What does Google say about SEO? /
This category compiles official Google statements regarding featured snippets, optimized excerpts, and rich search result features displayed on search engine results pages (SERP). Featured snippets, often referred to as position zero, represent a critical strategic opportunity for SEO professionals as they provide maximum visibility by appearing above traditional organic results. Here you'll find Google's communications about Knowledge Graph functionality, rich results implementation, passage ranking technology, and "People Also Ask" features. Understanding the selection criteria for featured snippets, preferred formats (paragraphs, lists, tables), and content structuring best practices is essential for maximizing your chances of capturing these premium positions. Google's official positions on these topics help SEO practitioners separate myths from facts, effectively optimize structured content, and understand how algorithms select and display these enhanced elements that fundamentally transform user experience and organic click-through rates. This resource provides valuable insights into SERP evolution and how to adapt your optimization strategies accordingly for maximum search visibility and traffic potential.
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★★★ How Does Google Choose Between Publication Date and Last Updated Date in Search Results?
John Mueller provided an interesting insight during a hangout about the date displayed in Google's SERPs (particularly to the left of the snippet, which usually takes the meta "description" tag): it c...
John Mueller Sep 17, 2018
★★ Does Pogosticking Really Impact Your Google Rankings?
John Mueller explained in a hangout that pogosticking, or the measurement of user behavior in the SERPs, is not a relevance criterion in terms of page ranking and that the potential back-and-forth mov...
John Mueller Jul 23, 2018
Does Google Personalization Really Affect Your SEO Rankings?
Danny Sullivan indicated on Twitter that personalization of SERPs at Google was primarily based on geolocation and the language used by the user. Other criteria (search history and visited sites, etc....
Danny Sullivan May 21, 2018
★★ How Do EAT Criteria Actually Influence Your Chances of Winning Featured Snippets?
John Mueller also indicated during a hangout that, to appear in a featured snippet, a website must meet "EAT" criteria (Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness). In short, everything will depend prim...
John Mueller May 21, 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
★★★ Are Complex Tables Really Killing Your Featured Snippet Chances?
John Mueller indicated during a hangout that content displayed in the form of a large table or a long series of links was not optimized to appear as a featured snippet and, therefore, in the context o...
John Mueller Apr 16, 2018
★★★ Why Do Featured Snippets Change So Frequently in Google Results?
Gary Illyes indicated at the Pubcon conference that the featured snippets currently displayed in the SERPs can vary significantly for the same query from one day to the next, because Google engineers ...
Gary Illyes Nov 21, 2017
★★ Do You Really Need Schema.org Markup to Get Rich Snippets in Google?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that, to display "rich snippets" in Google's SERPs (review stars, etc.), Schema.org structured data markup is not strictly required in principle. However, examples of...
John Mueller Nov 06, 2017
★★ Should You Really Be Monitoring Mozcast and SERP Weather Tools for Your SEO?
Gary Illyes indicated at the Brighton SEO conference that SERP weather tools like Mozcast seemed quite relevant to him for measuring potential ranking variations and therefore Google updates....
Gary Illyes Oct 02, 2017
Should You Worry About an HTTP Warning Label in Google Search Results Like Mobile?
Gary Illyes stated at Brighton SEO that Google has no plans to indicate in the SERPs that a URL is not secure (meaning it's HTTP and not HTTPS) with a specific message, as was previously done with non...
Gary Illyes Sep 25, 2017
★★ Is Click-Through Rate (CTR) Really a Ranking Factor for SEO?
John Mueller explained during a hangout that if Google uses the click-through rate in SERPs (or pogosticking), it's primarily to evaluate and improve relevance algorithms, but not to assign a score to...
John Mueller Sep 25, 2017
★★ Has Google Really Made HTTPS Migration Instantaneous?
Gary Illyes indicated, again at the Brighton SEO conference, that during a migration from HTTP to HTTPS, there should now be virtually no transition period (and therefore no drop) in a site's rankings...
Gary Illyes Sep 25, 2017
★★ Do Large Sites with More Pages Rank Better on Google?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that Google does not rank large sites (those with many pages) better "by default" compared to small sites......
John Mueller Sep 11, 2017
★★★ Does the Absence of Google's "Cached" Link Indicate Low-Quality Content?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that the fact that the "Cached" link does not appear in the SERPs for a page is not synonymous with low-quality content for the search engine. This may mean that the ...
John Mueller Sep 11, 2017
★★ Why Aren't Your Rich Snippets Showing Up in Search Results Despite Correct Technical Implementation?
Aaseesh Marina explained that the failure of rich snippet information (stars, prices, product availability...) to appear in SERPs could stem from a third reason (in addition to the two already known: ...
Google Sep 11, 2017
★★★ How Does Google Actually Detect Duplicate Content During Indexing?
Gary Illyes provided some insights on Twitter about how Google handles duplicate content phenomena: it's done through page comparison (not based on keyword analysis), the analysis is performed during ...
Gary Illyes Sep 11, 2017
★★ Why Aren't Your Rich Snippets Showing Up in Google Despite Perfect Markup?
John Mueller indicated that there could be 3 reasons why rich snippets (or rich cards) don't appear in the SERPs for a site: technically incorrect code, an issue with official guidelines not being fol...
John Mueller Aug 21, 2017
★★ Should You Create a Specific Meta Tag to Optimize Your Content for Featured Snippets?
Gary Illyes explained at the SMX Advanced conference that Google would not be offering specific data on the appearance of your site's content in featured snippets in the Search Console in the short te...
Gary Illyes Jun 19, 2017
★★★ How Many Pages from the Same Website Can Appear in Google Results?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that the same site can appear multiple times (with different pages) on the same results page. There is no (longer any) limit to the number of URLs from the same site ...
John Mueller May 29, 2017
★★ Search Console Geolocation vs Hreflang: Which One Delivers the Real SEO Boost?
John Mueller has indicated the difference between geolocation of a site (in Search Console) and the use of the Hreflang tag. Geolocation seems stronger, with a genuine effort from Google to present th...
John Mueller May 22, 2017
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