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.
★★★ Can you really control what appears in your SERP snippet, or does Google have the final say?
The snippet (description excerpt) displayed in search results comes directly from the web page's content. It's an element that can be controlled by the site owner....
Gary Illyes Apr 23, 2024
★★ Does Googlebot really click through your pages like a real user would?
Googlebot does not navigate from page to page by clicking like a real user would. It loads each URL separately in a new browser context after extracting links from the HTML. Interaction metrics like I...
John Mueller Mar 28, 2024
★★★ Why Are 'Help' Subdomains Replacing Homepages in Google Results?
Google is currently investigating an issue affecting adult sites. According to observations shared by an in-house SEO, the 'help' subdomain appears to be ranking in place of the homepage in the SERPs....
John Mueller Feb 27, 2024
★★★ Does Disavowing Toxic Links Actually Improve Your SEO Rankings?
On Reddit, John Mueller stated that simply disavowing toxic links listed in Semrush reports wouldn't be enough to recover your rankings in the SERPs. On numerous occasions, Google has advised against ...
John Mueller Feb 20, 2024
★★★ Is the Rich Results Test really enough to validate your structured data?
To verify that your structured data is working correctly, use the Rich Results Test tool which allows you to see your structured data from Google's perspective and validate that it is correct....
Martin Splitt Feb 01, 2024
★★★ Does Google really require structured data to display rich results?
All rich results displayed in Google Search are powered by structured data. This structured data allows Google to improve the appearance of search results for a page....
Martin Splitt Feb 01, 2024
★★★ Is structured data really essential to get rich results in Google search?
Rich results displayed in Google search are powered by structured data. This structured data is markup added to the HTML code of the website....
Martin Splitt Jan 31, 2024
★★★ Why doesn't Google follow a fixed time frame for page rendering?
There is no fixed waiting period for page rendering. Although the URL Inspection and Rich Results tools stop at 5 seconds, the actual crawling to indexing process may take longer. Rendering utilizes v...
Google Dec 14, 2023
★★ Why should you optimize your course data with Google's new structured data?
Google now allows the addition of detailed course information (price, level, ratings, duration) through structured data. This information appears in a new carousel of enhanced results called Course In...
Google Nov 30, 2023
★★ Does Your Social Media Follower Count Really Affect Your Google Rankings?
On X (Twitter), a user asked Danny Sullivan whether follower count was a ranking factor for social media profiles on Google, since the search engine now displays follower counts on SERPs. Sullivan res...
Danny Sullivan Nov 28, 2023
★★★ Do Structured Data Really Boost Your Site's SEO Rankings?
Nothing particularly new, but since Danny Sullivan spoke at length on this subject: a reminder! He stated that structured data markup has nothing to do with rankings, and therefore will not improve yo...
Danny Sullivan Oct 31, 2023
★★ Why Are Google Events Disappearing from Rich Search Results?
Several SEO professionals have noticed the disappearance of events in Google's rich results. A phenomenon that appears to date back to the end of September, according to the first messages mentioning ...
Google Oct 24, 2023
Does Your Page Really Need to Rank on Page One to Win a Featured Snippet?
John Mueller stated that there is no rule for appearing as a Featured Snippet, and that the page does not need to be on the first page. Any page can be eligible, according to him....
John Mueller Aug 29, 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
★★★ Should You Really Adapt Your Titles Based on What Google Shows in the SERPs?
On Mastodon, John Mueller responded to a user who was wondering whether it was wise to rewrite a page's title based on how Google displays it in the SERPs. The search engine notably tends to remove th...
John Mueller Aug 01, 2023
★★ Can you finally edit code directly in Google's rich results test tool?
Search Console has launched an update to the rich results test that enables code editing, making it faster and easier to test and fix structured markup corrections....
John Mueller Jul 18, 2023
★★ Does the Rich Results Test code editor really transform how you validate structured data?
Google has launched an update to the Rich Results Test enabling code editing, making it easier and faster to test structured markup corrections....
John Mueller Jul 05, 2023
★★ Should You Really Consolidate Pages Ranking for the Same Queries?
During the June 2023 SEO Office Hours, Gary Illyes recommended consolidating text results from the same domain that appear one above the other. Referred to as "host clusters" by Google, these results ...
Gary Illyes Jun 13, 2023
★★★ Can Invalid Schema.org Markup Penalize Your Organic Rankings?
In the SEO Office Hours video, Gary Illyes stated that invalid Schema markup does not harm your site or your rankings. In the worst case scenario, if Google cannot parse your markup, it simply won't u...
Gary Illyes May 23, 2023
★★★ Should You Drop FAQ Snippets After Google's Search Display Changes?
Could Google be looking to give less prominence to FAQ snippets in its rich result pages, on both desktop and mobile, as many SEO professionals have observed in recent weeks? According to John Mueller...
John Mueller May 16, 2023
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