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.
Quick SEO Quiz

Test your SEO knowledge in 5 questions

Less than a minute. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
★★★ Is your page depth killing your crawl budget?
Changes in website structure or page depth affect how quickly Googlebot crawls, and geotargeting can influence visibility in relevant markets....
John Mueller Aug 28, 2015
★★ Why does Google list embedded resources as blocked when they're not in robots.txt?
John Mueller clarifies that in the blocked resources report of Google Search Console, embedded content on pages can be listed, even if these resources do not seem to be blocked by robots.txt. To addre...
John Mueller Aug 28, 2015
★★★ Can Fetch as Google really detect invisible cloaking hacks?
During the review process, use the Fetch as Google tool to ensure there is nothing unusual on your pages, as some hacks using cloaking may not be readily visible....
Eric Kuan Aug 26, 2015
★★★ How does blocking URLs in robots.txt dilute the PageRank of your backlinks?
The robots.txt file should not be used to address canonical issues, as links lose their PageRank when pointing to a URL blocked by robots.txt....
John Mueller Aug 25, 2015
★★★ Can Google really index your pages without crawling them?
Google can index a URL even if it has not crawled it, based on external links and anchor text, but without a content snippet....
John Mueller Aug 25, 2015
★★ Are ASO and App Indexing two mobile strategies that Google clearly distinguishes?
ASO focuses on optimizing the app descriptions on app stores, while App Indexing deals with the internal content of the application to help it appear in search results....
Mariya Moeva Aug 25, 2015
★★★ What makes Fetch as Google for apps a game changer for mobile indexing?
The Fetch as Google tool enables developers to see how Googlebot renders the content of an application, facilitating the identification of issues such as blocked content or content obscured by inacces...
Mariya Moeva Aug 25, 2015
★★★ How can you effectively integrate App Indexing into your mobile SEO strategy?
To integrate your application with App Indexing, you must first support deep linking, annotate your websites with these links, verify your application with the site via the Google Play Developer Conso...
Krzysztof Bielski Aug 25, 2015
★★★ Is Google truly ignoring the crawl-delay directive in your robots.txt?
Google does not honor the crawl-delay directive in the robots.txt file, unlike some other search engines such as Bing....
John Mueller Aug 25, 2015
★★★ Should you really fix all the errors in your robots.txt file?
Google ignores unknown directives and UTF-8 coding errors in the robots.txt file....
John Mueller Aug 25, 2015
★★★ Is the robots.txt file really essential for ranking on Google?
The robots.txt file is not required for most websites. It is used to control the crawl of search engines, but it does not replace server security or passwords....
John Mueller Aug 25, 2015
★★★ Will Google really index apps that don't have a corresponding website?
Google is working on enabling the indexing of apps that do not have a corresponding website, which will open up opportunities to access content that has been previously unindexed....
Krzysztof Bielski Aug 25, 2015
★★ How can Search Console effectively monitor your indexed apps?
Developers can use Search Console to monitor impressions, clicks, and errors associated with the indexed content of their applications. This requires being registered as an owner on the Google Play ac...
Mariya Moeva Aug 25, 2015
★★★ Does App Indexing really influence rankings in Google Search?
Google has indicated that App Indexing is one of the signals used in ranking, making its implementation important for app developers aiming to enhance their visibility in search results....
Google Aug 25, 2015
★★★ Should you block filter pages with robots.txt or focus on canonicalization?
For e-commerce sites with filters, it is recommended to use canonicalization or no-index rather than blocking with robots.txt....
John Mueller Aug 25, 2015
★★★ Are the Search Console tools for robots.txt really reliable for preventing crawl errors?
Search Console offers tools to test and validate the robots.txt file, allowing access to previous versions and simulating changes before implementation....
John Mueller Aug 25, 2015
★★★ How does Google really prioritize robots.txt directives?
The most specific directive in the robots.txt file takes precedence over less specific directives, and the order of lines in the file does not matter to Google....
John Mueller Aug 25, 2015
★★ Deep Links: Do you really need to choose between HTTP schema and custom schema?
Google recommends using either an HTTP schema or a custom schema for deep links. With the HTTP schema, already indexed URLs will be automatically validated. With a custom schema, each page must be ann...
Krzysztof Bielski Aug 25, 2015
★★★ Can App Indexing truly boost your mobile visibility without prior installation?
App Indexing can help enhance the visibility of applications in mobile search results, even for users who do not have the application installed. Google may suggest applications based on the relevance ...
John Mueller Aug 25, 2015
★★★ App Indexing: Why is your integration failing silently?
Common issues with App Indexing integration include incorrectly formatted deep links, restrictions in the robots.txt file preventing content validation, and the use of native ARM code that is not supp...
Krzysztof Bielski Aug 25, 2015
🔔

Get real-time analysis of the latest Google SEO declarations

Be the first to know every time a new official Google statement drops — with full expert analysis.

No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.