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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★★★ Can you safely use bidirectional canonicals between two site versions without any risk?
Duplicating content between two versions of a site (global and local) while providing a canonical tag is a perfect use of this tag. You don't need to apply the same direction for all content: one site...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★ Do H2 tags in your footer actually hurt your SEO rankings?
Google can recognize common elements that repeat across all pages (like footers) and automatically de-emphasizes them for ranking purposes. Using H2 tags in the footer is not problematic. Google will ...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★★ Can Core Web Vitals Really Tank Your Rankings by 48 Positions?
Page Experience, including Core Web Vitals, is a subtle ranking signal that helps differentiate between content of similar quality. It should not cause drastic changes in positioning. A page should no...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★★ Is hidden text still a problem for SEO in 2024?
Hidden text is problematic only when it serves to deceive search engines about the true content of a page. Using hidden text for internal identifiers, accessibility, or legitimate technical needs is p...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★★ Is Google really ignoring 95% of your submitted URLs—and what does that say about your content?
When Google indexes only a tiny fraction of submitted URLs (86 out of 4,500), beyond basic technical checks, you need to seriously evaluate the site's overall quality with external people who aren't i...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★★ Is Google really refusing to index your pages even though they're crawled regularly and have no technical issues?
When a page is crawled multiple times but not indexed (excluding technical errors, noindex, or duplications), it's generally related to the perceived quality of the entire site or that specific sectio...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★★ Should you update the same page or create a new URL every day for frequently refreshed content?
For daily updated content (like cryptocurrency prices), Google recommends maintaining the same URL and simply updating the existing content rather than creating a new page each day. This allows you to...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★★ Why does Google insist that sitemaps should never be your only safety net?
Sitemaps should provide supplementary information about a site, but should not be the primary means of content discovery. Internal linking is essential. Google must be able to discover all content by ...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★ Should you disable automatic links to boost your SEO performance?
Massively removing internally generated automatic links will probably have an impact on rankings, but it's impossible to predict whether that impact will be positive or negative. It's recommended to c...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★ Does server speed really impact the crawl budget of large websites?
For very large sites, server speed plays an important role in Google's crawl capacity. If a web server is very slow, Google cannot crawl as much content. The amount of crawl affects what can be indexe...
John Mueller Mar 05, 2022
★★★ Should You Reverse Pagination Order to Improve Crawling of Fresh Content?
John Mueller indicated on YouTube that when displaying paginated content, it's better to place the most recent items at the beginning rather than at the end, because otherwise, the bot may not crawl t...
John Mueller Feb 28, 2022
★★★ Is EAT Really a Ranking Factor in Google's Algorithm?
John Mueller indicated during the same hangout that EAT was primarily a concept used by Quality Raters to define the quality of a SERP. And that there was no "EAT score" as such entering directly into...
John Mueller Feb 28, 2022
★★★ How Does Google Use URL Structure to Identify a Website's Geographic Targeting?
John Mueller explained during a webmaster hangout that Google could use country indicators in URLs to obtain information about the geographic target of pages on a site. But that these indicators (/fr/...
John Mueller Feb 28, 2022
★★ Is manually testing your ranking on a few keywords really enough to validate your entire SEO strategy?
Once you've confirmed that Google recognizes your website, verify whether it appears in search results for relevant keywords related to your content....
Google Feb 24, 2022
★★ Why is updating your website's content crucial for SEO?
If you already have a website, remember to update both the content and the technology. Just like a physical store, updates are necessary for new products, events, and promotional information....
Google Feb 24, 2022
★★★ Can Google really detect all ranking manipulation techniques?
Google has numerous mechanisms to detect techniques aimed at artificially manipulating rankings in search results. These security measures maintain the relevance and accuracy of results for users....
Google Feb 24, 2022
★★ How can you effectively manage copyright infringement takedown requests?
To report a copyright infringement, you must be the copyright owner. If you are not the owner, your request will be rejected. Generally, you hold the copyright for content you have created yourself....
Google Feb 24, 2022
★★ Why might Google reject your content removal requests?
Google offers a troubleshooting tool accessible via g.co/legal that allows users to report illegal content across all Google platforms, including Search. Removal requests for copyright infringement sh...
Google Feb 24, 2022
★★★ Is your site losing Google Images traffic because of missing alt text?
If you publish images or videos on your site, systematically use alternative text tags and other attributes to describe them. This allows Google to understand the content and makes your site accessibl...
Google Feb 24, 2022
★★ Should you really write meta descriptions as complete sentences?
Meta descriptions don't need to be in sentence form. For product pages, you can include product details and the manufacturer. For blog articles, you can display the author and publication date....
Google Feb 24, 2022
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