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.
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★★ Should you really fix every technical imperfection on a website that performs well in SEO?
If the content is indexed, appearing in search results and generating the expected clicks and impressions, nothing should be changed even if the technical setup seems imperfect. Only fix what is reall...
Martin Splitt May 05, 2020
★★★ Does Google Really Ignore My Structured FAQ Markup in the SERPs?
Adding structured FAQ markup to a page does not guarantee that Google will display FAQ rich results in search results. The algorithms may decide to show fewer FAQs for certain queries or prioritize ot...
Martin Splitt May 05, 2020
★★★ How does Google detect pirated content obscured by cloaking?
If pirated content is not visible on the URLs provided in Search Console, this could be an example of cloaking. Cloaking shows different content to users and search engines, complicating the cleaning ...
Daniel Waisberg May 05, 2020
★★★ Can renaming a URL parameter really force Google to reindex your duplicate pages?
When Google learns that a URL parameter is irrelevant and groups pages as duplicates, this learning persists for a long time. Changing the parameter name (e.g., from 'q=' to 'qu=' or 's=') forces Goog...
John Mueller May 05, 2020
★★★ How Long Before Google Deindexes a Site That's Down?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that if a website is "down" due to an outage, the search engine will test access to its pages a certain number of times, then begin deindexing content (page by page a...
John Mueller May 04, 2020
★★★ Does Googlebot Still Fill Out Forms to Crawl Your Website?
John Mueller explained in a hangout that today, it is extremely rare for Googlebot to attempt to fill out and submit a form on a website "to see where it goes in that case". John explained that if thi...
John Mueller May 04, 2020
★★★ Does Submitting Multiple Google Reconsideration Requests Really Speed Up Manual Action Removal?
When a site has been targeted by a manual action from Google, John Mueller indicated on Twitter that there is no point in making several reconsideration requests in succession, as long as you have not...
John Mueller May 04, 2020
★★★ Why Does Google Detect So Many Soft 404s in Search Console and How Can You Fix Them?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that if, in the Search Console ("Coverage" report), you have many "Soft 404s" (pages generating a 200 code but with 404 behavior), it's because you may have an intern...
John Mueller May 04, 2020
★★★ Should you index the internal search pages of your site?
If internal search pages resemble categories, indexing them can make sense. If they consist of random user searches, it’s better to use noindex or robots.txt. Mueller prefers noindex because robots.tx...
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★ Does duplicating a link on the same page really enhance its SEO value?
Having the same link twice on a page (navigation + content) changes nothing in terms of SEO. The second link adds no extra value. However, it can improve user experience....
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★ Do subdomains or subdirectories really matter for SEO according to Google?
Google has no SEO preference between subdomains (blog.site.com) and subdirectories (site.com/blog). Mueller recommends consolidating everything under the same hostname for easier tracking, but technic...
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★★ Should you really abandon the desktop version of your site with mobile-first indexing?
Once switched to mobile-first indexing, Google uses only the mobile version for indexing, context, and understanding of URLs. If budget is limited between desktop and mobile, prioritize mobile. But do...
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★★ Do old backlinks really lose their SEO value over time?
The value of a link does not depreciate with age per se. It’s the position of the link in the source site that evolves: an article on the homepage becomes archived, losing relevance. It’s not the link...
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★★ Do external links really harm your pages' rankings?
Google does not consider natural, non-paid external links to harm a page's ranking. They help Google understand the context and position of a page relative to the rest of the web....
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★ Should you really keep your old domains to safeguard your brand?
Mueller strongly recommends keeping old domain names indefinitely, even without content, to avoid a third party purchasing the domain and associating your brand with undesirable content....
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★★ Can content A/B testing really harm your SEO without you knowing?
Temporarily changing content (e.g., H1) will be indexed by Google if crawled, with potential SEO impact. Testing every two weeks makes tracking very difficult because the timing of reprocessing is unp...
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★★ Should you really avoid canonicals pointing to page 1 on paginated pages?
If all paginated pages (2 to 10) have a canonical pointing to page 1, Google deindexes pages 2-10 and their unique content. Items that are only present on these pages will be lost to the index....
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★★ Why does Google deindex your pages and how can you fix it?
If the number of indexed pages decreases, it’s generally because Google believes it’s not worth indexing all pages individually. This could indicate a site-wide quality issue rather than a specific te...
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★ Does the text surrounding an internal link matter as much as the anchor itself for Google?
Google understands the context of internal links through both anchor text and surrounding text. Whether a link is within the text or directly after a block of text does not alter anything; the context...
John Mueller May 01, 2020
★★★ Why does Google deindex your blog articles after an update?
When previously indexed articles are deindexed after an algorithm update, it is usually not a technical issue but a problem of perceived quality. Google decides that indexing fewer pages from this sec...
John Mueller May 01, 2020
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