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.
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★★★ Why Will the Mobile First Index Transition Take Several More Years to Complete?
John Mueller explained during a hangout that even though many webmasters have received messages in recent days indicating that their site has been validated in the Mobile First Index (MFI), the migrat...
John Mueller Sep 24, 2018
★★ Should You Really Aim for 100ms Download Times to Optimize Google's Crawl?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that an interesting metric, in terms of page load times, could be to look at the Search Console, in the "Crawl > Crawl Stats" section, and then try to have the "Time ...
John Mueller Sep 17, 2018
★★★ Should You Structure Your XML Sitemaps Differently Based on How You Submit Them to Google?
John Mueller explained during a hangout that if an XML Sitemap file was submitted via an anonymous ping, the URLs it contained had to be present in the directory (and subdirectories) of the Sitemap fi...
John Mueller Sep 17, 2018
★★ Is it true that Search Console is enough to disavow toxic links?
The link data provided by Google Search Console is usually sufficient for disavowing links, even though third-party tools can simplify the identification of problematic link patterns for very large si...
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★★ Should you really leave thousands of hacked URLs resulting in 404 errors after an attack?
In case of a hack leading to the creation of many fake URLs, it is normal to see 404 errors in Search Console. It is recommended to ensure that the unwanted URLs return a 404 status so that Google pro...
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★★ How does Google actually handle backlinks after a domain change?
When a domain is redirected to a new one, links pointing to the original domain are treated as pointing to the new one. The links should be checked in Search Console to see their status in the link re...
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★★ Should you really worry about 404 errors in Search Console?
URLs that return a 404 status are normal, and Google gradually removes them from the index. Having 404 errors in Search Console is not problematic, and they will disappear over time....
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★★ Should You Really Exclude All Redirected URLs from Your XML Sitemap?
John Mueller has said it repeatedly in the past: when you create your XML Sitemap files, don't include any redirected URLs (301 or otherwise). He reiterated this on Twitter recently. Google uses this ...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ Do You Really Need Third-Party Tools to Identify Toxic Links for Disavowing?
During a hangout, John Mueller indicated that, as part of a link disavow process, Search Console data (the "Links to your site" section) was most of the time sufficient to verify that no toxic links w...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★ Should you really remove empty sitemaps from your site?
Submitting sitemap files without URLs is not problematic but not optimal. It is advisable to remove these sitemaps during a code review....
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★★ Should you really disavow your backlinks, or is it just a waste of time?
The link disavow tool in Search Console allows you to request Google to ignore certain links to your site, particularly in cases of negative SEO concerns or past wrongdoings. Only identified problemat...
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★★ Why does the number of backlinks shown in Search Console change for no apparent reason?
The differences in the number of links in the new Search Console report compared to the old one can be explained by a slightly different calculation, but this does not necessarily reflect a change in ...
John Mueller Aug 24, 2018
★★★ Should You Really Force Google to Crawl Faster During an HTTPS Migration?
Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that, in the case of an HTTPS migration, there was no reason to implement specific actions to obtain faster crawling from Google. The migration will be taken into acco...
Gary Illyes Aug 20, 2018
★★★ Should You Worry About Search Console Data Variations Between July and August?
Google announced that a change had been made to the new Search Console to make the "Index Coverage" tool more relevant and accurate. The data provided since July 14th may therefore change, but this is...
Google Aug 13, 2018
★★★ Does Google's URL Removal Tool Actually Delete Your Pages from the Index?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that the "Remove URLs" tool in Search Console only hides the URL from search results. It will therefore continue to be crawled, analyzed, and indexed until the 90th d...
John Mueller Aug 13, 2018
★★ Is your server holding back Google’s crawl more than you realize?
Our crawl speed is limited by your server's ability to handle traffic. You can set your own limits in Search Console....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★★ Does your server's IP address still impact your local SEO?
The server's IP address is no longer an important factor for geotargeting. Instead, use ccTLDs, Search Console settings, and the hreflang tag to indicate your location....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★ Why do HTTP and HTTPS create two distinct indexes in Search Console?
In Search Console, it is important to verify the correct HTTP or HTTPS versions of a site as indexations can vary between them after a migration....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★★ Does the server's IP address still influence local search rankings?
Today, the server's IP address is no longer an important factor for local SEO. Instead, use geographic TLDs or Search Console parameters for targeted localization....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
★★ Can you really detect the hidden algorithmic penalties of an expired domain?
There is no way to know if a domain has inherited algorithmic issues; only manual actions can be checked on Search Console with read-only access....
John Mueller Jul 27, 2018
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