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 Using Nofollow to Sculpt PageRank Still Work in 2024?
During a Twitter exchange, John Mueller stated that attempting to sculpt your PageRank by relying on the nofollow attribute of your links was an "SEO myth" and above all a genuine waste of time. Furth...
John Mueller Mar 14, 2023
★★★ Should You Use a 301 or 302 Redirect for a Temporary Domain Migration?
An SEO specialist asked John Mueller an interesting question on Twitter. Facing a situation dreaded by many experts, he is forced to migrate a domain from www.domain to newshop.domain, then return to ...
John Mueller Mar 14, 2023
★★★ Can You Really Rank with a Domain That Has a History of Penalties?
Can a site with a long history of penalties get back into Google's good graces? This is the question posed to John Mueller by an internet user who despairs of seeing his domain name still excluded fro...
John Mueller Mar 14, 2023
★★★ Do Hyphens in Domain Names Really Hurt Your SEO?
Can the presence of hyphens harm a domain name? "No," according to John Mueller, who seems to have restrained himself from responding with something sarcastic to his interlocutor, by his own account. ...
John Mueller Mar 14, 2023
★★★ Should you really prioritize alt text over OCR for extracting text from images?
While Google can extract text from images via OCR, it is preferable to provide this information through the alt attribute. This helps screen readers and allows you to better explain how the image rela...
Lizzi Sassman Mar 09, 2023
★★★ Does multilingual duplicate content really hurt your international SEO rankings?
There is no penalty for duplicate content when identical content exists in the same language across multiple markets. Google may treat a page as a duplicate and select a canonical URL, but hreflang an...
John Mueller Mar 09, 2023
★★ Does Google really retry indexing your pages after a 401 error or server downtime?
When a site is blocked by password (401) or inaccessible, Google's systems automatically retry from time to time. These crawl errors appear in Search Console. When the content becomes accessible again...
John Mueller Mar 09, 2023
★★★ Is infinite scroll killing your e-commerce indexation on Google?
Infinite scroll creates difficulties for search engines because they must simulate scrolling (via viewport expansion). This is not efficient and can prevent content indexation. It is strongly recommen...
John Mueller Mar 09, 2023
★★★ Does Google really detect WEBP format through the HTTP header rather than the file extension?
Google recognizes image format (WEBP or others) primarily through the Content-Type header in the HTTP response, not by the file extension. The HTTP header is generally sufficient to identify the image...
Gary Illyes Mar 09, 2023
★★★ Does LCP really only measure what's visible in your viewport at load time?
For page speed, Google uses Core Web Vitals including Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures the rendering time of the largest visible element in the viewport during initial load. Optimization...
John Mueller Mar 09, 2023
★★ Is an XML sitemap really essential for Google to index your website?
A sitemap is not truly required to appear in search results. If Google cannot retrieve a sitemap, continue normally: the issue may disappear when algorithms re-evaluate the site's content....
Gary Illyes Mar 09, 2023
★★ Strong vs Bold: Does Google really make a difference between these two tags?
The strong and b tags both specify that text is important, but they are not identical. The strong tag should be used for elements that are intensely important, urgent or serious (such as a warning). S...
Lizzi Sassman Mar 09, 2023
★★ Is your robots.txt file being treated as a security threat by Google?
Google treats the content of robots.txt files as external input controlled by users, therefore potentially problematic. The library is designed to handle malformed or malicious content without introdu...
Martin Splitt Mar 08, 2023
★★ Is Authorship Really an Important Ranking Factor for Your SEO?
During the opening conference and Q&A session he gave at PubCon 2023, Google's Gary Illyes once again confirmed several pieces of information already known by professionals. The first concerns Authors...
Gary Illyes Mar 06, 2023
★★★ Should You Really Update the lastmod Tag in Your XML Sitemap?
John Mueller, once again, answered a question about updating the lastmod tag in sitemap files. Our SEO king indicated that such an update only makes sense when there's a significant change. Furthermor...
John Mueller Mar 06, 2023
★★★ Do third-party reviews from Facebook and Bing really boost your Google rankings?
On Twitter, a user asked Google's John Mueller whether integrating local reviews from sites like Facebook, Bing, Google or others on a website could have any impact on its rankings. Mueller responded ...
John Mueller Mar 06, 2023
★★ Should You Really Use ChatGPT to Rewrite or Translate Your SEO Content?
On Twitter, John Mueller engaged with several users about rewriting content via ChatGPT with the aim of modifying an article or facilitating its translation into another language. While he doesn't ope...
John Mueller Mar 06, 2023
★★ Should You Stop Chasing Backlinks to Rank in 2024?
During his presentation at PubCon, Gary Illuyes also stated that links were not as important as SEOs believe. At least, they have lost weight over the past several years and will continue to lose weig...
Google Mar 06, 2023
★★★ Does poor JavaScript error handling really tank your Google rankings?
Instead of failing an entire page when a JavaScript request fails, it's recommended to implement graceful error handling that allows the rest of the useful content to display even if an individual ele...
Jamie Indigo Mar 02, 2023
★★ Does manually resubmitting corrected URLs in Search Console really speed up reindexing?
After fixing technical issues causing soft 404s, manually resubmitting URLs via Search Console allows you to specifically monitor their behavior and accelerate their return to normal indexation....
Jamie Indigo Mar 02, 2023
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