What does Google say about SEO? /
This category compiles all official Google statements regarding JavaScript and technical aspects of search engine optimization. Modern JavaScript frameworks (React, Angular, Vue.js) and web application architectures (SPA, SSR, CSR) present critical challenges for crawling and indexing. Google's guidance on JavaScript rendering, dynamic DOM manipulation, AJAX implementation, and API calls is essential for ensuring client-side content visibility. SEO professionals will find authoritative positions on implementation best practices, differences between server-side and client-side rendering, and recommendations for optimizing load times while guaranteeing content accessibility to search crawlers. Understanding data formats (JSON, XML) and their SEO implications completes this vital resource. These official declarations help prevent common technical implementation mistakes that can severely impact the search performance of modern websites and JavaScript-powered applications. Access to Google's verified positions on these technical matters enables practitioners to make informed architectural decisions and implement JavaScript solutions that maintain strong organic search visibility while delivering enhanced user experiences.
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★★★ Can Dynamic Rendering Hurt Your SEO Due to Timeout Issues?
Martin Splitt explained on Twitter that when a site uses dynamic rendering, it's important to ensure that the page rendering time isn't too long, to avoid a timeout on the search engine side, which wo...
Martin Splitt Jun 11, 2019
★★ How Does the Mobile First Index Transition Work Based on Your Site Architecture?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that the transition to the Mobile First Index happens based on the domain name. So if a site uses addresses with subdomains (example: blog.example.com) and the addres...
John Mueller Jun 11, 2019
★★★ Should You Still Worry About Negative SEO in 2024?
John Mueller explained once again during a hangout that there's no need to worry about "negative SEO" and that the search engine handles this quite well, ignoring "spammy" links. He added that he sees...
John Mueller Jun 03, 2019
★★ Does Google's URL Parameters Tool Actually Deindex Pages?
John Mueller reminded us in a recent hangout that the URL parameter handling tool in the old Search Console (a tool not yet transferred to the new version but still fully operational) doesn't specific...
John Mueller Jun 03, 2019
★★★ Should You Enter SEO Contests to Test Your Skills and Strategy?
John Mueller let loose on Twitter about SEO contests, which he doesn't seem particularly fond of: "SEO contests are rather useless. They never reflect real performance, they generate a ton of spam tha...
John Mueller May 13, 2019
★★★ Which Dates Does Google Actually Use to Rank Your Pages?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that Google can take into account two types of dates: the one indicated in the XML Sitemap ("lastmod" field or last modified date) which corresponds to the last modif...
John Mueller May 02, 2019
★★ Should You Ditch the Noindex Directive in Robots.txt Before It's Too Late?
John Mueller and Gary Illyes recently discussed on Twitter the use of "Noindex:" in the robots.txt file. Let's remember that as of today, this feature works, but it is not maintained by Google and is ...
John Mueller Apr 23, 2019
★★ If a Backlink Doesn't Show in Search Console, Does Google Simply Ignore It?
John Mueller indicated on Reddit that if a backlink wasn't identified or found in Search Console, it was certainly irrelevant (except in the case of sitewide backlinks: a link in the footer of all pag...
John Mueller Apr 02, 2019
★★★ Are Schema.org Structured Data Really Useless for Featured Snippets?
John Mueller has once again reiterated on Twitter that displaying content in featured snippets is not linked to the presence of any particular Schema.org structured data markup.......
John Mueller Apr 02, 2019
★★★ Can Spammy Links Still Harm Your Rankings in 2024?
John Mueller confirmed in a hangout that Google, most of the time, ignores "spammy" links. He also clarified that sometimes, if a site is clearly legitimate for a query and has accumulated numerous po...
John Mueller Mar 25, 2019
★★★ Why Does Google Keep Crawling 404 Error Pages Even After Months?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that if a URL does not correspond to a web page on a site, a 404 - Not found code (or 410: Gone) provides a logical signal to Google. A 500 code (Internal Server Erro...
John Mueller Mar 18, 2019
★★ Should You Really Worry About Negative SEO and Use the Disavow File?
At the Pubcon Florida event, Gary Illyes explained that he had previously analyzed hundreds of "negative SEO" cases and that none of them, in his opinion, had any impact on the targeted site. He also ...
Gary Illyes Mar 11, 2019
★★★ Should You Report Suspicious Practices Even When You're Not Sure They're Actually Spam?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that there's no problem with submitting a spam report about practices implemented by a website when the author of the spam report isn't really sure whether it constit...
John Mueller Mar 11, 2019
★★★ Does Google's Algorithm Really Work Differently Depending on Your Query Type?
John Mueller explained in a hangout that Google's algorithm could function differently depending on the type of query posed by the user (he takes an example from the medical field in his explanations)...
John Mueller Feb 25, 2019
★★★ Does the Google Sandbox Really Exist for New Pages?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that there is no "sandbox" on Google that would deprive a newly created page of certain rankings before a certain period of time. On this subject, his response was fa...
John Mueller Feb 11, 2019
★★★ Can You Really Trust Google Search Console's Mobile Data to Guide Your SEO Strategy?
We asked Vincent Courson whether the data from the new Search Console regarding mobile compatibility was only samples. Because, most often, the number of pages indicated (sum of mobile-compatible page...
Google Feb 04, 2019
★★★ Does Buying an Expired Domain for SEO Really Work?
A Googler explained on a webmaster help forum that "Google understands when domains change owners, so the site won't necessarily rank for the queries it used to rank for before the ownership change." ...
Google Jan 28, 2019
★★ How Will Google Images' Major Upcoming Changes Transform Your Visual SEO Strategy?
John Mueller recently indicated that the Google Images search engine will soon undergo major changes, involving a new way of viewing image optimization. Without saying more. We should therefore expect...
John Mueller Jan 28, 2019
★★★ How Do You Create Quality Content That Truly Stands the Test of Time According to Google?
John Mueller "destroyed" a webmaster on a Google forum after analyzing his site. The publisher took quite a beating. Here's the translation of John's post: We don't index all the content on your site,...
John Mueller Jan 14, 2019
★★★ Should You Optimize the Max-age Parameter for CSS and JavaScript Files for SEO?
John Mueller also indicated on Twitter that the search engine does not take into account the "Max-age" parameter (notably used for cache systems) of JavaScript or CSS files......
John Mueller Dec 31, 2018
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