John Mueller

★★★ Can partial pop-ups ruin your SEO as much as full-screen interstitials?

Full-screen pop-ups that are not legal interstitials (cookies, age confirmation) are considered intrusive interstitials, even if they only cover part of the screen but block functionality. This can ca...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why do orphan pages detected solely through sitemaps lose all their SEO weight?

Creating pages that are accessible only through the sitemap and not linked from the site is a bad practice. Google can find and index them through the sitemap, but cannot assign them weight because it...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you ditch dynamic rendering for Google indexing?

Dynamic rendering (client-side version for users, server-side version for Googlebot) is no longer recommended. It’s easy to misconfigure, and Googlebot can index errors that are invisible to users. Do...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it true that Google crawls your site only from the United States?

Google crawls sites from a single location, typically somewhere in the United States. Google does not crawl from different locations to see if there is different content. If the content is not accessi...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is lazy loading really compatible with Google indexing?

For lazy loading, Google recommends using the Intersection Observer API. Googlebot uses a very long viewport during rendering and will be able to index content visible within this viewport. Scroll eve...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why do chain redirects sabotage your site restructuring efforts?

During restructurings, redirects should lead to the final destination as quickly as possible, not through multiple progressive steps. Each redirect step takes time to be processed and causes fluctuati...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really worry about the number of 301 redirects when redesigning your website?

Adding a large number of 301 redirects at once (over 1000) is completely normal and does not have a negative impact, especially during a rebranding or website redesign. The number of redirects is enti...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does JavaScript for Navigation and Content Really Hurt SEO?

Using JavaScript for navigation and content is not automatically bad for SEO. You need to test with the URL Inspection Tool to verify if Google can see the links and content in the rendered HTML....

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does traffic really have no impact on Google rankings?

Google does not use traffic as a ranking factor for search. For Core Web Vitals, Google does not differentiate where traffic comes from (social, paid, organic, bookmarks)....

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why isn't Search Console showing any Core Web Vitals data for your site?

If Search Console is not showing a Page Experience report, it is likely because Google does not have enough site data, based on the Chrome User Experience Report. You would then need to manually test ...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does AMP's Core Web Vitals rely on Google's cache or your origin server?

For Core Web Vitals, Google considers what users actually see. If your AMP pages are valid and displayed via the AMP cache, this will be factored in for Core Web Vitals assessment....

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do affiliate links with 302 redirects really pose a cloaking problem for Google?

For affiliate links, it's crucial to either use a nofollow attribute or block the redirect URL via robots.txt. There is no cloaking issue if the link appears as an internal link to the user but redire...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do security warnings in Search Console really impact your SEO rankings?

Security warnings in Search Console (such as harmful downloads) do not affect rankings or visibility in search. They only impact the display of warnings in the browser during downloads....

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ What caused your site to suddenly vanish from Google’s index?

When Google reduces a site’s indexing, it usually keeps the most relevant URLs over an extended period. If the entire site disappears suddenly from the index, it’s likely a technical issue rather than...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How does Google weigh its ranking signals through machine learning?

For certain ranking signals, Google utilizes a lot of machine learning to determine how to integrate them, while for others, it uses less. This largely depends on whether Google has a clear metric to ...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really verify all your redirected domains in Search Console?

If you're using multiple domains in your website's setup, even if they redirect elsewhere, you should verify them in Search Console to gain access to error information for those URLs....

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really have a limit to its index — and what should you do when your pages disappear?

Google's index is limited. Google cannot permanently index everything on the Internet and must choose the content to index. Indexing fluctuations are normal, even for large sites. Seeing pages gradual...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you abandon dynamic rendering for Googlebot?

Dynamic rendering (different versions for Googlebot and users) is no longer recommended by Google. It’s easy to misconfigure, and Googlebot can see errors that are invisible to users. Do not route Lig...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why might your geo-targeted content disappear from Google's index?

Google crawls sites from a primary location, usually in the United States. If the content varies based on IP and is not accessible from the U.S., Google will not be able to index it. To index local ve...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can intrusive pop-ups really jeopardize your Google indexing?

Pop-ups that cover the screen or block interaction with content (even partially) are considered intrusive interstitials, unless they are legally required (cookies, age verification). They can cause SE...

May 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available