What does Google say about SEO?

How can a new e-commerce site stand out to get indexed and ranked by Google?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★★

For a newly created e-commerce site to compete with existing alternatives, it is crucial that it stands out clearly and significantly, for example, through customer reviews or other unique characteristics.

E-commerce AI & SEO Images & Videos Links & Backlinks Local Search

Is it truly necessary to separate multilingual content page by page to rank?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★★

It is advisable to separate content by language onto distinct pages to avoid any confusion regarding the primary language of the content from Google's perspective and to maximize the relevance of search results for users.

Domain Age & History Content JavaScript & Technical SEO International SEO

Should You Really List All Synonyms of a Keyword on a Page?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★★

Google tries to automatically recognize synonyms. This means it is not necessary to list all possible synonyms on a page, and Google learns over time which words are interchangeable.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Should you really include "near me" in your title tags to rank locally?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★★

The impact of including 'near me' in a title may be limited, as Google generally understands location intent without needing the exact text 'near me.' It is more important to be explicit about the actual physical locations of your business.

Content Local Search International SEO

Does page speed really work in stages with Google?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★★

The speed update from July does not have a specific threshold. Instead, it operates on a gradual scale, where the overall site speed is taken into account. Progressive improvements can benefit rankings without a precise deployment date.

AI & SEO Web Performance

Can massive and frequent redirects harm your site's SEO?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★

Having a large number of redirects on a site due to frequent product or URL changes is not necessarily bad, but ensure they are managed correctly and are not excessive to the point of becoming keyword stuffing.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects

Does Corporate Blogging Really Enhance Natural SEO?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★

A corporate blog may not always provide direct SEO benefits, but it helps establish an online presence, provides context regarding a company, and enhances the relationship with users. This can indirectly benefit the company's SEO.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Do press releases still hold value in SEO?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★★

Google typically ignores links from press releases because they are placed by the companies themselves. While these links are not harmful, using them as a primary link-building strategy is not recommended.

Links & Backlinks

Is it true that Google really ignores blackhat SEO techniques or does it still penalize them?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★★

Google is actively working to ignore observed blackhat SEO techniques. Reports to the spam detection team help identify large problematic patterns, even though each report does not lead to an immediate sanction.

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

Does duplicate navigation really harm the crawl budget?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★

Having duplicate navigation for responsive and mobile versions of a site does not affect the crawl budget or search performance.

Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure Web Performance Search Console

Should you stop chasing after PageSpeed Insights scores?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★

Page speed metrics, such as those provided by PageSpeed Insights, should be considered but focusing solely on numerical scores at the expense of other more crucial aspects of user experience can be misleading.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance

Are meta refresh redirects really harming your SEO?

John Mueller Jun 29, 2018 ★★

Redirecting using meta refresh, especially to payment pages, can harm your ranking because Google often views them as undesirable redirects and risks indexing the destination page instead.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Redirects

How Long Does It Really Take to Deindex a Page Through Search Console?

Google Jun 25, 2018 ★★★

Google indicated on Twitter that the deindexing of a page, when requested through Search Console, is completed in less than a day.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Social Media Search Console

Can Keyword Stuffing Really Get Your Site Blacklisted by Google?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller explained on Twitter that "keyword stuffing" techniques do not result in a site being "blacklisted" and that Google now has enough experience in this area to simply ignore texts containing excessive repetition of terms.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Penalties & Spam Social Media

Does Google Actually Recognize Data-href Attributes for SEO?

John Mueller Jun 25, 2018 ★★★

John Mueller indicated on Twitter that link tags with a "data-href" attribute () are not recognized as links (not followed, no PageRank transmission). Only tags with an "href" attribute are.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name Social Media

Can the Meta Keywords Tag Actually Penalize Your Site on Google?

Gary Illyes Jun 25, 2018 ★★★

Back to the future: a user asked on Twitter whether using the meta "keywords" tag could trigger a Google penalty 🙂 Gary Illyes responded that it wouldn't ;-).

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Social Media

Should you choose subdirectories or separate domains for a multilingual site?

Google Jun 19, 2018 ★★★

Google recommends structuring multilingual sites with subdirectories or domains based on what is simplest for the site administrator to manage. It is important that the structure is clear to the user and easily identifiable by Google.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure International SEO

Should You Really Geolocate Your Subdomains and Subdirectories in Search Console?

Google Jun 19, 2018 ★★★

Google enables the geolocation of subdomains or subdirectories separately via Search Console. This serves as an indication, not a strict limitation, for targeting users in a specific country.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Local Search Search Console International SEO

Does the hreflang attribute really work in one direction, or do you always need to create bidirectional links?

Google Jun 19, 2018 ★★★

Correct use of hreflang tags requires that each page points to its corresponding versions. This helps Google present the most relevant version to users based on their language and location.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO International SEO

Are country-specific domains (ccTLDs) really essential for international SEO?

Google Jun 19, 2018 ★★★

Google does not necessarily recommend using country-specific domains. Subdirectories can work just fine if it is clear to the user.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name