Gary Illyes

★★ Has mobile compatibility really become a non-issue for SEO?

Mobile compatibility is no longer a priority topic in the guide because it is automatically integrated into modern CMS templates. Beginners no longer need to worry about it....

Jan 25, 2024 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does HTML structure really have minimal impact on Google rankings?

A page's HTML structure does not have a significant impact on rankings. Using headings, a title element, and paragraphs is important, but beyond that, detailed HTML structure matters little....

Jan 25, 2024 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can you really trust modern CMSs to handle title tags automatically without any manual oversight?

Modern CMSs like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace automatically create the HTML title element correctly. Users don't need to check the HTML code to ensure the title is properly present....

Jan 25, 2024 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do keywords in your domain name still matter for SEO in 2024?

The effect of keywords in your domain name or URL on rankings is so weak that it's probably not worth thinking about. It's better to focus on user perception rather than domain SEO optimization....

Jan 25, 2024 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you remove the meta keywords tag from your website?

Google has never used the meta keywords tag for ranking and will never use it. This meta tag has no effect on Google Search....

Jan 25, 2024 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do you really need Google Analytics or Google Ads to rank better in search?

Using any other Google product will not influence a site's ranking in Google Search. There is no SEO advantage to using Google services....

Jan 25, 2024 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are Double Slashes in Your URLs Hurting Your Google Indexing?

Gary Illyes stated that the presence of a double slash (or double forward slash) in a URL could cause usability issues, but more importantly, that it could disrupt certain indexing bots. Indeed, this ...

Dec 26, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How Can You Structure Your Site to Speed Up Indexing of Your News Content?

During the SEO Office Hours, Gary Illyes also explained that it was wise to use a hierarchical structure for large-scale sites in order to encourage Google to explore different sections quickly. Gary ...

Dec 26, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is Googlebot really rejecting HTML pages larger than 15 MB from being crawled?

Google has a 15 megabyte request size limit for crawling web pages. This limit applies to individual HTML files and is large enough for the vast majority of websites....

Dec 21, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google separate Googlebot and Google-Other in its crawling activities?

Google created the Google-Other user-agent to isolate crawl traffic unrelated to search. Googlebot is now reserved exclusively for search-related traffic, while Google-Other is used for search and cer...

Dec 21, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is Google-Extended really just a token and not an active crawler?

Google-Extended is not a crawler but a product token in robots.txt that allows sites to opt out from training AI models like Bard and Vertex AI. It will never appear in access logs because it is not a...

Dec 21, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is Google really preparing a universal opt-out for AI training?

Google is working on control mechanisms allowing publishers to choose opt-in or opt-out from AI training. These solutions must be developed in collaboration with other AI companies and publishers, not...

Dec 21, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really check 4 billion robots.txt files every single day?

Google checks the robots.txt files of roughly 4 billion hostnames daily, and the total number of sites (including subdirectories) likely surpasses this number. Any control solution must factor in this...

Dec 21, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can you really trust AI-generated content for SEO?

With current technology, it is impossible to reduce AI model hallucinations to zero. AI-generated content always requires human verification and oversight, even for simple tasks....

Dec 21, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really prioritize a hierarchical structure for large websites?

For large websites, a hierarchical structure is generally preferable. It allows different sections to be treated differently, particularly for crawling. For example, having a 'news' directory for news...

Dec 18, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you translate your URLs to boost international SEO rankings?

Using the content language in URLs, including non-English characters like Chinese, has no major impact on SEO. However, using the content language in URLs can sometimes be useful for search and for us...

Dec 18, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Are double slashes in URLs really hurting your SEO performance?

From a technical standpoint (RFC 3986), double slashes in URLs don't pose a problem because the slash is a valid separator that can appear multiple times. However, from a usability perspective, it's n...

Dec 18, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is returning HTTP 200 on a 404 page really cloaking or just a soft 404?

Returning an HTTP 200 status code for pages that should be 404 is generally considered a soft 404, not cloaking, and doesn't lead to penalties. However, it's undesirable. Solutions: configure a proper...

Dec 18, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you force your sitemap file indexation in Google?

A sitemap file can be indexed, but forcing its indexation is pointless. This doesn't harm your site but brings no benefit either. If you want to prevent its indexation or effectively remove it from se...

Dec 18, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you still report bad backlinks to Google in 2024?

Bad link reports submitted to Google are used to improve algorithms overall. Google does not take individual actions on each report. This information is available on Google's official blog....

Dec 18, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available