What does Google say about SEO?

Should you really keep redirects for such a long time?

Google Feb 08, 2024 ★★★

Google recommends maintaining redirects for a minimum of 1 year. This duration allows Google to crawl the URLs multiple times and confirm that the migration is permanent. Sites with infrequent crawling might need this entire year.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects

Is it risky to use Google's removal tool during a migration?

Google Feb 08, 2024 ★★★

You should never use the Search Console URL removal tool to delete old URLs during a migration. This would transfer the removal status to the new URLs, preventing them from appearing in search results.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Domain Name Redirects Search Console

Why do rankings really fluctuate during a website migration?

Google Feb 08, 2024 ★★

During a website migration, temporary fluctuations or drops in rankings can occur, especially for large sites. If redirects are properly configured, rankings recover over time as Google crawls and processes each URL individually.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Redirects

Why doesn’t Google notify us during a spam update?

Google Feb 08, 2024 ★★★

Google generally does not send a notification when a site is affected by a spam update. Notifications for manual actions are sent only if a manual intervention is made. Most of Google's ranking systems operate automatically based on algorithms.

Algorithms JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam

Does Google actually revisit old URLs that were previously detected?

Google Feb 08, 2024 ★★

Google occasionally re-crawls URLs that were detected in the past, even if they no longer exist. For temporary pages, it is possible to use the 'unavailable_after' meta robots tag in addition to standard 404 errors.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Domain Name

Why should you only mark up creators and not supervisors?

Google Feb 08, 2024 ★★

Regarding profile structured data, Google recommends following the official documentation that discusses 'creator' (author) and not 'supervisor'. It is advised to mark only the actual authors/creators of the content.

Content PDF & Files

How can you optimize your crawl budget with unique content?

Google Feb 08, 2024 ★★★

For large sites facing crawl budget issues, Google recommends consolidating duplicate content, using robots.txt to block the crawl of unwanted URLs, and refraining from creating links to URLs that Googlebot should not discover.

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Links & Backlinks Domain Name

Is it true that crawl budgets are not shared between services on the same domain?

Google Feb 08, 2024 ★★

Comparing the crawl and indexing of different sites or services on the same domain is generally not significant, even if they are related. It is recommended to investigate the issues of each site individually rather than looking for correlations.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

How does Googlebot really perceive duplicate pages?

Google Feb 08, 2024 ★★★

When multiple pages are incorrectly treated as duplicates, it's important to check how Googlebot actually sees these pages using the URL Inspection Tool in Search Console. The generated view shows whether the content appears different for Googlebot, ...

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

Does Google Really Penalize Overly Complex Multilingual Websites?

John Mueller Feb 06, 2024 ★★★

On Reddit, John Mueller responded to a question regarding modifications to a large-scale website. The site in question contains 10 languages and 20 cultural codes. A modification that can therefore prove complex and tedious, particularly regarding UR...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure International SEO

Should You Drop Canonical Tags for Noindex on Syndicated Content?

John Mueller Feb 06, 2024 ★★★

On X, an SEO expert asked John Mueller what happens to the signals associated with a syndicated article on a partner platform once Google considers the partner as canonical. "Does this mean that all the SEO value is consolidated on the partner's URL?...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing Discover & News E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Does Google really require structured data to display rich results?

Martin Splitt Feb 01, 2024 ★★★

All rich results displayed in Google Search are powered by structured data. This structured data allows Google to improve the appearance of search results for a page.

Domain Age & History Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP

Does structured data really help Google understand your content better?

Martin Splitt Feb 01, 2024 ★★★

Structured data is inserted into the page and helps machines like Googlebot better understand the page's content.

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Why does Google specifically recommend JSON-LD for structured data over other formats?

Martin Splitt Feb 01, 2024 ★★★

Structured data can be in microdata, RDFa, or JSON-LD format. Google specifically recommends using the JSON-LD format.

Structured Data JavaScript & Technical SEO

Which implementation method should you choose for structured data on your website?

Martin Splitt Feb 01, 2024 ★★

To add structured data, you can edit the HTML of your pages directly, use plugins if you're using a CMS like WordPress, or use the interfaces provided by platforms like Wix or Shopify.

Domain Age & History

Is the Rich Results Test really enough to validate your structured data?

Martin Splitt Feb 01, 2024 ★★★

To verify that your structured data is working correctly, use the Rich Results Test tool which allows you to see your structured data from Google's perspective and validate that it is correct.

Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP JavaScript & Technical SEO

Why don't structured data always display as rich results in Google search?

Martin Splitt Feb 01, 2024 ★★★

Adding structured data does not guarantee that Google will display a rich result for the page. Structured data makes a page eligible for rich results, but it does not guarantee their display.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Local Search

Is structured data really essential to get rich results in Google search?

Martin Splitt Jan 31, 2024 ★★★

Rich results displayed in Google search are powered by structured data. This structured data is markup added to the HTML code of the website.

Domain Age & History Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP

Does structured data really guarantee rich results in Google, or is it just part of the puzzle?

Martin Splitt Jan 31, 2024 ★★★

When you add structured data to your site, Google Search can use it to display visually enhanced rich results in search engine results pages.

Domain Age & History Images & Videos Local Search

Should You Use Recipe Structured Data on Collection Pages?

Danny Sullivan Jan 30, 2024 ★★

On Mastodon, Anastasiia Bondarenko pointed out that Collection pages were using "Recipe" structured data, even though it's intended for individual recipes. She wondered whether doing the same thing goes against Google's guidelines, and according to D...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO