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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★★★ Why Is the ALT Attribute Crucial for Your Google Images SEO Rankings?
John Mueller reminded us on Twitter of the critical importance of the ALT attribute for images in Google's dedicated search engine for this format....
John Mueller Sep 10, 2018
★★★ What really happens when a Google manual action expires without any fixes?
John Mueller reminded us on Twitter that manual actions do indeed expire at some point. However, if nothing has been done to fix the problem in the meantime, it could be picked up by a new part of the...
John Mueller Sep 10, 2018
★★★ Does Google Really Ignore Links from .edu Domains?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that, "because of the misconception that .edu sites are better taken into account by Google," the search engine was ignoring tons of links coming from pages on this t...
John Mueller Sep 10, 2018
★★★ How Does Google Really Evaluate the Quality of a Backlink?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that the overall quality of the site linking to you is not the only source of information Google uses to qualify the quality of the link itself. Other criteria come i...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ Should You Really Exclude All Redirected URLs from Your XML Sitemap?
John Mueller has said it repeatedly in the past: when you create your XML Sitemap files, don't include any redirected URLs (301 or otherwise). He reiterated this on Twitter recently. Google uses this ...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ How Does Google Really Index PDF Files and Why Should This Change Your SEO Strategy?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that when indexing PDF documents or others (certainly Word, Excel, PowerPoint or others), it first goes through a conversion phase from PDF to HTML. And it's this doc...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ Do You Really Need Third-Party Tools to Identify Toxic Links for Disavowing?
During a hangout, John Mueller indicated that, as part of a link disavow process, Search Console data (the "Links to your site" section) was most of the time sufficient to verify that no toxic links w...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ Should You Link from Your Homepage to Every Page on Your Site?
John Mueller discussed during a hangout the technique of implementing links from the homepage to all pages of a site, or to as many of these pages as possible. While this practice is quite logical for...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ Should You Really Redirect All Old URLs to the Homepage During a Migration?
John Mueller had already said this in the past. He reiterated it once again in a hangout: redirecting all the old URLs of a site to the homepage (particularly during a migration with massive changes t...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★ Does Google Really Favor Fresh and Recent Content in Its Rankings?
When asked on Twitter: "Does Google favor 'fresh' content?", John Mueller answered "No". According to John, the search engine would not favor "fresh" content....
John Mueller Aug 27, 2018
★★ Does Author Reputation Really Impact Google Rankings?
John Mueller indicated during a hangout that the search engine does not take an author's reputation into account in its analyses. The question arose because this point is sometimes mentioned in the Qu...
John Mueller Aug 27, 2018
★★★ Can You Use the Same Image Multiple Times on Your Site Without an SEO Penalty?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that an image could appear identically (under the same filename or not) on the same site, or across several different sites, this posed no problem for Google, and tha...
John Mueller Aug 27, 2018
★★★ Which HTTP Redirect Should You Use During HTTPS Migration to Preserve Your SEO?
John Mueller indicated during a hangout that "Google strongly recommends 301 redirects during an HTTPS migration", and therefore to move URLs from HTTP to HTTPS, when he was asked about 302 or 303 red...
John Mueller Aug 27, 2018
★★★ Can Google really read the graphs on your web pages?
Google does not attempt to interpret graphs on a web page. It is advisable to include textual descriptions to provide understandable context....
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★ Should you disavow an author with a bad reputation to protect your SEO?
Removing the mention of an author with a bad reputation does not require specific actions for Google. These changes should be treated as organic modifications to the site, with no automatic impact on ...
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★★ Why do your rich snippets sometimes not appear in Google search results?
Reviews and offers can still appear in search results, but their display depends on the technical compliance of the markup and the reasonable quality of the site. They may not always be displayed, and...
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★ Are recycled expired domains really facing manual penalties from Google?
Expired domains that reuse poor content may be subject to manual actions from the webspam team to counter negative impact....
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★★ Is duplicate content across multiple TLDs really safe with hreflang?
Having identical content across multiple TLDs does not lead to an automatic penalty for duplicate content, especially if the hreflang tag is used to define specific target audiences....
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★★ Why don’t Google’s algorithm updates necessarily mean your site is bad?
The changes made to Google's algorithms, such as those observed during the broader core update, reflect general evolutions and do not indicate that the affected sites are bad. They are adaptations to ...
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★★ Is duplicate content really harmless for your SEO?
Technical duplicate content is not penalized as long as it is in a technical form. Google tries to index the best URL when the same content is available on multiple pages....
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
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