What does Google say about SEO? /
The Mobile category consolidates all official Google statements regarding website optimization for mobile devices and their impact on organic search performance. Since the implementation of mobile-first indexing, Google systematically prioritizes the mobile version of websites for indexing and ranking in search results. This section compiles essential guidance on responsive design, smartphone loading speed optimization, viewport configuration, and technologies like AMP. SEO practitioners will find Google's official positions on major updates such as Mobilegeddon, which transformed ranking criteria by favoring mobile-friendly sites. Understanding these guidelines has become imperative: with over 60% of global web traffic originating from mobile devices, mobile user experience directly determines organic visibility. Google's declarations on adaptive design, common responsive implementation errors, and mobile-specific Core Web Vitals criteria constitute strategic resources for any SEO professional aiming to optimize SERP performance and deliver an exemplary mobile experience. This category serves as a comprehensive reference for navigating Google's evolving mobile requirements and ensuring websites meet the search engine's standards for smartphone accessibility, usability, and technical excellence.
★★★ Does mobile-first indexing really force you to prioritize the mobile version above all else?
With mobile-first indexing, Google uses the mobile version of a page as the basis for indexing and discovering links. If the mobile version contains the complete content, that's sufficient....
Google Sep 06, 2023
★★★ Does Google really require English day names in structured data for non-English websites?
For most textual structured data, you must match what you show to users. However, enumerated fields like day-of-week must use English day names according to the schema.org specification, even if your ...
Google Aug 09, 2023
★★ Why is Product markup completely useless for real estate listings?
Using Product structured data for real estate is not considered an abuse, but it has no effect. Google Shopping only supports movable items, not real estate. The markup will simply be ignored. It is r...
Google Aug 09, 2023
★★★ Is it time to ditch the m. subdomain for mobile?
Google does not recommend using an m.mobile subdomain (m.domain.com) for the mobile version of your site. This practice was used for sites that didn't have a proper mobile version....
Gary Illyes Jul 20, 2023
★★★ Should you worry about Google removing the mobile usability report from Search Console?
The mobile usability report will be removed from Search Console by the end of 2023....
John Mueller Jul 18, 2023
★★★ Is Google really phasing out mobile-friendliness as a separate ranking signal?
Google is removing mobile-friendliness as a distinct ranking factor separate from Core Web Vitals....
John Mueller Jul 18, 2023
★★★ Why is Google shutting down its mobile-friendly testing tool?
The mobile-friendly testing tool and its API will be removed from Search Console by the end of 2023....
John Mueller Jul 18, 2023
★★★ Is mobile-first indexing really the standard for every website on the web?
Almost all websites are now crawled and indexed with their mobile version. To verify, check the crawl statistics in Search Console. If the smartphone Googlebot is the most common crawler type, it's co...
John Mueller Jul 11, 2023
★★★ Does a 403 error on mobile really block your entire site from being indexed by Google?
If Googlebot crawls a site with a mobile user agent and receives an HTTP 403 code, it signals there is nothing to index, so Google indexes nothing. The URL inspection tool in Search Console allows you...
John Mueller Jul 11, 2023
★★★ Is mobile-friendliness really no longer a Google ranking factor?
Google is removing mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor because most sites are now mobile-optimized. The mobile usability report and mobile-friendly testing tool will be removed from Search Console...
John Mueller Jul 05, 2023
★★ Why does Google anonymize certain URLs in your Discover data, and what does it mean for your SEO strategy?
The searchdata_url_impression table includes a boolean field indicating whether the URL is anonymized for Discover in order to protect user privacy....
Daniel Waisberg Jun 01, 2023
★★★ Should you really filter out anonymized queries from Google Search Console to boost your data quality?
You need to filter 'noquery' strings to reduce the size of your data requests. This is done by extracting only data where the is_anonymized_query field is false....
Daniel Waisberg Jun 01, 2023
★★ Why does Google use 0 as the topmost position in Search Console data?
The sum_top_position field represents the sum of your site's highest position in search results, where '0' corresponds to the top position on the results page....
Daniel Waisberg Jun 01, 2023
★★ Are you missing out on rich snippet opportunities? How to master search appearance fields and dominate your SERP real estate?
The URL table includes several boolean fields showing whether the URL was displayed with a specific search appearance, such as is_job_listing, is_events, etc....
Daniel Waisberg Jun 01, 2023
★★★ Should You Drop FAQ Snippets After Google's Search Display Changes?
Could Google be looking to give less prominence to FAQ snippets in its rich result pages, on both desktop and mobile, as many SEO professionals have observed in recent weeks? According to John Mueller...
John Mueller May 16, 2023
★★★ Should you really update your article's publication date every time you make changes?
For an article page receiving a significant update, modify the article's date and label the dates with text such as 'published', 'updated', or 'last updated'. Also use the dateModified structured data...
Cherry Prommawin May 15, 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
★★★ Can the URL Inspection API Really Replace Manual Indexation Testing?
The URL Inspection API allows you to debug and optimize specific pages by providing analysis results including indexation status, AMP, rich results, and mobile usability based on a URL. It matches the...
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
★★★ Does LCP really only measure what's visible in your viewport at load time?
For page speed, Google uses Core Web Vitals including Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures the rendering time of the largest visible element in the viewport during initial load. Optimization...
John Mueller Mar 09, 2023
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