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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★★ Does Google really not care how you structure your editorial approach to breaking news?
For continuous news coverage, some sites use the same page for different updates, while others publish multiple pages for the same story. Google has no preference for one particular method over anothe...
Daniel Waisberg May 15, 2023
★★★ Do you really need to tag ALL your outbound links with rel=sponsored or rel=ugc?
To inform Google about the relationship with linked pages, use rel attribute values such as 'sponsored' and 'ugc'. Leaving spam links, paid links, or user-generated links untagged can result in a viol...
Cherry Prommawin May 15, 2023
★★★ Why Are Your WebP Images Showing Up in Search Console's 'Crawled - Not Indexed' Report?
A Reddit user noticed they had many WebP images appearing in the "Crawled - currently not indexed" report in Search Console. John Mueller responded that WebP images are not indexed as HTML pages, sinc...
John Mueller May 09, 2023
★★★ Should You Really Disavow Links Flagged as Toxic by SEO Tools?
John Mueller is not a big fan of link disavowal. On Twitter, he stated that it was a "terrible idea" to disavow links based on metrics from a third-party tool. He also added "Plus, none of these metri...
John Mueller May 09, 2023
★★★ Does Google really ignore spam links automatically without any action needed?
Google's algorithms very effectively recognize and ignore spam or low-quality links. There's no need to worry about Russian or suspicious backlinks; you should let the systems do their job....
Duy Nguyen May 04, 2023
★★★ Do keywords in URLs really matter for SEO rankings?
Words in URLs have minimal SEO impact. Google primarily recommends consistency to prevent linking to the same page in different ways. Changing a site's URLs purely for SEO purposes is not recommended....
John Mueller May 04, 2023
★★★ Does Google really ignore links coming from penalized sites?
Google does not trust links coming from sites identified as spam by algorithms or manual actions. This allows it to maintain the quality of anchor signals used for ranking....
Duy Nguyen May 04, 2023
★★ Should you really use Google's link disavow tool, or is it just wasting your time?
Google has been managing spam links for 25 years and knows how to ignore them well. The disavow tool in Search Console should only be used if links really bother you; otherwise, it's enough to simply ...
Gary Illyes May 04, 2023
★★★ Should You Still Optimize User Experience Now That Google Has Removed the Page Experience System?
A few days ago, Google updated its documentation by removing several ranking systems, including the page experience system. Although Google had already clarified in the past that this system was more ...
Google May 02, 2023
★★ Should you really be using Google's client libraries to leverage the Search Console API?
Google recommends using client libraries rather than directly calling the REST HTTP service, as they offer better language integration, improved security, and native support for calls requiring user a...
Daniel Waisberg Apr 26, 2023
★★★ Should You Be Worried About the New GoogleOther Crawler?
Gary Illyes announced on LinkedIn that a new crawler, GoogleOther, has been added to the list of crawlers that relieve Googlebot. According to him, it doesn't change much but it's interesting to know....
Gary Illyes Apr 25, 2023
★★★ Are Links from News Sites Really Worth More for SEO?
Following a discussion initiated by Patrick Stox from Ahrefs, John Mueller indicated that links from news sites are not treated differently from other links: "why would links from news sites be treate...
John Mueller Apr 18, 2023
★★ Why is Google publishing a specific guide on links for web designers?
Google has published a set of recommendations for links. If you're working with a web designer and want to ensure that the links on your site work well for search, this document is essential to share ...
John Mueller Apr 18, 2023
★★★ Why Does Your Website Suddenly Disappear for a Keyword It Once Ranked #1 For?
During the latest edition of SEO Office Hours, Gary Illyes provided an answer to website owners who notice their site disappearing for certain specific keywords, even though they were sometimes ranked...
Gary Illyes Apr 18, 2023
★★ Does Google's Updated rel=canonical Documentation Change How You Should Handle Duplicate Content?
Google has recently updated documentation regarding rel=canonical link annotations. These annotations provide search engines with a hint about which page version should be preferred for indexing....
John Mueller Apr 18, 2023
★★★ Is robots.txt really sufficient (almost always) to block a staging site from being indexed?
To prevent indexation of a staging site, robots.txt is a simple and effective solution. In most cases, this works because Google cannot crawl the pages and therefore cannot make an indexation decision...
Gary Illyes Apr 05, 2023
★★ Are orphaned pages really invisible to Google's crawlers?
If you don't create any links to a page and don't mention it anywhere, it's very difficult for Google to discover it. The internet is like deep space: without a link to a resource, it's practically im...
Gary Illyes Apr 05, 2023
★★★ Do You Really Need to Verify Every Single Property of Your Domain in Search Console?
In an SEO discussion on Reddit, John Mueller responded to a user about a question regarding domain verification. Google's Webmaster Trends Analyst indicated that he no longer recommends verifying all ...
John Mueller Apr 04, 2023
★★★ Should You Worry About Googlebot's 15 MB Limit on Your Web Resources?
Google has added some clarifications to Googlebot's help documentation regarding crawling, to specify that the 15 MB limit for HTML code crawled by Googlebot also applies to each individual sub-resour...
Gary Illyes Mar 28, 2023
★★★ Should You Really Worry About Spammy Backlinks Pointing to Your Site?
On Twitter, a user pointed out to John Mueller that their referral traffic from spammy .xyz sites had significantly increased since the latest Link Spam update. Not much more to add, except that Googl...
John Mueller Mar 21, 2023
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