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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★★★ Why don’t the Search Console API and the web interface return the same data?
The Search Console API and the web interface use exactly the same backend. If no data is returned by the API while the interface displays it, the issue likely stems from a difference in domain verific...
John Mueller Sep 04, 2020
★★★ Do Links from Wikipedia Really Impact Your Google Rankings?
John Mueller explained on Reddit that links from Wikipedia to your site have no impact on your visibility in Google. And even more so for links created artificially and/or automatically on the online ...
John Mueller Aug 31, 2020
★★★ Should You Include Category Pages in Your XML Sitemap?
In response to a tweet asking whether category page URLs - article or product listing pages - should be included in the XML Sitemap, Fabrice Canel (Bing) answered yes, this file should include all URL...
Google Aug 31, 2020
★★★ Does migrating to a new domain really erase SEO penalties and bad signals?
Migrating to a new domain to evade low-quality content or spammy links does not work. Google continually evaluates content, and low-quality material remains poor regardless of where it’s moved. Some s...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★ How long does it really take to transfer SEO signals during a migration?
The speed of signal transfer depends on the site's crawl budget, crawl frequency, and the number of external links. This can take anywhere from one day to several weeks depending on these factors. Sit...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Does a domain migration really lead to traffic loss?
A well-executed domain migration does not necessarily result in overall traffic loss. If you simply copy the entire URL structure and content to a new domain, traffic will decrease on the old one and ...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Should you really avoid changing everything at once during an SEO migration?
You shouldn't take advantage of a migration to simultaneously change multiple elements (URL structure, technology, content). Modifying all variables at the same time makes it impossible to identify th...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ How does Google really transfer signals during a domain migration?
When Google crawls the old site and detects the redirects, it checks that the new site is a one-to-one copy of the old one. If that's the case, signals from the old domain are transferred to the new d...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Should you really redirect all images during a site migration?
It is essential to implement 301 redirects for all images during a site migration. Visual content is very important for SEO. Since refreshing in the image index takes time, you should monitor the serv...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Should you really roll back after a site migration fails?
Before contemplating a rollback, it’s essential to diagnose the cause of the issue (missing redirects, crawl problems, technical errors). If after a month no improvement is observed, no explanation is...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Does a domain's purchase history truly hinder an SEO migration?
The history of a domain plays a limited role in a migration. If a purchased domain has been used for spam, it is essential to clean up existing issues, possibly use the disavow file, wait for Google t...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ How Does Google Actually Determine the Canonical URL of Your Pages?
John Mueller provided on Twitter a list of criteria that Google takes into account to define what the canonical URL of a page is (and therefore its "canonicalization"): redirects, internal links, exte...
John Mueller Aug 24, 2020
★★★ Does the Mobile First Index Really Apply Automatically to New Websites?
Google indicated in May 2019 that starting from July 1st of that same year, all new sites discovered by the search engine's crawlers would automatically be integrated into the Mobile First Index. John...
John Mueller Aug 24, 2020
★★★ Should You Index Automatically Translated Content Without Human Review?
Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that the official recommendation was not to index content that would be translated automatically (with software/algorithm like GPT-3) without subsequent human review. ...
Gary Illyes Aug 24, 2020
★★★ Should you really add nofollow to footer links between sites of the same group?
If sites belong to the same company, there's no need to add the nofollow attribute to cross links in the footer. Google recommends linking primarily by brand name. For a handful of sites, it's no prob...
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020
★★★ Why does Google measure Core Web Vitals on the actual page version your visitors are really viewing?
For Core Web Vitals (a future ranking signal, announced at least 6 months in advance), Google will analyze the page that real users predominantly view (AMP or standard HTML depending on the user journ...
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020
★★★ Can JavaScript really hide your links from Google without destroying them?
If an HTML link remains present in the rendered code even when a JavaScript event captures the click (e.g., mobile dropdown menu), Google processes it normally. The only problematic case is if the HTM...
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020
★★★ Should you still invest in AMP to optimize speed and ranking?
Speed is a ranking factor, but AMP is not necessary for having fast pages. You can create very fast non-AMP pages and slow AMP pages. What matters is the actual measured performance, not the AMP forma...
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020
★★ Can Google really treat URL changes made by JavaScript and the History API as redirects?
When JavaScript uses the History API to modify the URL after loading (e.g., simplifying parameters), Google may interpret this as a redirect to the new URL and choose it as canonical. This can be veri...
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020
★★★ Is it true that AMP is a speed factor for Google?
AMP or non-AMP is not a speed criterion in itself: it is possible to create very fast pages without AMP and slow pages with AMP. Google measures the actual speed (future Core Web Vitals) of the versio...
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020
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