What does Google say about SEO? /
The Crawl & Indexing category compiles all official Google statements regarding how Googlebot discovers, crawls, and indexes web pages. These fundamental processes determine which pages from your website will be included in Google's index and potentially appear in search results. This section addresses critical technical mechanisms: crawl budget management to optimize allocated resources, strategic implementation of robots.txt files to control content access, noindex directives for page exclusion, XML sitemap configuration to enhance discoverability, along with JavaScript rendering challenges and canonical URL implementation. Google's official positions on these topics are essential for SEO professionals as they help avoid technical blocking issues, accelerate new content indexation, and prevent unintentional deindexing. Understanding Google's crawling and indexing processes forms the foundation of any effective search engine optimization strategy, directly impacting organic visibility and SERP performance. Whether troubleshooting indexation problems, optimizing crawl efficiency for large websites, or ensuring proper URL canonicalization, these official guidelines provide authoritative answers to complex technical SEO questions that shape modern web presence and discoverability.
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★★★ Does the 301 really determine which URL Google will canonize?
Google uses various factors to select the best canonical URL from a group. A 301 is a strong signal, but it is not always the only determining factor....
John Mueller Jun 06, 2019
★★ Does Google's URL Parameters Tool Actually Deindex Pages?
John Mueller reminded us in a recent hangout that the URL parameter handling tool in the old Search Console (a tool not yet transferred to the new version but still fully operational) doesn't specific...
John Mueller Jun 03, 2019
★★★ Does changing your hosting provider hurt your website's SEO?
Changing a website's IP address, such as during a hosting change, does not have a direct impact on rankings in Google search results. The essential factor is that the site must be accessible to users ...
John Mueller May 31, 2019
★★★ Should you really block the indexing of all your internal search results pages?
It is recommended to block the indexing of internal search results pages, as they tend to be of low quality and could overload the server. Google may sometimes index search pages that are particularly...
John Mueller May 31, 2019
★★★ Is it true that mobile-first indexing is automatically applied to all your new content?
Mobile-first indexing is automatically applied to new domains but not necessarily to new sites created on existing domains. This method changes the crawling and indexing approach but does not directly...
John Mueller May 31, 2019
★★★ Can sensitive images really block the indexing of your pages?
Pages that contain images that might be considered inappropriate can be excluded from the SafeSearch index. Google selects these pages based on a sensitive content filter algorithm, which can affect t...
John Mueller May 31, 2019
★★ Is JavaScript crawl budget really a non-issue for your website?
The crawl budget pertains to all the URLs that we retrieve from the server, including the resources necessary to render a JavaScript page. However, for most sites, the crawl budget is not an issue....
John Mueller May 28, 2019
★★ Are indexing issues for your fresh content really that common?
Indexing problems with new or fresh content can be typical and are not necessarily linked to global bugs within Google. Everything has returned to normal after recent incidents....
John Mueller May 28, 2019
★★★ Is it true that Google now defaults to mobile-first indexing for all new sites, and how can you avoid unseen pitfalls?
Starting July 1st, new sites will be indexed by default using mobile-first indexing. However, no warning will be sent if a site encounters problems related to this indexing....
John Mueller May 28, 2019
★★★ Should you really translate URLs for a multilingual website, or can you keep them in one language?
According to John Mueller, URLs can be in the target language or not. What is crucial is to ensure that each version has a unique URL for indexing and to use hreflang to indicate the alternative versi...
John Mueller May 28, 2019
★★★ Does Googlebot really handle ranking, or is Google just spinning tales?
Googlebot is a program that performs three main functions: crawling, indexing, and, while not part of Googlebot, ranking. It collects online content, indexes it to understand its topic, and ranking is...
Martin Splitt May 22, 2019
★★★ Does JavaScript really delay the indexing of your pages by Google?
Googlebot executes the JavaScript of websites, but this may happen with a certain delay. Therefore, links dynamically generated by JavaScript are not immediately discovered during the first crawl but ...
Martin Splitt May 22, 2019
★★★ Does Googlebot really adapt its crawling based on your site type?
Googlebot adjusts its crawling frequency based on the type of website. For instance, news or frequently changing sites will be crawled more often than more static sites, such as a museum. This strateg...
Martin Splitt May 22, 2019
★★★ Should you really trust the user agent to detect Googlebot?
To recognize Googlebot, you can check the user agent that literally contains the word 'Googlebot'. This allows for optimization in how content is served, for instance, by providing pre-rendered conten...
Martin Splitt May 22, 2019
★★★ Do multiple slashes in your URLs really sabotage your crawl budget?
The repeated use of slashes in URLs can lead to inefficient crawling issues. To mitigate this, it is recommended to use canonical link tags....
John Mueller May 17, 2019
★★★ How can you permanently remove a test site from Google's results without delay?
To quickly remove a test site from search results, you can use the removal tool in Search Console. Additionally, ensure that Googlebot cannot access the site through means such as server authenticatio...
John Mueller May 17, 2019
★★★ Can blocking CSS in robots.txt sabotage your mobile-friendliness?
Ensure that CSS files are not blocked by the robots.txt file to allow Google to confirm the 'mobile-friendly' nature of your pages. If the mobile compatibility test indicates that everything is fine, ...
John Mueller May 17, 2019
★★★ Can link signals really influence Google's canonicalization?
The factors Google evaluates to determine the canonical page include internal links, external links, and HTTPS signals. It is important that these signals are consistent for Google to choose the page ...
John Mueller May 16, 2019
★★★ Does the canonical tag really centralize PageRank as we think it does?
Using a canonical tag to consolidate similar content can help centralize PageRank on one page. However, if Google does not regard the designated page as the most relevant, it may choose another URL as...
John Mueller May 16, 2019
★★★ Why does Google sometimes ignore your canonical tags?
Google may not always follow the provided canonical tag if there are conflicting signals, such as internal and external links pointing to different pages, which can lead Google to assign a different p...
John Mueller May 16, 2019
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