What does Google say about SEO? /
Pagination and site structure represent core foundations of web architecture and search engine optimization. This category compiles Google's official statements regarding hierarchical content organization, navigation systems, and pagination mechanisms. The stakes are significant: facilitating crawling and indexation by bots, optimizing crawl budget allocation, enhancing user experience, and efficiently distributing authority across pages. Google has evolved its guidance on rel next/prev tags, now deprecated, while maintaining the importance of logical silo-based architecture. Breadcrumb navigation remains a structural element valued for contextual page understanding. SEO practitioners will find official positions on internal linking strategies, tab-based organization, navigation menus, and their impact on organic visibility. Understanding Google's directives on these structural aspects helps avoid architecture mistakes that fragment authority or create indexation black holes, while building a solid foundation for long-term organic performance. Proper implementation of site structure principles directly influences how search engines discover, understand, and rank content, making this knowledge essential for technical SEO success and sustainable search visibility across large-scale websites.
Quick SEO Quiz

Test your SEO knowledge in 3 questions

Less than 30 seconds. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~30s 🎯 3 questions 📚 SEO Google
★★★ Can you block Googlebot in certain countries without risking a penalty?
On X, John Mueller responded to a user that it was not possible to block a site from appearing in search results for a specific country, particularly the USA. Google's Senior Search Analyst also refer...
John Mueller Oct 24, 2023
★★ Does Google Really Replace Your Search Queries to Boost Ad Revenue?
In a recent article, since removed, Wired claimed that Google was deleting queries to replace them with other, more profitable queries. These rather serious allegations did not go unnoticed by Danny S...
Danny Sullivan Oct 10, 2023
★★ Should you subscribe to Google's Search Status Dashboard RSS feed to stay ahead of ranking updates?
The Search Status Dashboard keeps you informed about ranking updates and other changes. It features an RSS feed that you can subscribe to in order to receive notifications automatically....
John Mueller Oct 05, 2023
★★★ Why is Google pushing structured data to control your website name in search results?
Google recommends using structured data to define and control your website name as it appears in search results....
Google Sep 26, 2023
★★★ Can affiliate links coexist with a high-quality SEO strategy?
Affiliate links are not a problem if you create useful and original content, such as a genuine product review. Simply copy-pasting the description provided by the affiliate without added value is not ...
Gary Illyes Sep 19, 2023
★★★ Why Can Your Indexed URL Count Suddenly Skyrocket in Search Console?
In the September SEO Office Hours, Gary Illyes explained why it's sometimes possible to observe a sudden spike in indexed URLs in Google Search. There are multiple reasons that can explain this, but G...
Gary Illyes Sep 19, 2023
★★★ Does Google really prioritize high-quality pages when deciding what to crawl?
The crawl scheduler makes predictions about the quality of pages to crawl and in what order. It establishes an ordered list of URLs to crawl, with higher-quality URLs being crawled with priority....
Gary Illyes Sep 19, 2023
★★ Do you really need to choose between www and non-www for SEO?
Both www and non-www versions of a website are completely acceptable to Google Search. There is no SEO preference between the two versions from a ranking perspective....
Google Sep 06, 2023
★★ Does Google really expect you to block indexation of menus and common site sections?
It is not necessary to block the indexation of common page content such as headers, menus, sidebars or footers. Search engines handle the web as it is, including voluminous mega menus....
Google Sep 06, 2023
★★ Does Folder Order in Your URLs (/services/paris/ vs /paris/services/) Actually Impact Your SEO?
On Mastodon, a user asked John Mueller whether placing /services/ before /location/ in a URL structure mattered for SEO purposes. He responded that it should not play any particular role: "I don't thi...
John Mueller Sep 05, 2023
★★ Is Google really rolling out more updates or just communicating about them better?
The number of updates hasn't increased, but Google is communicating more about them. Notable updates communicated publicly are those that merit particular attention....
Danny Sullivan Aug 22, 2023
★★★ How can you verify that a crawler is really Googlebot and block fake ones without hurting your SEO?
To verify if an IP is a Google crawler, perform a reverse DNS lookup of the IP address to obtain the hostname, then verify the hostname to confirm the IP address. You can also use online WHOIS service...
Google Aug 09, 2023
★★★ Is Google really indexing content that doesn't exist on your site?
Google doesn't invent content for indexing; it uses what your site provides. If gambling content appears in search results for your site when that's not your niche, it's because your server is serving...
Google Aug 09, 2023
★★★ Should you really monitor Search Console access for your SEO vendors?
Google recommends regularly checking verification access in Search Console when working with external teams. Verification access is found in the Search Console Settings menu....
John Mueller Jul 26, 2023
★★★ Should You Really Avoid Changing Your 301 Redirects Too Frequently?
On Reddit, John Mueller explained that it is possible to cancel a permanent 301 redirect, but that he doesn't recommend doing this to redirect content elsewhere in the short term: "I would prefer that...
John Mueller Jul 18, 2023
★★ Should You Place Your Blog Posts in a /blog/ Subfolder or at the Root of Your Site?
On Reddit, John Mueller responded to a user who was wondering whether it was better to place their blog articles in a /blog/ directory or if it was possible to put them at the root. His response: "Goo...
John Mueller Jul 11, 2023
★★ Does the disavow tool really delete toxic backlinks from Google's index?
The link disavow tool tells Google not to count links for ranking, but it doesn't remove them from the web or from Google's systems. Links from foreign language websites are perfectly acceptable and c...
John Mueller Jul 11, 2023
★★★ Should you really mark every affiliate link with rel=nofollow or rel=sponsored?
Affiliate sites are acceptable. There is no special structured data to signal that a site is affiliate-based. Affiliate links must be marked with rel=nofollow or rel=sponsored so that search engines k...
John Mueller Jul 11, 2023
★★★ Is Semantic HTML Markup Really an SEO Ranking Factor?
In a video published on the Google Search Central channel, John Mueller answered a question about the role of semantic HTML markup in SEO and website rankings. The famous Google employee clarified tha...
John Mueller Jul 04, 2023
★★ Should you really use Hn tags instead of styling your headings visually with CSS?
It is recommended to use appropriate HTML heading elements to structure text blocks, rather than simply enlarging text visually....
John Mueller Jun 29, 2023
🔔

Get real-time analysis of the latest Google SEO declarations

Be the first to know every time a new official Google statement drops — with full expert analysis.

No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.