What does Google say about SEO? /
This category compiles official Google statements regarding Google Discover and Google News, two critical content distribution platforms for publishers. Google Discover has emerged as a significant traffic source, operating on a personalized recommendation model without user queries. Official Google positions on these topics are vital for understanding content selection criteria, eligibility factors, and necessary technical optimizations. SEO professionals will find guidance on E-E-A-T quality requirements, technical specifications including structured data markup, AMP formats, and editorial policy compliance. Google News maintains strict inclusion standards, while Discover prioritizes engagement metrics and contextual relevance. Mastering these official guidelines enables publishers to optimize visibility within these feeds, maximize referral traffic, and align content strategies with recommendation algorithms. These declarations also illuminate algorithm updates specific to these platforms and evolving journalistic standards expected by Google. Understanding the nuances between these two services helps publishers differentiate their optimization approaches and capitalize on opportunities for increased content distribution beyond traditional search results.
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★★★ Is the Google News sitemap really the fastest way to index fresh content?
Using the Google News sitemap is generally the fastest method for Google to quickly index content, as its size is limited, allowing for rapid retrieval after a ping....
John Mueller Dec 11, 2018
★★★ Are Timestamps Really Crucial for Indexing Your Content?
Google recommends using appropriate tags to indicate the original creation date as well as any updates to an article, notably for news articles. Time zone errors or the absence of a date mention on th...
Google Dec 10, 2018
★★★ Do unique images really impact your visibility in Google Images?
Using unique photos on your site is beneficial because if you use the same photo as other sites, Google will choose one of those articles as the destination page for image search. With unique images, ...
John Mueller Nov 30, 2018
★★ Should you show both the publication and last updated dates on your articles?
It is useful to show both the original publication date and the update date of articles, and to use structured data for this information....
John Mueller Nov 27, 2018
★★★ Did Your News Site Temporarily Disappear from Google News?
Google News recently experienced some indexing issues with certain sites, which were no longer appearing in search results. Googler Lisa Wang indicated that the bug has now been fixed and that the sea...
Google Nov 19, 2018
★★★ Can short content really achieve high SEO rankings?
The length of an article, such as a short piece close to a tweet, does not negatively affect SEO as long as the content is relevant and useful for users....
Google Oct 31, 2018
★★★ Should you ditch rel=author for Schema.org on your content?
Google no longer supports the rel-author markup, even before the disappearance of Google+. It is advisable to use schema.org for articles to indicate who the authors of the content are, regardless of ...
John Mueller Oct 19, 2018
★★★ Is Mobile First Indexing Really Behind Google's Recent Search Result Fluctuations?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that the latest major changes and Google algorithm updates we've seen over the past several months, even weeks, were not related to Mobile First Indexing....
John Mueller Oct 15, 2018
★★★ Should you always place sponsored articles as noindex?
For sponsored articles, the most important thing is to ensure that all included links do not pass PageRank. Using the nofollow tag on these links is crucial, while the noindex tag on the article itsel...
John Mueller Sep 26, 2018
★★ Why does Google sometimes rank aggregators above original news sources?
Sometimes articles that replicate original news content rank better than the original content. Google is interested in specific examples of this issue to try to improve its systems....
John Mueller Sep 26, 2018
★★★ Do structured dates really influence the SEO of your articles?
Using structured dates in the structured data of an article helps Google accurately identify the publication date of news articles....
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★★ Hreflang and Fragmented Content: How can your tags disrupt your crawl?
Errors in content structure within hreflang tags can lead to article fragmentation, which may cause crawling issues for Google....
Google Jun 19, 2018
★★★ Should You Drop Standout and Editors' Picks Tags for Google News?
Google has indicated that, as part of the launch of the new version of Google News, the Editors' Picks feed and the Standout HTML tag - which allowed highlighting certain articles considered to be of ...
Google May 21, 2018
★★ Are images and videos in Google News really hurting your SEO?
The presence of videos or images as the article's main image does not have a direct negative effect on ranking in Google News, but it depends on the content....
John Mueller May 03, 2018
★★ Can You Really Harm a Competitor's Site with External Canonical Tags?
A method of performing negative SEO based on "canonical" tags issued from low-quality sites has resurfaced recently following an article on this subject. John Mueller has, for his part, indicated that...
John Mueller May 02, 2018
★★★ Does Google really share all its algorithm updates through its official blogs?
Google strives to share important algorithm updates and their impacts through articles on its official blogs, in order to keep webmasters informed and up to date....
Google Apr 25, 2018
★★★ Does Having an RSS Feed Actually Improve Your Google Rankings?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that having an RSS feed on your site does not help it rank better in the SERPs, neither in Google nor in Google News....
John Mueller Apr 16, 2018
★★★ Is it still worth investing in AMP for your SEO?
AMP has evolved to offer more features than it did at its initial launch. It can be used in various types of content and site formats, not just for articles or simple content pages....
John Mueller Mar 27, 2018
★★★ Are Schema.org Structured Data Really Essential for Your SEO in 2024?
Gary Illyes indicated at the Pubcon conference that structured data tags (Schema.org) were here to stay because they allowed Google to better understand the content of a page....
Gary Illyes Feb 26, 2018
★★★ Is the DMCA truly effective against abusive duplicate content?
Google generally manages duplicate content from unauthorized copies well. If affected, using the DMCA process to request the removal of copied content can be considered for obvious violations....
John Mueller Feb 23, 2018
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