Gary Illyes

★★★ Why is Google dropping indexing directives in robots.txt?

Google has decided to eliminate support for specific indexing directives in robots.txt during the open sourcing of the parser. Robots.txt should now only be used to control crawling, according to its ...

Dec 21, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can you index a page without crawling it?

There is a fundamental distinction between crawling ( retrieving content) and indexing (storing in the index). Google can index a URL without crawling its content if it is blocked by robots.txt but re...

Dec 21, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why should SEO professionals still have a grasp of HTML today?

HTML is a fundamental building block of the web and isn't going anywhere. SEOs need to understand HTML to manage meta tags, title elements, rel canonical, hreflang, and other technical elements in the...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are URLs truly untouchable when it comes to SEO?

URLs cannot disappear in the foreseeable future since they are the standard means of communicating addresses on the internet. Just like domain names and IP addresses, URLs are structural to the intern...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why is the rel=canonical tag still crucial for SEO today?

Although Google could technically identify similar content without the rel=canonical tag, this tag remains important because it gives website owners control over the canonical URL displayed in search ...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it true that Google is holding back on new meta tags in SEO?

Google resists the introduction of new meta tags. When an internal team proposes a new tag, there is a strict verification process to prioritize existing tags instead. For example, to control translat...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does Google include URIs in robots.txt?

When standardizing robots.txt, Google expanded the language to accept URIs (not just URLs) to avoid creating new crawling control mechanisms for every new type of URI that might emerge on the internet...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Will Structured Data Become Obsolete for SEO?

In 10 to 15 years, with advancements in machine learning, Google may be able to automatically identify page attributes without structured data. At that point, structured data could primarily serve as ...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why is Google focusing on intelligent crawling instead of pushing?

Google is skeptical about generalized push submission interfaces due to massive spam. The priority is to be smarter in crawling to avoid wasting resources. If everyone pushes all their pages via API, ...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are Links Really Still Essential for SEO?

Links aren't going anywhere because they are fundamental building blocks of the web (they are part of HTML). Google has improved its handling of links and may not need as many as people believe to ran...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you be wary of machine-generated content to avoid SEO penalties?

Google's current position is that machine-generated content without human supervision is unwelcome in Search. If someone reviews it before publication, then it's acceptable. This topic warrants in-dep...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why are alt attributes crucial for image SEO?

While Google can detect the general subjects of images, it still cannot precisely distinguish between similar objects (grapefruit vs orange) or identify all details. Google will continue to rely on al...

Nov 11, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should You Choose Meta Refresh or JavaScript for Your SEO Redirections?

For redirections, it is preferable to use server-side redirections or meta refresh rather than JavaScript. The meta refresh is recommended as it does not require rendering and is supported by most bro...

Sep 30, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How do Google's automated crawlers shape your SEO strategy?

Google is a fully automated search engine that constantly uses web crawlers to explore the internet in search of sites to add to its index. The vast majority of websites are not manually submitted but...

Sep 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can the robots.txt file help you optimize your site's crawl budget?

The robots.txt file is useful for managing crawl budget. If you have a section of your site that you consider of little value or URL patterns that are different versions of the same content, you can u...

Sep 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why Does Google Treat Social Media Links as Nofollow?

Google is capable of identifying social media sites and marking all links coming from these sites as nofollow on its end, even if these sites use dofollow links. It would be quite surprising for a lar...

Sep 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How is Mobile-First Indexing Revolutionizing SEO?

Starting in late 2016, Google began experimenting with using primarily the mobile version of a site's content for ranking, crawling, structured data, and generating snippets. Having a mobile-ready sit...

Sep 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How Do Titles and Meta Descriptions Really Impact SEO Traffic?

Title tags and meta descriptions are useful for drawing highly targeted visitors to your site. What you write in the title tag and meta description can actually appear in the search results as present...

Sep 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it true that Google can change site titles in the SERPs?

Google can automatically add the site name it determines for your site in search results, even if you have already included it in your title tag. This can result in a duplication of the site name in t...

Sep 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does the age of a domain truly impact SEO?

When the value of domain age in Google search was raised ironically, Gary Illyes responded negatively, indicating that domain age is not used as a ranking factor....

Sep 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available