John Mueller

★★★ Is duplicate content truly safe for your SEO?

There is no penalty for duplicate content. If the same content exists on multiple sites, Google will simply index one version and focus the value on that. Google does not see the site as spam or of lo...

Jan 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really disregard everything on a 404 page?

Google does not examine any content on a page returning a 404 status. If the page returns a 404 status, Google ignores any canonical, noindex, or other elements present on that page. The 404 status co...

Jan 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google index new sites slowly and how can you speed up the process?

For new websites, Google indexes content gradually and conservatively at first. Google first checks that the site is of good quality and well integrated on the web before speeding up crawling and inde...

Jan 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do you really need to disavow nofollow, UGC, or sponsored links?

There is no need to disavow links marked as nofollow, UGC, or sponsored. These attributes already inform Google not to pass PageRank, so disavowing these types of links is unnecessary....

Jan 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Are Adult Sites Really Excluded from All Rich Results in Google?

John Mueller explained during a hangout that in his opinion, no rich results (enhanced display in the SERPs) were taken into account for sites targeting an "adult" audience. These sites therefore do n...

Dec 28, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Has Google finally centralized all its SEO documentation in Search Central?

Google has undertaken a significant project to consolidate all its SEO documentation under a single site (Search Central), making it easier for webmasters who previously had to consult five or six dif...

Dec 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are Core Web Vitals really a crucial ranking factor?

Google has announced that Core Web Vitals will become a ranking factor as part of a broader set called 'page experience ranking factor'. The team plans to do more around speed and user experience to h...

Dec 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ What changes can we really expect from Search Console in the coming months?

The team continues to work on Search Console with several features requested by the community currently under development. Launches generally take time between receiving user feedback and the actual d...

Dec 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why is Google centralizing all its SEO documentation under Search Central?

Google has consolidated all its search documentation under a single site (Search Central) instead of the five or six different locations that previously existed. This major project aimed to facilitate...

Dec 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ What new Search Console features will transform your SEO monitoring?

The team is continuing to work on Search Console with several features in the works based on community feedback from Twitter. These launches take time between the receipt of feedback and the actual de...

Dec 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are Core Web Vitals really a key ranking factor?

Google announced that Core Web Vitals will become a ranking factor next year, integrated into what they call the 'page experience ranking factor'. The team will focus more on speed and user experience...

Dec 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why Is Google Taking So Long to Add Regex to Search Console?

John Mueller confirmed that, as mentioned last August, Google still has plans to offer a regex (regular expressions) system for use in the Search Console "Performance" report, but for now, no updates ...

Dec 21, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How Can You Properly Manage Paywalls to Avoid Google Penalties?

John Mueller explained during a hangout how to best use structured data markup on Paywalls (paid access to content) in these terms: "You can use the rich results test tool, like any other type of stru...

Dec 21, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google Discover really require a minimum number of articles to be featured?

There is no minimum number of articles required to be eligible for Google Discover. Discover's content policies differ from those of traditional search. Check the Discover content guidelines and adapt...

Dec 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How long does it really take for a navigation change to impact your SEO?

After a major change like the main navigation, most processing is done within 2-3 weeks. Google attempts to recrawl all pages within 6 months. The most important pages are updated within a few weeks. ...

Dec 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you separate your blog and e-commerce on different domains for SEO?

You can host a blog and an e-commerce site on the same domain or separate them. Both approaches work. Choose based on your needs, Analytics tracking and management, not for SEO reasons....

Dec 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How does Google evaluate a site that doesn’t have CrUX data yet?

For sites without CrUX data, Google has to make initial assumptions, just like for other quality metrics. This is neither good nor bad, but Google will gradually collect data. It's comparable to the '...

Dec 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really test before mass content removal?

If you are considering a significant content reduction (e.g., 75%), test first on a few pages. Observe performance before generalizing. If the results are not good, you can restore the original conten...

Dec 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you split your site into multiple domains to enhance your SEO?

Dividing a site into multiple parts has a difficult-to-predict SEO effect. Smaller sites can have a tougher time ranking in competitive environments. Merging can help improve rankings. Only divide for...

Dec 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why are my rankings plummeting without any alert in Search Console?

A severe drop in rankings without an alert or manual action in Search Console is possible. This may be due to a Core Update or other algorithmic changes. Manual actions are reliable in Search Console;...

Dec 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available