What does Google say about SEO?

How do structured data enhance the clarity of return policies?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★

Google has added support for structured data for return policy information at the organization level. This markup allows for easy specification of policies on an organizational scale, helping buyers decide where to shop.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

How does product variant markup impact your SEO strategy?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★

Google has launched a special markup for product variants (like a blue or red T-shirt). This markup streamlines the connection between these variants in structured data.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO

Why should SEO experts pay attention to Google's newly shortened SEO Starter Guide?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★

The updated SEO Starter Guide was launched earlier this year and is now even shorter. Four out of five site owners surveyed found it more useful in this new version.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Is mobile indexing now essential for all SEO sites?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★★

Google has announced the final stage of mobile indexing. The last exceptions have been removed, and Google now crawls all sites with a smartphone crawler for search. However, we should not overlook laptops and desktop computers.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure

How does Google's restructuring of product structured data documentation impact your SEO strategy?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★

The documentation on structured product data has been reorganized. Since e-commerce is an important topic, the information has been divided into separate pages to make it more digestible.

Domain Age & History E-commerce PDF & Files

Is Google really simplifying search results for better clarity?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★

Google has recently launched the Web filter for simplified results. While search results provide a wealth of information in various formats, this filter delivers something straightforward when that's what you're looking for.

How will core and spam updates shake up your SEO strategies?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★★

Google has launched core and spam updates to search ranking. These major updates to the core of Google Search are announced in the Search Status Dashboard. Google gathers feedback from site owners for evaluations and discussions with quality and rank...

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam

How will the EPUB format revolutionize SEO for digital content?

John Mueller Jul 10, 2024 ★★

The EPUB e-book format is now a supported format in Google Search. Googlebot can now discover and index files in EPUB format.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO PDF & Files

Can Index Requests Actually Force Google to Change Your Page's Canonical URL?

John Mueller Jul 09, 2024 ★★★

On LinkedIn, in response to a question about speeding up the removal of a 301 redirected URL, John Mueller clarified that using the "Request Indexing" feature in Google Search Console does not modify the canonicalization of a URL, adding: "If you wan...

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

Is Negative SEO Really Ineffective Against Your Site?

Google Jul 09, 2024 ★★

During the latest SERP Conf, Gary Illyes explained that Negative SEO was an ineffective practice. He specifically stated that Google ignores links from thematically unrelated sites, such as spam or inappropriate links, which prevents them from influe...

Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam Local Search Search Console

Why Does Google Crawl Your Pages But Never Index Them?

Gary Illyes Jul 09, 2024 ★★★

During his presentation at SERP Conf 2024, Gary Illyes explained the reasons why a page could be crawled but not indexed. This can be due to content duplication, general quality issues, or technical errors, such as when multiple URLs point to the sam...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Domain Name

Should You Avoid Brand Keywords in Your SEO Content?

Danny Sullivan Jul 02, 2024 ★★

In an exchange on X, Danny Sullivan confirmed that using brand keywords in content does not negatively affect rankings, contrary to what some SEO experts claim. On the contrary, he indicates that mentioning brand names is both expected by readers and...

Algorithms Content Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO

Are Google's algorithms truly capable of rewarding the best content?

Danny Sullivan Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

Danny Sullivan acknowledged that Google's ranking systems are not perfect. Indeed, despite efforts to improve the algorithms, some inappropriate content continues to be rewarded. To address this issue, Google claims to examine user feedback in order ...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Local Search

Are images really slowing down your site's SEO performance?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

Images often constitute a significant portion of the total downloaded weight of a website and are frequently the cause of slowdowns. When used incorrectly, they can not only cost time and money during download, but also cause layout shifts that frust...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos

Should you really automate image compression for SEO purposes?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

Images should be compressed as much as possible without losing more quality than what is acceptable. Once ideal compression parameters are found, conversion and compression can be automated, while verifying results since some images may require manua...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos Pagination & Structure

Should you really avoid lazy-loading for all your images?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

Lazy-loading should not be used for all images because this technique has drawbacks for images immediately visible on screen. It should be applied selectively only to images below the fold line.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Images & Videos

How can you actually boost your website's performance by selecting the right image format?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

You need to think about the image format used based on the type of images. There are classic formats like JPEG, PNG or GIF, and more recent formats like WebP or AVIF. Choosing the appropriate format impacts your site's performance.

Domain Age & History Images & Videos Web Performance Search Console

Is your website really serving the right image size to each device?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

For users on small screens, images can have a smaller size and stronger compression. Better quality and larger images are reserved for users on larger screens. This optimizes weight and performance based on the device.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos Mobile SEO Web Performance Search Console

Does Google really index all your responsive image variations with picture and srcset?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

The picture element or srcset attribute on images allow the browser to choose the best image for the device. Google Search will use the fallback image. It is possible to add structured data to inform Google Search of other available versions.

Domain Age & History Images & Videos Mobile SEO

Should you systematically use lazy-loading for all images below the fold?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

For images unlikely to be immediately visible when the page loads (images below the fold), loading can be deferred until they become visible. This reduces data transfers for images the user might never see.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos