What does Google say about SEO?

Is the Indexing API really restricted to job postings and events only?

Gary Illyes Apr 18, 2024 ★★★

The Indexing API is limited to job postings and broadcast events. It might work for other content types, but since it's not designed for that, it could stop working overnight for unsupported verticals.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Can you really target multiple countries with a single page using hreflang?

John Mueller Apr 18, 2024 ★★

It is possible to use multiple hreflang tags for the same page. For example, a German-language page can target both Germany and Austria. Hreflang allows you to replace the URLs shown to users based on their language and location.

Domain Age & History Domain Name Local Search International SEO

Should You Really Worry About 404 and 410 Errors for Your Site's SEO?

John Mueller Apr 16, 2024 ★★★

In a Reddit discussion, John Mueller clarified the confusion surrounding HTTP status codes 404 and 410, and their impact on SEO. He explains that Google does not penalize sites for the presence of 404 errors, and also specifies that the difference be...

Domain Age & History Content HTTPS & Security AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Should You Really Worry About Crawling and Indexing During Core Updates?

Gary Illyes Apr 16, 2024 ★★★

On LinkedIn, Gary Illyes provided some clarification about the independence of indexing systems from algorithm updates, particularly Core Updates. He states that indexing, canonicalization, and the various systems used by Google are completely indepe...

Algorithms Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Social Media Search Console

Should You Really Stop Focusing on External Links for SEO?

John Mueller Apr 09, 2024 ★★

John Mueller advised against focusing excessively on external links, arguing that it could primarily prove to be a waste of time. He also explains that there is no objective method to count links on the internet, as each tool has its own data collect...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Search Console

Are You Measuring Your Content Against the Right Standards After HCU?

John Mueller Apr 09, 2024 ★★★

On X, John Mueller emphasized that improving a site affected by the Google Helpful Content Update wasn't about measuring it against its previous version, but rather about reassessing the entire site according to current standards and user expectation...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO Search Console

Should You Disavow Internal Footer Links to Improve Your SEO?

John Mueller Apr 09, 2024 ★★★

John Mueller from Google recommended not disavowing internal links located in footers. In a Reddit discussion thread, he emphasized that doing so could create problems in the future: "if you do that, future You will be annoyed by the problems that pr...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Should You Fix Your Site Before a Core Update Finishes Rolling Out?

John Mueller Apr 09, 2024 ★★★

Regarding the March 2024 Core Update, John Mueller advised not to wait for the update to finish before making corrections, especially if the identified issues are obvious. He also emphasized diversifying traffic sources and constantly improving the s...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO

Does Shared Hosting with Shared IP Addresses Really Hurt Your SEO?

John Mueller Apr 09, 2024 ★★★

On X, John Mueller once again indicated that sharing IP addresses on shared servers and using a content delivery network (CDN) is normal and does not negatively affect ranking on Google. He also emphasized that, given the limited number of available ...

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

Does Google really strip stop words from your search queries?

Gary Illyes Apr 09, 2024 ★★

When interpreting a query, Google cleans the query by removing unnecessary stop words like 'a', 'of', 'the' when they are not necessary to understand the query.

AI & SEO

Does page quality or site quality matter more in Google's ranking algorithm?

Gary Illyes Apr 09, 2024 ★★★

Google takes into account both page quality and site quality when ranking. Quality is determined by several factors, including content uniqueness and the relative importance of the page on the Internet.

Domain Age & History Content

Does content uniqueness really matter for your Google rankings?

Gary Illyes Apr 09, 2024 ★★★

Content uniqueness is one of the factors Google uses to determine the quality of a web page during the ranking process.

Domain Age & History Content

Is page content really the most important relevance factor for Google?

Gary Illyes Apr 09, 2024 ★★★

Hundreds of factors determine the relevance of results for the user, but the actual content of the page is the most important. Other factors include the user's location, language, and device type.

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

Does Google really preserve stop words within named entities, and how does this affect your SEO?

Gary Illyes Apr 09, 2024 ★★

Google identifies specific entities in search queries. For example, with 'the Statue of Liberty', the word 'of' is preserved because it is an integral part of the recognized entity.

Algorithms AI & SEO

Does Google really expand your search queries with synonyms automatically?

Gary Illyes Apr 09, 2024 ★★

Queries are automatically expanded to include similar words and synonyms. For example, searching for 'car dealership' will also include 'auto dealership' because 'car' and 'auto' are close synonyms.

AI & SEO

Does your geographic location really reshape the search results Google shows you?

Gary Illyes Apr 09, 2024 ★★★

The user's geographic location directly affects the results. For example, searching for 'bicycle repair shops' shows different results in Paris than in Hong Kong.

AI & SEO Local Search International SEO

Does a page's relative importance really impact its quality according to Google?

Gary Illyes Apr 09, 2024 ★★

A page's relative importance on the internet as a whole is one of many factors Google takes into account when evaluating a page's quality.

Domain Age & History

Does Google really show different SERP features based on what you're searching for?

Gary Illyes Apr 09, 2024 ★★

The features displayed in search results pages change depending on the user's query. A search like 'bicycle repair shops' will likely show local results, while 'modern bicycle' will show image results instead.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos Local Search

What does Google really look at before deciding to index your pages?

Gary Illyes Apr 04, 2024 ★★★

For a web page to be indexed on Google Search, Google must process and analyze the page's content as well as its metadata. This analysis is necessary before any indexing decision can be made.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

What are the actual elements Google analyzes before deciding to index your page?

Gary Illyes Apr 04, 2024 ★★★

Google parses several elements when analyzing a page, including content tags, images, videos and various attributes. These elements serve as signals to determine whether a page should be indexed or not.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos