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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★★ How Does a Link from the Homepage Speed Up Reindexing?
When a product is back in stock, adding a link from the homepage accelerates detection by Google. Pages linked from the homepage are deemed more important and crawled faster. This complements the use ...
John Mueller Oct 23, 2021
★★★ How do internal links truly influence your SEO strategy?
Internal links distribute SEO value throughout the site and signal to Google the relative importance of pages. Linking a page from the homepage indicates that it is important or new, which speeds up c...
John Mueller Oct 23, 2021
★★ Do 4xx errors really sabotage your crawl budget?
Client-side 4xx errors in crawl statistics usually have a negligible or very minimal impact on the crawl budget. There's no need to worry excessively about them....
Google Oct 21, 2021
★★★ How does Google actually calculate average position based on the type of result?
The average position in Search Console is calculated differently depending on the type of result: traditional organic links reflect their actual position, AMP carousels are all counted at the carousel...
Google Oct 21, 2021
★★★ Should you really disavow all spam backlinks?
Spam links from external sites (such as spammy Blogspot sites) usually do not have a significant negative impact on site evaluation. It's not necessary to use the link disavow tool in these cases....
Google Oct 21, 2021
★★ How can preloading web fonts help reduce CLS?
To minimize the impact of web fonts on CLS, it is recommended to use link rel='preload' for essential fonts, placed as high as possible in the head of the page, allowing the browser to start downloadi...
Patrick Kettner Oct 19, 2021
★★★ Should you really use nofollow links in guest posts?
Google's recommendations for links in guest posts are that they should be nofollow. If you're writing guest posts to build awareness, the links should be nofollow as they essentially serve as advertis...
John Mueller Oct 08, 2021
★★ Is Using the Right Anchor Text Really the Key to Avoiding Over-Optimization?
There's no need to worry too much about using a good anchor text. Use descriptive anchors that provide context about the linked page, including for internal linking. Users want to know what the link c...
John Mueller Oct 08, 2021
★★ Should you really worry about bad backlinks?
Spammy or low-quality links pointing to a site are automatically ignored by Google. The disavow tool still exists in Search Console, but in the vast majority of cases, it is not necessary to use it as...
John Mueller Oct 07, 2021
★★★ Is Noindex Enough, or Should You Use Noindex+Nofollow to Block SEO Signals?
The difference between noindex alone and noindex+nofollow is minimal for Google. With just noindex, Google does not index the pages and generally does not see the links. Noindex+nofollow ensures that ...
John Mueller Oct 07, 2021
★★ Could the combination of HTTP/HTTPS actually stem from Google My Business?
If a homepage appears in HTTP but the sitelinks are in HTTPS despite correct canonicalization and 301 redirects in place for a long time, it may stem from an outdated URL in the Google My Business pro...
John Mueller Oct 07, 2021
★★★ How Does Noindex Really Affect Your Link Signals?
When a page is marked as noindex, Google may initially process the links on that page before completely removing it from the index. There exists a transitional state where the page can be marked as ca...
John Mueller Oct 07, 2021
★★★ Should You Block Sponsored Links from Indexing in Your E-commerce Category Pages?
Recently, John Mueller has been actively communicating about category pages, particularly on e-commerce sites (see previous weeks). This week, he responded on Twitter to a question about integrating (...
John Mueller Oct 04, 2021
★★ Do links to authoritative sites really boost your SEO?
Adding dofollow links to authoritative sites (like Wikipedia or CNN) does nothing from an SEO perspective. It was an outdated spam technique that probably never worked....
John Mueller Oct 01, 2021
★★★ Does a temporary noindex really affect Google's recrawl?
Adding and then removing a noindex tag will not have a negative long-term effect. Google will continue to crawl the URL normally, especially if you add internal links to those pages. The crawl rate ma...
John Mueller Oct 01, 2021
★★ Should you worry about Google's spam updates affecting your technical issues?
Google's spam updates are focused on truly spammy content or spammy links, rather than technical issues like light keyword stuffing. If a site experiences a drop during a spam update after a redesign,...
John Mueller Oct 01, 2021
★★ Do relative URLs really influence your internal SEO?
Relative URLs are perfectly acceptable for internal links, much like the combination of relative and absolute URLs. Google has no issue processing this type of configuration....
John Mueller Oct 01, 2021
★★ Does using display:none really affect your SEO?
Using display:none in CSS on internal links in the footer is not a best practice, but the Webspam team will not take manual action against it. This is different from hidden purchased links, which woul...
John Mueller Oct 01, 2021
★★ Why does Google keep crawling old URLs even after a redirect?
Even after 1 year of redirection and complete transfer of signals, Googlebot continues to request the old URL. This is normal: Google periodically checks for new content or whether the redirect is sti...
Google Sep 30, 2021
★★★ Does it really take a year for PageRank to fully transfer after a 301 redirect?
After about one year of a 301 redirect, the transfer of signals (PageRank) to the new URL is complete. You can then remove the redirect. This duration is indicative (it could be faster), but one year ...
Google Sep 30, 2021
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