What does Google say about SEO?

Does Google really ignore spam links automatically without any action needed?

Duy Nguyen May 04, 2023 ★★★

Google's algorithms very effectively recognize and ignore spam or low-quality links. There's no need to worry about Russian or suspicious backlinks; you should let the systems do their job.

Algorithms AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam

Does your choice of CMS and programming language really impact your SEO?

Martin Splitt May 04, 2023 ★★★

The CMS used (WordPress or other) and the programming language have no impact on ranking. Only server performance and behavior can have an effect, particularly if the server is especially slow.

Domain Age & History Content Web Performance Search Console International SEO

Do keywords in URLs really matter for SEO rankings?

John Mueller May 04, 2023 ★★★

Words in URLs have minimal SEO impact. Google primarily recommends consistency to prevent linking to the same page in different ways. Changing a site's URLs purely for SEO purposes is not recommended.

Domain Age & History Links & Backlinks Domain Name

Does image URL depth really prevent Googlebot from crawling your images?

Martin Splitt May 04, 2023 ★★

The number of levels in an image URL does not prevent Googlebot from crawling and indexing that image. Path complexity is not a problem for Google.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing Images & Videos Domain Name

Are your Search Console metrics really showing what's actually happening to your site in Google search results?

John Mueller May 04, 2023 ★★

Performance data in Search Console is collected when your site is actually displayed to users for specific queries. This data is not theoretical but based on what was actually shown to users.

AI & SEO Web Performance Search Console

Should you abandon dynamic rendering for SEO?

Martin Splitt May 04, 2023 ★★

Dynamic rendering (full HTML via SSR for bots, CSR for users) works but adds complexity to configuration and maintenance. Google does not encourage it for new projects.

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

Do you really need to optimize image file names for SEO?

Gary Illyes May 04, 2023 ★★

Descriptive file names for images are somewhat useful. For a few images, it's recommended, but if you have millions of images, you need to evaluate whether the benefit is worth the effort required.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Images & Videos PDF & Files

Does Google really render EVERY successfully crawled page with JavaScript?

Martin Splitt May 04, 2023 ★★★

All pages that are correctly crawled are rendered by Googlebot. Only pages that generate errors like 404s are not rendered. JavaScript rendering is part of the normal indexation process.

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

Does invalid schema markup really hurt your search rankings?

Gary Illyes May 04, 2023 ★★

Invalid schema markup doesn't harm your site. If Google can't parse the schema, it simply won't use it. This means you could miss out on search features like rich snippets.

Domain Age & History Structured Data AI & SEO

Does extended boilerplate content really hurt your SEO rankings?

Gary Illyes May 04, 2023 ★★

Extended boilerplate content should generally not have any effect on your site's presence in search results. Instead, you should think about how users perceive it, as they might not appreciate it.

Content AI & SEO

Should you really abandon directories and social bookmarking for your SEO strategy once and for all?

Gary Illyes May 04, 2023 ★★★

Submissions to directories and social bookmarking sites are a waste of time and provide no SEO benefit whatsoever. Google recommends that you stop investing effort in these outdated practices.

AI & SEO Social Media

Should you really use Google's link disavow tool, or is it just wasting your time?

Gary Illyes May 04, 2023 ★★

Google has been managing spam links for 25 years and knows how to ignore them well. The disavow tool in Search Console should only be used if links really bother you; otherwise, it's enough to simply ignore them.

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Penalties & Spam Search Console

Should you really worry about the difference between 301 and 302 redirects anymore?

John Mueller May 04, 2023 ★★

Google recognizes long-lasting 302 temporary redirects as permanent. While it's theoretically correct to use 301s, it's not critical because Google adapts as long as there is a redirect in place.

AI & SEO Redirects

Can a domain migration really happen without losing your SEO rankings?

Gary Illyes May 04, 2023 ★★★

A well-executed website move, including a domain change, should not result in lasting traffic loss. There is a method to change domains without losing rankings by following official documentation.

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name PDF & Files

How many products per page should you display to optimize your e-commerce SEO?

John Mueller May 02, 2023 ★★★

On Mastodon, a user asked John Mueller what the ideal number of products per page was. The Google employee did not directly answer his interlocutor, suggesting instead that they conduct user tests to answer this question. John Mueller did however add...

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Should You Still Optimize User Experience Now That Google Has Removed the Page Experience System?

Google May 02, 2023 ★★★

A few days ago, Google updated its documentation by removing several ranking systems, including the page experience system. Although Google had already clarified in the past that this system was more of a concept, this removal has created some confus...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Mobile SEO PDF & Files Web Performance

Does the Search Console API Really Unlock 50 Times More Data Than the Standard Interface?

Daniel Waisberg Apr 26, 2023 ★★★

The Search Console API and Looker Studio connector deliver up to 50,000 samples of pages or queries, compared to just 1,000 samples visible through the user interface or spreadsheet export. This difference becomes critical for large websites when ana...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance Search Console

Can the Search Analytics API replace the Search Console interface for managing your SEO strategy?

Daniel Waisberg Apr 26, 2023 ★★

The Search Analytics API provides website performance data from Google Search, including clicks, impressions, and average position, segmented by queries, pages, countries, and other dimensions. This data corresponds to what is available in the Search...

Domain Age & History JavaScript & Technical SEO Web Performance Search Console

Can the URL Inspection API Really Replace Manual Indexation Testing?

Daniel Waisberg Apr 26, 2023 ★★★

The URL Inspection API allows you to debug and optimize specific pages by providing analysis results including indexation status, AMP, rich results, and mobile usability based on a URL. It matches the data available in the URL inspection tool.

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Mobile SEO Domain Name Search Console

Is Your Declared Canonical Different From Google's? Here's How to Spot It Using the URL Inspection API

Daniel Waisberg Apr 26, 2023 ★★★

The URL Inspection API provides indexation information including the canonical URL declared by the user and the one selected by Google. This API can be used to check whether differences exist between these two canonicals, which helps diagnose indexat...

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