What does Google say about SEO? /
Google Search Console stands as the essential tool for SEO professionals seeking to optimize their website's organic visibility. This free platform delivers invaluable data on organic performance, indexation status, technical errors, and user behavior in search results. Official Google statements regarding Search Console are critical for properly interpreting coverage reports, performance data, URL inspection tools, and sitemap management features. SEO practitioners rely on these official positions to diagnose indexation issues, identify optimization opportunities, and monitor organic traffic evolution. Mastering functionalities like Core Web Vitals reports, structured data validation, internal and external link analysis, and page experience signals has become essential for modern SEO strategies. Understanding official recommendations helps avoid metric misinterpretation, optimize crawl budget efficiently, and make strategic decisions based on reliable data to sustainably improve SERP rankings. Whether troubleshooting mobile usability issues, monitoring manual actions, or analyzing search queries that drive traffic, Search Console insights combined with Google's official guidance provide the foundation for data-driven SEO decision-making and continuous performance improvement in an ever-evolving search landscape.
Quick SEO Quiz

Test your SEO knowledge in 5 questions

Less than a minute. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
★★ Is it really necessary to publish regularly to boost your Google rankings?
Blogging regularly does not automatically improve rankings. What matters is the relevance and freshness of the content in relation to what users are searching for at that time....
John Mueller Nov 27, 2018
★★★ Why Does Google Crawl Your Pages But Still Refuse to Index Them?
In the new Search Console and its "Index Coverage" option, many pages are sometimes indicated as "Crawled - currently not indexed". Most of the time, these are pages that have not yet been indexed (th...
John Mueller Nov 26, 2018
★★ Is PageSpeed Insights really enough to optimize your Core Web Vitals?
The PageSpeed Insights tool, which includes Lighthouse tests, allows for the evaluation of page performance on different devices and optimizing accordingly....
John Mueller Nov 16, 2018
★★★ Does Using the Same Google Account for Search Console and Analytics Hurt Your SEO?
John Mueller indicated on Reddit that having the same Google account (same login, same email address) for Search Console and Analytics across multiple sites, or using different accounts, has no impact...
John Mueller Nov 12, 2018
★★ Do 301 Redirects Between Unrelated Pages Really Lose All Their PageRank?
John Mueller provided more information during a hangout on how a 301 redirect passes "link juice" (PageRank) from one page to another. He initially indicated, as was already known, that 301 and 302 re...
John Mueller Nov 05, 2018
★★★ How Does Google Really Want Us to Report Duplicate Content for SEO?
When content is duplicated across multiple sites with a suspicious SEO intent, two actions are recommended: use DMCA procedures for copyright issues and the spam reporting form for link manipulations....
Google Oct 31, 2018
★★★ Why does the Search Console's live test always use Googlebot Desktop?
The live test feature in the URL inspection tool currently uses Googlebot Desktop version to analyze your pages, including for sites that have already switched to mobile-first indexing....
Google Oct 31, 2018
★★ Can You Host Your Website on Multiple Servers in Different Countries Without Hurting SEO?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that having certain parts of a site hosted on a server with an IP address in one country (for example the United States) and other parts on another server with an IP ...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2018
★★★ How Does Google Actually Discover Your New Web Pages?
Gary Illyes indicated at the Pubcon event that the two main pathways Google considers for identifying new URLs to crawl are first the tracking of hyperlinks by its bots, and secondly XML Sitemap files...
Gary Illyes Oct 29, 2018
★★★ Should you worry when Search Console shows AMP errors for no obvious reason?
According to John Mueller, delays in Search Console reporting can occur, leading to discrepancies in the display of AMP errors and other data. It is important not to overly worry, especially if no cha...
John Mueller Oct 19, 2018
★★ Should you really compress your sitemap files using gzip?
Using gzip compression for sitemap files is recommended to save bandwidth. It does not improve the speed of processing by Google, but it is beneficial from a resource management perspective....
John Mueller Oct 19, 2018
★★★ Should you really fix all 404 errors in Search Console?
The new version of Search Console emphasizes URLs likely to be indexed. For example, 404 errors do not always require fixing if they concern irrelevant URLs....
John Mueller Oct 18, 2018
★★★ Are Quantitative Metrics Really Useless for Evaluating Content Quality in SEO?
John Mueller responded to a tweet to indicate that none of these criteria were used by Google to define content quality: word count, number of backlinks, text-to-anchor link ratio, number of outbound ...
John Mueller Oct 15, 2018
★★★ How does Google really decide on the canonical version when your signals contradict each other?
To determine canonical content, Google uses various signals including the rel=canonical tag, internal links, and URLs in sitemaps. In case of conflicting signals, Google can make its own choice....
John Mueller Oct 05, 2018
★★★ Is it really smart to rely on average position in Search Console to gauge your visibility?
The average position displayed in Search Console is the highest average position of your site in search results for tracked queries....
John Mueller Oct 05, 2018
★★★ How does Google really recrawl soft 404 pages after they're fixed?
Google recrawls and reindexes pages flagged as soft 404 after the content is available again, and using a sitemap with a realistic last modified date can accelerate this recovery....
John Mueller Oct 05, 2018
★★★ How does Google really choose the canonical URL among your duplicates?
Google employs several signals, such as internal links, external links, and sitemaps to determine which URL should be regarded as canonical when it detects duplicates among different URLs....
Google Sep 26, 2018
★★ Why are your image URLs marked as soft 404s without affecting your visual indexing?
When Google identifies URLs serving an image but not suitable for a web search landing page, they may be marked as soft 404s in the index coverage reports. This does not affect direct image indexing b...
John Mueller Sep 26, 2018
★★ Is the address change tool in Search Console really essential for a domain migration?
When changing domains, using the address change tool in Search Console is recommended as it helps indicate to Google that this is a complete domain transfer, facilitating the signal transfer....
Google Sep 26, 2018
★★ Do KML sitemaps still affect local SEO rankings?
Google no longer considers KML sitemaps in local ranking, as this feature was deprecated several years ago....
John Mueller Sep 26, 2018
🔔

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.