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 lazy loading of images really harm your Google indexing?
Google recommends that images be easily accessible, even with lazy loading, through the <noscript> tag or structured data to ensure their correct indexing....
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
★★★ Could the overall quality of your site be hurting your top pages?
Google attempts to rank pages individually, but the overall quality of the site can affect how they are indexed. A gradual improvement of the entire site is recommended for better long-term results....
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★★ Does Page Popularity Really Influence How Often Google Crawls Your Content?
John Mueller reminded us on Twitter that the most important and popular pages for Google on a website are crawled more frequently than others....
John Mueller Aug 20, 2018
★★★ Should You Really Force Google to Crawl Faster During an HTTPS Migration?
Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that, in the case of an HTTPS migration, there was no reason to implement specific actions to obtain faster crawling from Google. The migration will be taken into acco...
Gary Illyes Aug 20, 2018
★★★ Does Google's URL Removal Tool Actually Delete Your Pages from the Index?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that the "Remove URLs" tool in Search Console only hides the URL from search results. It will therefore continue to be crawled, analyzed, and indexed until the 90th d...
John Mueller Aug 13, 2018
★★★ Should You Worry About Search Console Data Variations Between July and August?
Google announced that a change had been made to the new Search Console to make the "Index Coverage" tool more relevant and accurate. The data provided since July 14th may therefore change, but this is...
Google Aug 13, 2018
★★★ Does Google Really Honor the Canonical Tag Every Single Time?
John Mueller, on Twitter, explained that the "canonical" tag is not a guarantee that Google will consider a page as canonical or duplicate. Multiple signals are used and some can sometimes be contradi...
John Mueller Jul 31, 2018
★★ Do You Really Need Lots of Text on Your Pages to Rank Well in Google?
We asked John Mueller whether the amount of text on a web page could play a role as a quality criterion. In other words, could a significant number of pages on a website with very little text in their...
John Mueller Jul 31, 2018
★★★ Does Googlebot really handle JavaScript sites as well as static ones?
Googlebot can process sites based on JavaScript frameworks like Angular, but it is recommended to use tools like the mobile compatibility test to ensure these pages are rendered and indexed correctly....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★★ Does lazy-loading images really block Google indexing?
For lazy-loaded images, inserting an image tag within a noscript element allows Google to properly recognize and index them....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★★ How does Google really transfer signals during an HTTPS migration?
When transitioning a site from HTTP to HTTPS, if the migration is done correctly, Google can easily transfer all properties from the old site to the new one. In cases of technical errors, such as misc...
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★ Does stock level really influence the ranking of your product listings?
We do not consider stock levels to influence the ranking in search....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★★ Does a noindex tag on an HTML page really prevent the indexing of its associated AMP version?
If a traditional page is set to noindex, we do not follow the link to the AMP page. For a standalone AMP, it can be indexed independently if linked correctly....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★ Do multiple social profiles really boost your SEO?
Creating additional social profiles for the same brand does not improve the ranking of the main site. Social profiles can be indexed if public, but they do not affect the relevance of search results f...
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★ Why does Google Cache display your page differently from the actual rendering?
Differences between the Google cache rendering and the actual rendering of your page may occur due to access restrictions to CSS or JS files, but this will not affect Google's ability to index your co...
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★★ Does the canonical tag really work if the pages are different?
For the canonical tag to be effective, the pages must have equivalent content. Use rel=next/prev for paginated series instead of enforced canonicals to the first page....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★ Why do HTTP and HTTPS create two distinct indexes in Search Console?
In Search Console, it is important to verify the correct HTTP or HTTPS versions of a site as indexations can vary between them after a migration....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★★ Should you still use the Fetch as Google tool to index your pages?
To submit URLs for Google's index, it is recommended to use the 'Fetch as Google' tool in Search Console, especially following the removal of public submission tools....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★ Is your server holding back Google’s crawl more than you realize?
Our crawl speed is limited by your server's ability to handle traffic. You can set your own limits in Search Console....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
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