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 3 questions

Less than 30 seconds. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~30s 🎯 3 questions 📚 SEO Google
★★★ Does content quality really impact every single Google ranking system?
Content quality affects practically all Google search systems: from sitemaps to crawling, ranking, indexing, index selection, and ranking. Different systems use quality differently, but they all use i...
Gary Illyes Sep 19, 2023
★★ Does Google really give preferential treatment to new homepages?
For a new site, Google generally gives the benefit of the doubt to homepages and crawls them without bias or prior predictions. The homepage will likely be indexed unless the content is of very poor q...
Gary Illyes Sep 19, 2023
★★★ Why Can Your Indexed URL Count Suddenly Skyrocket in Search Console?
In the September SEO Office Hours, Gary Illyes explained why it's sometimes possible to observe a sudden spike in indexed URLs in Google Search. There are multiple reasons that can explain this, but G...
Gary Illyes Sep 19, 2023
★★ Does moving low-quality UGC content really unlock your site's crawl potential?
SEOs have observed improvements in how Google crawls certain sections of their site after moving low-quality UGC content away from the main domain. Improving quality allows you to escape 'crawl prison...
Gary Illyes Sep 19, 2023
★★★ Should You Really Avoid Google Sites for Your SEO Strategy?
During the September 2023 SEO Office Hours, John Mueller stated that Google Sites were not the ideal solution for SEO. While sites created through this service can be indexed by Google, they can also ...
John Mueller Sep 12, 2023
★★★ Why is Google indexing your URLs even when robots.txt blocks them?
Google can index the URL alone (not the content) even if that URL is blocked by robots.txt. If that's problematic, allow the URL to be crawled and use a noindex rule in HTTP headers or a meta tag....
Gary Illyes Sep 06, 2023
★★ Should you really clean up every hacked page or let Google handle the sorting?
After a hack affecting thousands of pages, focus on the most visible pages and have them removed or reindexed manually, then let the rest naturally disappear from search results....
Google Sep 06, 2023
★★ Should you really worry about 404 errors generated by JSON and JavaScript in Google Search Console?
404 error URLs appearing in Google Search Console that seem to come from JSON or JavaScript code can be ignored, or you can add an HTTP noindex header for these URLs....
Gary Illyes Sep 06, 2023
★★★ Does mobile-first indexing really force you to prioritize the mobile version above all else?
With mobile-first indexing, Google uses the mobile version of a page as the basis for indexing and discovering links. If the mobile version contains the complete content, that's sufficient....
Google Sep 06, 2023
★★★ Why does Googlebot ignore your buttons and how can you work around this limitation?
Generally speaking, Googlebot does not click on buttons. Links must be accessible via standard HTML elements rather than requiring user interaction....
Gary Illyes Sep 06, 2023
★★ Can infinite scroll really work for SEO when each section has its own unique URL?
Infinite scroll can work correctly for Googlebot if each virtual page section is also accessible and discoverable via a unique URL. Implementation is the key....
Gary Illyes Sep 06, 2023
★★ Does Google really expect you to block indexation of menus and common site sections?
It is not necessary to block the indexation of common page content such as headers, menus, sidebars or footers. Search engines handle the web as it is, including voluminous mega menus....
Google Sep 06, 2023
★★★ Should you stop forcing indexing when Google deindexes your pages?
If pages are deindexed after submission, it means Google's systems aren't convinced of your site's value. Don't keep forcing indexation, but instead work on your site's overall quality and its unique ...
Google Sep 06, 2023
★★★ Can a noindex on your homepage really cause other pages to rank first instead?
If a homepage contains a meta robots noindex tag, this will prevent that page from being indexed. Other pages on the site can then appear first in search results....
Google Sep 06, 2023
★★ Can PDFs hosted on Google Drive actually be indexed by Google search?
Google can index public PDF files hosted on Google Drive. It's simply another URL on a website, and the indexing delay can vary from a few seconds to never....
Gary Illyes Sep 06, 2023
★★★ Does Google Really Render Every Page Before Indexing It?
On X, Martin Splitt stated that if a page had been indexed, it meant that it had undergone rendering. The Google Search Relations team member also added that this applied to all pages, with the except...
Martin Splitt Sep 05, 2023
★★★ Should You Temporarily Deindex a Page to Remove Its Sitelinks from SERPs?
On Reddit, John Mueller shared his perspective on using noindex to modify link appearances. A user asked him whether it was possible to temporarily deindex a specific page to prevent it from appearing...
John Mueller Aug 22, 2023
★★★ How can you verify that a crawler is really Googlebot and block fake ones without hurting your SEO?
To verify if an IP is a Google crawler, perform a reverse DNS lookup of the IP address to obtain the hostname, then verify the hostname to confirm the IP address. You can also use online WHOIS service...
Google Aug 09, 2023
★★ Should you really stop relying on Google cache to diagnose indexation issues?
Google cache has no importance for indexation. It is not a technical SEO tool. Use Search Console if you want to diagnose the status of a URL....
Google Aug 09, 2023
★★★ Is Google really indexing content that doesn't exist on your site?
Google doesn't invent content for indexing; it uses what your site provides. If gambling content appears in search results for your site when that's not your niche, it's because your server is serving...
Google Aug 09, 2023
🔔

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.