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 duplicate content on category pages really a non-issue for Google?
Having the same content on multiple pages (like article snippets on category pages) is not necessarily an issue. Google simply chooses one of the pages to display in the results for that common conten...
John Mueller Jun 25, 2021
★★★ How are Page Experience signals reshaping ranking in Google News?
With the change in criteria for the Top Stories carousel, all pages are now eligible (not just AMP), and Page Experience signals are being utilized as ranking factors for all pages....
Google Jun 24, 2021
★★★ Why are Google News rules crucial for appearing in Top Stories?
To appear in the Top Stories carousel, content must always comply with Google News policies, as these are not random web pages but highly relevant news articles....
Patrick Kettner Jun 14, 2021
★★★ Do you really need structured data for non-AMP content to appear in Top Stories?
Non-AMP pages must include specific structured data for articles (title, author, publisher, publication date) to be eligible for the Top Stories carousel....
Patrick Kettner Jun 14, 2021
★★★ Does the word count really matter for SEO rankings?
Google does not use the word count for SEO at all. The length of an article is an internal editorial decision. There is no correlation between longer content and better rankings....
John Mueller Jun 04, 2021
★★ Is it true that Google doesn’t differentiate between WordPress pages and posts in SEO?
Google doesn't recognize the difference between pages and posts in WordPress. This distinction exists only within the CMS. Google simply sees HTML pages with content and analyzes their internal linkin...
John Mueller Jun 04, 2021
★★★ What makes incorporating Web Stories into your SEO strategy a must right now?
Web Stories are available on Google Discover in the United States, India, and Brazil. The stories carousel in Discover is used by over 800 million people each month and helps find relevant visual cont...
Ryan Warrender May 18, 2021
★★★ Why can all qualified web pages now access Top Stories?
With the launch of the page experience-based ranking, Google is expanding eligibility for Top Stories to all qualified web pages, regardless of their Core Web Vitals score, as long as they meet Google...
Jeffrey May 18, 2021
★★★ How will the future expansion of Web Stories enhance your SEO strategy?
Google plans to extend Web Stories to more countries within Discover and across other Google products. Web Stories will also continue to appear more prominently in Google search....
Ryan Warrender May 18, 2021
★★★ Should you still worry about AMP for the top stories carousel?
AMP is no longer a requirement to be included in the top stories carousel. Any relevant news article that provides a good user experience can feature there, whether it uses AMP or not....
Google May 17, 2021
★★★ Why does Google sometimes measure the impact of an update with negative metrics?
There are two main categories of ranking changes: 1) changes to correct a persistent problem (like fake news), which may appear negative in initial metrics because users click more on clickbait conten...
Gary Illyes May 06, 2021
★★ How can you leverage the Google News report to maximize your editorial visibility?
The Google News performance report is particularly useful for press organizations. Similar to the search performance report, it provides data from the Google News apps on Android and iOS as well as fr...
Daniel Waisberg May 04, 2021
★★★ How Does Google Identify Content Authors Without the Authorship Tag?
John Mueller explained during a webmaster hangout how the search engine manages to detect who the author of a piece of content is, even without the authorship tag, which was removed many years ago. Hi...
John Mueller May 03, 2021
★★★ Does Google Page Experience really impact rankings for Top Stories and News?
Google plans to use Page Experience factors for the Top Stories carousel and Google News as well....
John Mueller Apr 28, 2021
★★★ Should you really make all structured data images visible on your pages?
The guidelines for structured data clearly state not to mark content that is not visible to the user. Images in Article structured data properties must be present on the page for the user....
Google Apr 22, 2021
★★★ Should you really index all your pagination pages?
For pagination, differentiate between divided content (multi-part articles) that must be indexable, and category pages that serve only to find links to other content. For these latter pages, pages 2, ...
John Mueller Apr 16, 2021
★★★ Does Google really require AMP for Web Stories?
For a Web Story to qualify for appearing on Google Search, Discover, or Images, it must be a valid AMP complying with AMP specifications. This allows the story to be served via the AMP cache and ensur...
Pascal Birchler Apr 08, 2021
★★ Where do Web Stories really show up in Google's ecosystem?
Web Stories can appear on Google in three environments: Google Search, Google Discover, and Google Images. Their display can vary from a single result to a visual carousel showing multiple stories dep...
Pascal Birchler Apr 08, 2021
★★ How can Search Console truly optimize your Web Stories for Google Search and Discover?
Search Console allows you to measure and improve the performance of your Web Stories on Google Search and Discover. Its tools and reports assist in analyzing traffic, fixing issues, and optimizing the...
Pascal Birchler Apr 08, 2021
★★ Does fact-check markup really enhance your page rankings?
Fact-checking tags or fact-check articles are rich results that alter the presentation in search results, but they do not constitute a direct ranking signal. Simply having this markup will not improve...
John Mueller Apr 01, 2021
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