John Mueller

★★★ Does cutting down on embedded resources really boost speed and enhance crawling?

Reducing embedded resources generally makes pages faster for users, thereby improving both crawling and user experience....

Nov 19, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really cache the rendering of your pages to save crawl budget?

Google makes extensive use of caching to try to reduce the number of requests necessary to display a page....

Nov 19, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really adjust the crawl budget automatically based on your server's capacity?

Google’s systems automatically determine the maximum number of requests a server can handle over a given period. This parameter is automatically adjusted over time....

Nov 19, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google require full access to embedded resources to properly index your pages?

For rendering, Google's services must be able to access embedded content such as JavaScript files, CSS, images, videos, as well as responses from APIs used on the pages....

Nov 19, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does Google change results even during freeze periods for updates?

Even during freeze periods for launches at Google, search results continue to evolve automatically as ranking systems are algorithmic. The constantly changing web means these modifications are automat...

Nov 16, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do Expired Domains Still Work for SEO in 2024?

John Mueller discussed the use of expired domain names in SEO during a hangout. He explained that Google is well aware of all this, and the way some people use expired domains for more or less justifi...

Nov 16, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How does Google really determine the publication date of an article?

To ensure that Google correctly recognizes the date of an article, make sure that the date displayed on the page matches the date in the structured data. Google can display a snippet with a date if it...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why do your local performance tests never match Search Console data?

The Core Web Vitals data in Search Console is based on what real users have experienced, aggregated over a month. Your local connection to the site may be very different from that of the average user,...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really stop using exact match keywords in your content?

There is no need to use exact match keywords in content. Google recognizes synonyms, spelling mistakes, singulars, and plurals. Machine learning systems understand the topic beyond exact keywords....

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really use rel="sponsored" instead of nofollow for your affiliate links?

For affiliate links, use rel nofollow or rel sponsored, or both combined. Google prefers rel sponsored for better site understanding, but there's no significant SEO difference between the two. For mos...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why doesn't the Google News tab always display your articles in chronological order?

Articles are not necessarily displayed in chronological order in the News tab. Google must be able to correctly recognize the date of the pages via structured data and visible display for appropriate ...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does it take Google 3 to 6 months to refresh large websites?

For large sites, Google balances crawling between discovering new content and refreshing existing content. Without specific signals, Google takes 3 to 6 months to refresh all the content of a large si...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you feature in Top Stories without being a news site?

Top Stories and the News tab in Google Search are specific variations of search. Any site can appear there, with no need to be a news site or listed in Google News. These surfaces utilize slightly dif...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ 301 Redirect or Canonical for Merging Two Sites: What's the SEO Difference?

To merge two websites, use a 301 redirect if you want to completely combine the sites and clean up the old one. Use the canonical if you want to keep the old site active for reasons other than SEO whi...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the length of an article really influence its ranking on Google?

There is no relationship between the length of an article and its ranking. For some topics, users expect long articles; for others, they do not. The important thing is to meet user needs, not to reach...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the length of an article really influence its Google ranking?

There is no direct relationship between the length of an article and its ranking. What matters is meeting user needs. For some topics, users expect long articles, while for others they do not. There i...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do you really need to mark your affiliate links to avoid a Google penalty?

Google is capable of recognizing common types of affiliate links. There is no automatic penalty if affiliate links are not explicitly marked, but it is recommended to help Google understand the site b...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it really necessary to match exact keywords in your SEO content?

It is not necessary to use exact keyword matching in your content. Google recognizes synonyms, misspellings, singular/plural forms. Machine learning systems understand the subject matter and search in...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are orphan pages really invisible to Google?

Pages without internal links are considered non-critical by Google because you are hiding them from users navigating your site. Therefore, Google will assign them less weight in search results. If the...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Have Core Web Vitals really become a crucial ranking factor?

Core Web Vitals, including CLS, are not yet a ranking factor currently. Google plans to use them as a page experience factor starting in May 2021. It is advisable to address the issues now to prepare....

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available