What does Google say about SEO? /
This category compiles all official Google statements regarding links and their role in search engine optimization. Backlinks have always been a cornerstone of Google's ranking algorithm, though guidelines continue to evolve. Here you'll find Google's positions on link building strategies, acceptable practices versus manipulative techniques, proper use of nofollow and dofollow attributes, and official guidance on private blog networks (PBN) and guest blogging approaches. SEO practitioners will discover authoritative recommendations on anchor text optimization, toxic link management through the disavow tool, and the significance of internal linking for site architecture. Google regularly communicates about backlink quality, emphasizing relevance and natural link profiles over sheer volume. Understanding these official declarations is crucial for developing compliant netlinking strategies, avoiding algorithmic or manual penalties, and effectively optimizing PageRank flow throughout your website. This documentation helps search marketers separate myths from facts regarding outbound links impact, various link types, and acquisition techniques endorsed by the search engine. Whether you're addressing linkspam concerns or building sustainable link equity, these official statements provide the authoritative foundation for modern link-based SEO strategies.
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★★★ Why does Google ignore your robots.txt rules even when they explicitly disallow access?
A Reddit user was managing a Shopify client whose internal search bar was being exploited by spam: spammer requests were generating search result URLs pointing to third-party sites. The client had blo...
John Mueller Jul 28, 2026
★★★ Should you hide an HTML link to optimize the anchor text that Google considers?
On Reddit, a user explained that he had a homepage containing two links to the same services page: a prominently visible 'Services' button at the top, and a second link in a FAQ section lower down, wh...
John Mueller Jul 21, 2026
★★★ Should you block your content from Google's AI responses?
Google Search Console introduces a control that allows site owners to choose how their content and links appear in AI generative search features. It is advisable to consult the documentation to unders...
John Mueller Jun 18, 2026
★★★ Why is HTML still essential for crawling in 2025?
Having HTML pages is critical for a search engine to identify the links and structure of your site, which is essential for crawling and discovering new content....
John Mueller Jun 15, 2026
★★★ Should you really create an LLMs.txt file for your website?
On Reddit, a user questioned why Google seemed to be playing both sides regarding the LLMs.txt file. John Mueller's response: "When an AI platform that brings you clients indicates that it needs the f...
John Mueller Jun 09, 2026
★★ Can we really afford to do anything in SEO without facing consequences?
On Bluesky, Google's John Mueller stated that because SEO is complex, multifaceted, and resilient, you "can do a lot of things that don't work, but still get away with it." In summary, you can make mi...
John Mueller Apr 28, 2026
★★ Should you offer Markdown versions of your content to enhance your visibility in AI-generated results?
An SEO consultant saw claims circulating that Google Search Central would serve Markdown versions of its blog articles to boost its visibility in AI-generated results. He delved into the topic, inspec...
John Mueller Apr 21, 2026
★★★ Can Google really ignore all links from a spammy site?
John Mueller reminds us that if a site violates Google's anti-spam policies, its outgoing links can simply be ignored altogether by Google. In other words, a site considered spammy no longer transmits...
John Mueller Apr 21, 2026
★★★ Does Markdown Really Work for SEO, or Should You Always Use HTML Instead?
On LinkedIn, someone asked John Mueller whether Google treats .md pages (that is, Markdown) differently from standard HTML pages, and more specifically whether they are properly rendered and accessibl...
John Mueller Apr 14, 2026
★★★ Should you really avoid using unique canonicals on multi-page e-commerce sites?
On LinkedIn, Rowan Collins, SEO Consultant, exchanged with John Mueller on a specific point about e-commerce structured data. For a multi-page site, each product variant with its own URL should not be...
John Mueller Mar 31, 2026
★★★ Is content disparity between mobile and desktop killing your rankings in mobile-first indexing?
During mobile-first indexing, Google has found that a large number of pages present significant differences between their mobile and desktop versions: missing content, absent links, different navigati...
Martin Splitt Mar 30, 2026
★★★ Is mobile-desktop parity really costing you search rankings more than you think?
During the shift to mobile-first indexing, Google discovered numerous sites where the mobile version lacked content, links, navigation, or metadata compared to the desktop version, causing ranking pro...
Martin Splitt Mar 30, 2026
★★★ Why is mobile-desktop parity sabotaging your rankings in Mobile-First Indexing?
When transitioning to Mobile-First Indexing, Google observed that a large number of pages lacked parity between mobile and desktop versions. Content was missing, links were absent, navigation and meta...
Martin Splitt Mar 30, 2026
★★★ Is mobile-desktop mismatch really destroying your SEO rankings right now?
During the shift to mobile-first indexing, Google observed that a large number of pages showed differences between mobile and desktop versions (distinct URLs). Content was often missing on mobile, alo...
Martin Splitt Mar 30, 2026
★★★ Is your mobile site missing critical content that exists on desktop?
During the rollout of mobile-first indexing, Google observed numerous cases where mobile and desktop versions of the same content (different URLs) presented significant gaps: missing content, absent l...
Martin Splitt Mar 30, 2026
★★★ Is Googlebot really a single program, or is it actually a distributed infrastructure client?
Googlebot is not a single executable program (googlebot.exe) but rather one of many clients of a centralized crawling infrastructure that operates as a service (SaaS). This internal infrastructure has...
Gary Illyes Mar 12, 2026
★★★ Should you really upload your disavow list only on the current domain?
For the link disavow tool, the list must be uploaded only to the Search Console property of the current domain. If a redirect is properly configured, Google transfers link signals to the new domain. N...
Google Mar 05, 2026
★★★ Does Google really ignore canonical tags placed in the <body>? Here's why it matters.
Google does not accept link rel=canonical tags located in the <body> of the page. If this powerful signal were accepted in the body, a malicious user could place it in a comment and hijack a page's se...
Gary Illyes Feb 26, 2026
★★ Should you really optimize preloading hints for Googlebot?
Google does not use or barely uses link hints like DNS prefetch, preconnect, preload or prefetch, because its infrastructure works differently from browsers: no synchronous resource fetching, Google-s...
Gary Illyes Feb 26, 2026
★★★ Is Google really ignoring your meta tags placed in the <body>?
Meta and link tags carrying metadata for search engines must mandatorily appear in the <head> section of HTML. If they appear in the <body>, they are ignored by Google's infrastructure. The HTML stand...
Gary Illyes Feb 26, 2026
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