What does Google say about SEO?

Does image quality really need to adapt by screen size for SEO success?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

Serve images of different sizes and quality levels depending on the user's device. Small screens can receive smaller and more compressed images, while large screens receive higher quality images.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos Mobile SEO

Do you really need picture and srcset to optimize responsive images for SEO?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★★

To implement responsive sizing, use the HTML picture element or the srcset attribute on image elements. The browser will automatically choose the best image for the device, and Google Search will use the fallback image (the one defined in the src att...

Domain Age & History Images & Videos Mobile SEO

Should you declare alternative image versions using structured data to boost Google's indexing?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★

It is possible to add structured data to inform Google Search of other available image versions when using responsive sizing with picture or srcset.

Domain Age & History Structured Data Images & Videos Mobile SEO Pagination & Structure

Should you really be using the HTML loading attribute for lazy-loading in 2024?

Martin Splitt Jul 02, 2024 ★★

The HTML loading attribute can be used to implement lazy-loading. It works in all modern browsers and older browsers simply ignore it, making it safe to use without any side effects.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos

Is topical relevance becoming an outdated SEO criterion?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

Google now evaluates multiple dimensions beyond thematic relevance: accuracy, reliability, freshness, and usefulness of results. Topical relevance was the major challenge in the early days but is no longer sufficient.

AI & SEO

Is E-E-A-T really a ranking factor or just an SEO myth?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness, then Experience added) comes from the Search Quality Rater Guidelines and serves to measure quality in experiments, not as a direct ranking signal in the algorithm.

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content

Did Google really struggle to understand linking words like 'not' in search queries?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★

Historically, prepositions and linking words like 'not' in search queries were extremely difficult for Google's systems to process. Transformer models and BERT enabled major advances in natural language understanding.

Algorithms Domain Age & History AI & SEO International SEO

Is Google really optimizing for your search segment, or sacrificing it for others?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

Google uses large-scale aggregate metrics to evaluate overall performance, but also identifies specific search segments that perform well or poorly, because improving one search can degrade fifty others.

AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Does Google really apply a balance principle between different site types in its search results?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

Google's systems verify that there is no disproportionate bias toward certain site types: encyclopedias vs blogs, large institutions vs small sites, fresh content vs permanent content, social media vs other sources.

Content AI & SEO

Is your long-tail keyword strategy already outdated since natural language understanding arrived?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★

19 years ago, a query longer than 4 words was considered long. Today, Google regularly handles queries of 10 to 20 words or more thanks to advances in natural language understanding.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO International SEO

Does Google really favor promoting quality over penalizing mediocrity?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

Most of Google's systems seek to identify and promote good content rather than demote it. Demotion systems are reserved for specific cases such as web spam or malicious sites.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam

Does Google Really Design Featured Snippets Around Semantic Understanding Rather Than Keyword Matching?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★

Featured Snippets were developed approximately 10 years ago to solve the problem of matching answers rather than keywords, particularly for queries like 'how tall is Barack Obama'.

Content Featured Snippets & SERP

How does Google really measure user satisfaction in its search results?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

Google evaluates quality through several methods: user surveys (How helpful are these results), human evaluation of query samples for relevance, and behavioral analysis to detect if people find what they're looking for.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO

Are Google's Quality Rater Guidelines really the secret manual for SEO success?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

Publicly published Quality Rater Guidelines serve as transparency on what Google is trying to accomplish and allow validation that internal metrics properly orient product and engineering teams.

E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Why does Google distrust query volume as a quality indicator?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★

Google never uses the number of queries as a short-term evaluation metric in experiments, because an increase can paradoxically signal that users are struggling to find what they're looking for.

AI & SEO

Does Google really prioritize search bugs based on frequency and severity, and what does this mean for your SEO strategy?

Elizabeth Tucker Jun 27, 2024 ★★

Google prioritizes search issues along two axes: frequency (how many users are affected) and severity (impact severity). Even rare problems like financial scams are prioritized if they are severe.

AI & SEO

Should you still use URL annotations for separate mobile and desktop sites?

Google Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

For sites with separate URLs for mobile and desktop, it is still recommended to implement URL annotations on both versions to help Google understand the content correctly, even after the end of desktop crawling on July 5, 2024.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name

Should you still separate URLs for mobile and desktop?

Google Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

Google does not recommend having separate URLs for mobile and desktop versions of a website, as this structure can complicate many aspects of site management.

Mobile SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure

How does Google handle reports of copied content?

Google Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

When a spam site copies your content and becomes the canonical URL, use Google's official form to report spam pages, low-quality content, or abuse.

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

How can you optimize parameterized URLs using canonical tags?

Google Jun 27, 2024 ★★★

Canonical tags can be used on URLs that contain parameters and are an effective way to help Google identify the appropriate URL.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name