your ranking?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

Internal link anchors are important, but excessive keywords can harm page quality and thus its ranking.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure

Do 404 and soft 404 errors really harm your website's SEO?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

According to Google, 404 and soft 404 errors do not affect a website's quality. They are considered a normal part of the web.

Does the noindex page ratio really influence your site's rankings?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

Having a large number of noindex pages does not affect the ranking of indexed pages. Only the pages intended for indexing should be decisive.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Should you really migrate your site in sections to avoid duplication problems?

John Mueller Oct 05, 2018 ★★★

When migrating a site, it is advisable to gradually transfer while keeping distinct parts of the site to minimize the SEO impact.

Content Redirects

Is There Really a Limit to How Many Meta Tags You Can Use on a Webpage?

John Mueller Oct 01, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller indicated on Twitter that to his knowledge, there was no limit to the number of meta tags (of any kind) that Google can crawl on a webpage.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Social Media

Should You Really Avoid Multilingualism in Title Tags at All Costs?

John Mueller Oct 01, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller indicated on Reddit that it was largely preferable, in the vast majority of cases, to use only one language in a Title tag for a given page.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name International SEO

How Does Google Actually Decide Between Manual Penalties and Algorithmic Spam Filters?

John Mueller Oct 01, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller explained during a hangout that Google has always tended to favor algorithmic filters to fight spam, rather than manual actions. A manual action will only be imposed (as part of a group process within the Search Quality Team, with many p...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam Local Search

How does Google really reindex your site when moving to Mobile First?

Google Sep 26, 2018 ★★★

When we switch a site to Mobile First indexing, we aim to completely reindex the site with the mobile version as quickly as possible to prevent conflicts between the desktop and mobile indexes.

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

Do hyphens in file names really impact your SEO?

Google Sep 26, 2018 ★★★

File names are just a small factor among many others for assessing a website. They should not be considered critical. However, it is slightly easier for us to process file names containing hyphens rather than underscores to distinguish words.

AI & SEO PDF & Files

Is PageRank really dead, or does Google still use it behind the scenes?

Google Sep 26, 2018 ★★★

Google has not used visible PageRank as we knew it through the Google Toolbar for several years. Internally, we still use a version of PageRank to evaluate the quality and linkage of links.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

How does Google really choose the canonical URL among your duplicates?

Google Sep 26, 2018 ★★★

Google employs several signals, such as internal links, external links, and sitemaps to determine which URL should be regarded as canonical when it detects duplicates among different URLs.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Search Console

Should you really optimize link anchors with exact keywords?

Google Sep 26, 2018 ★★★

Using keywords in anchor texts is acceptable if it is relevant to the page. However, overusing keywords in multiple anchor texts can harm the perception of naturalness by our systems.

Domain Age & History Content Pagination & Structure

Does having multiple H1 tags really harm your site's SEO?

Google Sep 26, 2018 ★★★

Having multiple H1 tags on a page is not an issue from Google's perspective, especially with HTML5 where it's common to have several H1 tags in different segments.

Domain Age & History Content JavaScript & Technical SEO