What does Google say about SEO?

Why does Google restrict the Indexing API to specific use cases instead of making it universally available?

Gary Illyes Mar 14, 2024 ★★

The Indexing API is not designed to be used at large scale for all types of content. It is limited to certain use cases because it is not scalable and remains proprietary, unlike open protocols.

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

Does improving content quality really trigger Google to crawl your site more frequently?

Gary Illyes Mar 14, 2024 ★★★

Scheduling is highly dynamic. As soon as signals indicate that content quality has improved across multiple URLs, Google begins increasing crawl demand. This happens quickly, but not instantaneously.

Content Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Does removing your low-quality pages really boost your crawl budget and rankings?

Gary Illyes Mar 14, 2024 ★★★

There are numerous case studies where sites removed low-quality sections and saw their crawl improve. If it's a relatively large section of the site that consists of low-quality content, improving it will likely help significantly.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Can the URL inspection tool really speed up the indexing of your improvements?

Gary Illyes Mar 14, 2024 ★★

If you've improved the quality of a few pages and aren't seeing any effect on crawling, you can use the inspection tool in Search Console to submit these URLs to the index and see what happens.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Domain Name Search Console

Are natural links really more important than sitemaps for URL discovery?

Gary Illyes Mar 14, 2024 ★★★

For discovery purposes, natural links are more important than a sitemap. A natural link not only indicates that a URL exists, but also signals that it's important to crawl it faster by providing context about what can be found.

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

Should you really restrict the Indexing API to only Google's recommended use cases?

Gary Illyes Mar 14, 2024 ★★★

The Indexing API should only be used for very specific use cases: live-streamed events, job postings, and streaming videos. It works for other content but this is not recommended.

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

Can the Indexing API Remove Your Content as Fast as It Indexes It?

Gary Illyes Mar 14, 2024 ★★★

The Indexing API is effective for getting content into the index quickly, but Google frequently reassesses what belongs in the index. If you push low-quality content, it can be removed within minutes after being indexed.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

How Does Google Really Assess the Reliability of Your Content?

Danny Sullivan Mar 12, 2024 ★★★

On X, Danny Sullivan explained that Google uses systems to detect whether content is reliable and whether there is a consensus on the web about that content. However, although Google seeks to rank content appreciated by users and users prefer reliabl...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO

Why Does Google Sometimes Launch Multiple Algorithm Updates at the Same Time?

Danny Sullivan Mar 12, 2024 ★★★

On X, Danny Sullivan indicated that Google generally tries to avoid overlapping algorithm updates. In certain contexts, however, this can happen, as was the case with the simultaneous launch of the Core Update and Spam Update in March 2024, both depl...

Algorithms Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam

Should You 10x Your Content with AI to Recover Your SEO Traffic?

John Mueller Mar 12, 2024 ★★

In a Reddit discussion about Google's recent updates and their impact on website traffic, a user expressed their desire to scale their content from 500 to 5,000 articles with AI assistance to compensate for traffic loss. John Mueller responded by ind...

Content Discover & News AI & SEO

Is Crawl Budget Just a Myth Invented by SEOs?

John Mueller Mar 05, 2024 ★★

On Reddit, John Mueller responded to a question about crawl budget, specifically whether a large number of 301 redirects leading to 410 errors could exhaust this crawl budget. John Mueller stated that the concept of crawl budget was a concept invente...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Web Performance Redirects

Should You Disavow UTM Parameters to Improve Your SEO Rankings?

John Mueller Mar 05, 2024 ★★★

John Mueller explained that blocking URLs containing UTM parameters does not contribute to improving crawling or rankings on Google Search. He instead recommends maintaining clean and consistent URLs, noting that canonical tags would help over time t...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name PDF & Files

Is it true that your site's indexing isn't guaranteed by Google?

Google Feb 29, 2024 ★★★

Indexing is not guaranteed for any website. It's possible that certain pages may not be indexed, and this is not a bug. For most sites, many pages remain unindexed, and this is normal behavior.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Why are crawling and indexing considered separate processes in SEO?

Google Feb 29, 2024 ★★★

Crawling and indexing are separate processes. For indexing, a page must be crawled and its quality checked. Resources are limited, making it difficult to reach an ideal state, even though product teams are continuously working to improve.

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

Why doesn't Google index JavaScript files like web pages?

Google Feb 29, 2024 ★★★

JavaScript files are generally not indexed as web pages. It is not recommended to use the URL inspection tool on JavaScript files; this tool should only be used for indexable web pages.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name PDF & Files Search Console

Should you be worried about re-crawled indexed pages?

Google Feb 29, 2024 ★★

It is normal for already indexed pages to appear in the crawl report for refresh or new detection. This behavior is not unusual and should not worry site owners.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Search Console

Is it true that Google restricts site names by subdirectory?

Google Feb 29, 2024 ★★★

Currently, it is not technically possible to define different site names by subdirectory. Google does not support individual site names for each directory of a domain.

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Why should you prioritize field data over lab data for Core Web Vitals?

Google Feb 29, 2024 ★★★

For page experience and Core Web Vitals, Google utilizes field data via the CrUX reports. Lab data from tools like PageSpeed Insights serves as a benchmark for improvement, but the overall trend should be evaluated through the field data from Search ...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Why does SEO correction validation take so long?

Google Feb 29, 2024 ★★

The correction validation function can take time. It primarily serves site owners to check their situation, not to expedite processing. Therefore, patience is required as the process may be lengthy.

AI & SEO

Why does Google overlook some site content?

Google Feb 29, 2024 ★★★

In general, Google does not crawl all content on a website. For important content, it's essential to ensure it is reflected on the site, that it is an excellent website, easily crawlable, and that all content meets the criteria considered by Google.

Content Crawl & Indexing