What does Google say about SEO?

Should you really use dynamic rendering to index your JavaScript pages?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

Dynamic rendering allows you to show a HTML version of a page to Google bots to facilitate the indexing of JavaScript sites. This can help speed up the indexing process but is not necessary.

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

Does loading speed really affect your Google ranking?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★

While Google considers page speed, only significantly slow sites might see their ranking impacted. Google assesses speed through various indicators, some of which are not publicly available.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance

Are dynamic URLs with parameters really penalized by Google?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★

Dynamic URLs with parameters are not inherently disadvantaged in terms of indexing. However, it is advisable to check that Google can easily crawl these URLs and that the content is rendered accessible.

Content Crawl & Indexing Domain Name

How does Google really index AMP sites with a mobile-first approach?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

For sites using AMP as the primary version (canonical AMP), it is directly utilized for mobile-first indexing. This means Google relies on this version for ranking.

Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO

Is interlinking multiple web projects risky for SEO?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

Google generally accepts linking between multiple projects as long as it is not excessive and does not create a massive link network. It is often more effective to focus on fewer projects but to strengthen them individually.

AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure

Does the hreflang attribute really influence the ranking of your international pages?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

The hreflang attribute helps display the correct version of a site to users based on their country, but it does not change page rankings. It is unnecessary if languages are clearly identified by folders or content.

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Local Search International SEO

Does geotargeting really affect your site's local ranking?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★

Geotargeting helps Google understand which countries a site is intended for and can boost rankings for local searches.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Local Search International SEO

Have links really lost their importance for ranking?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

Links play an important role in indexing even though their influence is sometimes overestimated. However, they are unlikely to disappear overnight in their use by search engines.

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

How does Google really choose the canonical version of a page when faced with duplicate content?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

The canonical tag is used to indicate which version of a page should be indexed when multiple pages have similar content. Google examines several signals to determine which page should be canonically indexed.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Does mobile-first indexing mean that Google punishes sites that are not optimized for mobile?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

Mobile-first indexing refers to indexing the mobile version of a site, no matter its degree of mobile optimization. Identical content on desktop and mobile does not lead to differences in indexing.

Content Crawl & Indexing Mobile SEO

Can soft 404 pages for out-of-stock products really hurt your rankings?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

When a page shows a product temporarily unavailable, it can be identified as a soft 404 by Google, which may affect its display in search results.

Domain Age & History E-commerce AI & SEO

Do social signals really influence Google rankings?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

Google does not consider social media signals for page ranking in search results.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Social Media

Are canonical tags and headers rendered in JavaScript truly ignored by Google?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

Canonical tags and links in the initial HTML headers are taken into account, but not the versions rendered via JavaScript. Critical changes must be delivered in the static HTML code.

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

Should you really optimize the length of your meta descriptions?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

Meta descriptions are used to present the content of a page in search results and are not a ranking factor. Their length can vary based on several criteria, so there is no need to constantly adapt them.

Domain Age & History Content

Why does Search Console show some resources as blocked when they're supposed to be accessible?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★

If resources appear blocked in Search Console, it may be due to temporary unavailability of the robots.txt files or server overload making certain resources inaccessible.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO PDF & Files Search Console

Does Google really index raw JSON responses?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★

JSON content can be indexed if publicly accessible, but it usually does not show up in standard search results.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Does the initial static HTML of a SPA determine its indexing?

Google May 17, 2018 ★★★

For Single Page Applications (SPAs), rendering must include critical elements in the initial static HTML to avoid indexing issues.

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

Should you really implement hreflang on all multilingual sites?

John Mueller May 17, 2018 ★★★

Hreflang tags should be used when you notice that Google is displaying the wrong language version in search results. They allow you to specify which language version should be shown to a user based on their search language.

AI & SEO Local Search International SEO

Does the canonical tag really override all your product variations?

John Mueller May 17, 2018 ★★★

Using a canonical tag means asking Google to consider a specific page as the main version. If you have product variations, make sure that all important information about the variations is retained on the chosen canonical page.

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

Do links to a canonicalized page lose their SEO value?

John Mueller May 17, 2018 ★★★

When links are directed to a page, and that page uses a canonical tag pointing to another page, the value of the links is transferred to the designated canonical page.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Links & Backlinks