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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★★★ Does Google Really Keep All Your Past SEO Mistakes in Memory Forever?
When asked whether Google could forget certain practices performed by a website in the past, John Mueller replied that the search engine had "a lot of storage space". We can confirm this: Google forge...
John Mueller May 15, 2017
★★★ How Can You Check the Canonical URL of Your Pages Directly in Google?
John Mueller reminded us in a hangout of a trick that is actually quite little-known in general: the use of the "info:[URL]" search syntax on Google to find out the address considered canonical for a ...
John Mueller Apr 24, 2017
★★★ Can You Really Use Multiple H1 Tags Without Hurting Your SEO?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that it is possible to use as many H1 tags as desired on a web page. No surprise here, the Googler is simply reiterating the specifications of the HTML language, whic...
John Mueller Apr 24, 2017
★★★ Can Using Capital Letters in Title Tags Actually Get You Penalized by Google?
Some webmasters sometimes ask Google really bizarre questions. Like the one asking whether putting words entirely in capital letters in a Title tag could trigger a Google penalty. Gary Illyes' answer ...
Gary Illyes Apr 24, 2017
★★ Does Domain Age Really Impact Google Rankings?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that the age (seniority) of a domain name is not a relevance criterion for Google's algorithm (although this is a deeply rooted belief in the SEO community). It's pos...
John Mueller Apr 24, 2017
Why Does Google Deliberately Hide Information About Disavowed Links in Search Console?
John Mueller indicated in a hangout that if Google doesn't provide information in its Search Console about whether a link has been disavowed or not (in the "Links to your site" section), it's basicall...
John Mueller Apr 10, 2017
★★ How Does Google Really Interpret the Ampersand (&) in Your SEO Content?
Gary Illyes and John Mueller responded to a question on Twitter, indicating that, in most cases (and with some nuances in both responses however), Google understood the ampersand ("&") as an "and" in ...
John Mueller Apr 10, 2017
Do You Really Need Backlinks for Google to Crawl Your Pages?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that if a page had no backlinks, Googlebot would not crawl it. This is obviously false since a URL can be identified by the search engine via the XML Sitemap or be su...
John Mueller Apr 03, 2017
★★ How Have Google's Duplicate Content Detection Algorithms Really Evolved Over the Years?
Googler Paul Haahr, usually quite discreet but nevertheless highly relevant when he speaks, indicated that duplicate content detection algorithms at Google are constantly evolving, but have remained f...
Google Apr 03, 2017
★★ Can Store Locator Pop-ups Harm Your Mobile SEO Rankings?
Be careful if you use a pop-up on your mobile site that allows users to choose the nearest store upon arriving on the site (store locator). John Mueller said on Twitter that this type of pop-up could ...
John Mueller Apr 03, 2017
★★ Does Googlebot Really Use Cookies to Crawl Your Website?
Gary Illyes published one of his "DYK" (Do You Know) posts about cookies: Googlebot generally doesn't make use of cookies, but it can if it detects it cannot get to the content without them?. In other...
Gary Illyes Mar 27, 2017
★★★ Do 404 Errors Really Hurt Your Website's SEO Rankings?
John Mueller once again explained on Twitter that 404 errors returned by a website are not considered a low-quality criterion by Google and that there is no penalty that could affect a source of infor...
John Mueller Mar 20, 2017
★★★ Should You Avoid Linking to Wikipedia to Prevent Google Penalties?
John Mueller indicated - in response to a question from a user on Twitter - that linking to the Wikipedia encyclopedia does not result in a penalty from Google. One sometimes wonders where such questi...
John Mueller Mar 20, 2017
Is Google's Page Layout Algorithm Still Penalizing Your Site in 2024?
Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that the Page Layout algorithm, which has been updated several times in the past and aims to penalize pages with too many ads embedded in editorial content, somewhat l...
Gary Illyes Mar 20, 2017
★★★ Why Does Google Refuse to Build a Low-Quality Page Detection Tool in Search Console?
A user asked John Mueller whether Google was currently working on a tool that could be integrated into Search Console and would provide insights into which pages on a site might be considered low-qual...
John Mueller Mar 20, 2017
★★★ Does Optimizing Keywords in URLs Really Matter for SEO?
John Mueller, once again, reminded us on Twitter that the presence of keywords in URLs is a weak ranking factor for the search engine's algorithm, especially since on mobile devices, we don't even see...
John Mueller Mar 13, 2017
Are Quality Comments Really an Important Ranking Signal for Google?
Gary Illyes painfully attempts to provide information on Twitter with his "DYK" (Do You Know...) posts, which are unfortunately most of the time incomprehensible and totally useless. Latest example: "...
Gary Illyes Mar 13, 2017
★★★ Do Font Choices Really Impact Your Google Rankings?
The same John Mueller also explained in this hangout that Google does not take into account the type of font used in a website's pages. It is not a relevance criterion. The only limitation: if the tex...
John Mueller Mar 13, 2017
★★★ How can you properly handle 503 errors during maintenance without losing your SEO rankings?
John Mueller provided some advice on Google's Webmaster Blog if you temporarily close your site for maintenance operations: block the payment system (for example via the robots.txt file), warn visitor...
John Mueller Mar 13, 2017
★★ Can a Brand New Page Really Rank for Highly Competitive Keywords?
John Mueller indicated in a hangout that a newly created page can, despite its young age, rank well in Google's results, even for highly competitive queries. He takes as an example a page that would p...
John Mueller Mar 13, 2017
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