What does Google say about SEO? /
The Content category compiles all official Google statements regarding textual content creation, optimization, and evaluation in the context of search engine optimization. It encompasses fundamental aspects such as editorial quality, E-E-A-T criteria (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), duplicate content issues, and thin content concerns. Google's positions on these topics are critical for understanding how algorithms assess the relevance and added value of web pages. This category also includes recommendations on structural elements like headings (H1, H2, Hn tags), meta descriptions, and semantic optimization. With the introduction of the Helpful Content system, Google has reinforced the importance of a user-first approach rather than a search engine-first methodology. SEO professionals will find here official guidance for creating content that meets algorithmic expectations while delivering genuine value to users, a balance that has become essential for achieving and maintaining strong rankings in search results. These declarations provide clarity on content strategies that align with Google's evolving quality standards and ranking factors.
Quick SEO Quiz

Test your SEO knowledge in 5 questions

Less than a minute. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
★★ Should you really worry about product duplication with infinite scrolling?
For an e-commerce site, if page 2 loads products from page 1 (infinite scroll), it is not an SEO problem. Google is looking for links to product pages, and finding them duplicated across multiple pagi...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★★ Should You Still Be Using the Speakable Tag for SEO in 2024?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that the Speakable tag was still valid and not obsolete, contrary to what an email received by a publisher from a Googler working on Google News might have suggested....
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★ Should you mimic competitors who rise after a core update?
After a drop due to a core update, it is relevant to analyze the pages that now rank better to identify trends (e.g., informational vs commercial content). This helps to understand what users are look...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★★ Are guest posts considered a shady link scheme by Google?
Guest posts are acceptable if the author seeks to reach an audience (advertising, notoriety) and does not care about the nofollow. If the sole motivation is to obtain a dofollow link in exchange for t...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★ Is it really necessary to switch from Blogger to WordPress to boost your SEO?
Hosting a blog on Blogger with a custom domain is perfectly acceptable for SEO. There is no SEO advantage to migrating to WordPress. The Blogger infrastructure provides stability and automatic mainten...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★★ Does the alt attribute still play a role in web page SEO?
The alt attribute should accurately describe the content of the image (e.g., transcribe a quote if the image is a quote). Google uses the alt to understand the image for Image Search, not for traditio...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★ Why does Google show spam in brand search results beyond the first page?
If phishing or spam sites are massively appearing on deep pages (top 10 pages) of brand results, it’s often because Google lacks quality content to show beyond the first page. Patterns of spam should ...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★★ Should You Really Implement Hreflang for International SEO?
Fabrice Canal (Bing) explained on Twitter that Microsoft's search engine pays relatively little attention to the content of the Hreflang tag, which is less important in any case than language detectio...
Google Sep 14, 2020
★★ Is it true that Google really ignores your tracking scripts during rendering?
Google ignores certain scripts during rendering if they are not necessary for displaying the page. Google Analytics and other common analytics scripts are automatically detected and skipped to speed u...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★★ Should you really limit text content on your e-commerce category pages?
On e-commerce category pages, it is essential to find a balance. Too much informational content (e.g., several encyclopedic paragraphs) can cause the page to be classified as informational rather than...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★ Does Google Tag Manager affect your content to the point of impacting your SEO?
If the 'container tag' refers to Google Tag Manager, Google processes it during the page rendering. GTM can add, modify, or remove content via JavaScript. Using URL Inspection allows you to see the re...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★ Is footer content really treated as standard content by Google?
Content placed in the footer is treated like normal content located at the bottom of the page, provided that it is legible and not hidden. Google performs a viewport expansion during rendering and det...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★ Can switching your WordPress theme really sabotage your SEO?
Changing a site's theme can have an SEO impact not through speed, but through the alteration of internal linking and the presentation of content. For example, a central image changing to a thumbnail c...
John Mueller Sep 14, 2020
★★★ Should you update your existing content instead of creating new pages?
For similar content published each year (e.g., skincare routines), it's better to update the existing page and reposition it on the site rather than create a new page. Google may consider very similar...
Martin Splitt Sep 09, 2020
★★★ Can generated content for location pages really escape Google's duplicate content filter?
For location pages (e.g., 50 states with similar content), generated content can work if it contains enough relevant facts and differing information from one city to another. If the content is too sim...
Martin Splitt Sep 09, 2020
★★★ Do Images in XML Sitemaps Count Toward the 50,000 URL Limit?
We know that XML Sitemap files are limited to 50,000 URLs. We also know that for each page URL, we can indicate the URLs of the main images it contains. But do these image URLs count as part of the 50...
John Mueller Sep 09, 2020
★★ How does Google really detect duplicate content with fingerprinting?
Google creates a digital fingerprint of the content and uses similarity metrics to determine if two pages are duplicates. If about 95% of the content is identical (e.g., the same product description w...
Martin Splitt Sep 09, 2020
★★★ Can Google Really Block a Page's Visibility Based on Country?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that there is no system or mechanism on Google's search engine to limit a page's visibility to one country or another. For example, a page that could be visible on Go...
John Mueller Sep 09, 2020
★★★ Should you really consolidate your FAQ pages to dodge thin content penalties?
For help centers featuring hundreds of pages addressing very specific questions in just one or two sentences, Google may treat them as thin content. It is advisable to group similar or related questio...
Martin Splitt Sep 09, 2020
★★★ Should you really merge your similar content for better ranking?
Merging similar content and implementing redirects reduces Google’s crawl workload and helps centralize relevance and information in one place. This makes it easier to identify the right content to pr...
Martin Splitt Sep 09, 2020
🔔

Get real-time analysis of the latest Google SEO declarations

Be the first to know every time a new official Google statement drops — with full expert analysis.

No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.