John Mueller

★★★ Why does it take Google 3 to 6 months to refresh an entire large site?

For large sites, Google cannot crawl everything in one day. The crawl budget balances the discovery of new content and refreshment. A complete site can take 3 to 6 months to be fully refreshed, priori...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Will Core Web Vitals Really Transform Ranking in the SERPs?

Core Web Vitals, including CLS, are not yet a ranking factor but will become one in May 2021 as part of the page experience. A CLS greater than 0.25 could negatively affect your SEO....

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why is content specificity more important than keyword stuffing?

While exact keywords are not mandated, you need to be specific about what you want to rank for. Mention names, locations, and precise details. If users can't understand what you're doing, Google will ...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google take 3 to 6 months to crawl your complete redesign?

For a large site updating all its content in one day, Google cannot crawl everything immediately. Crawling is typically spread over 3 to 6 months. During a major update, Google prioritizes important a...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do you really need to choose between a 301 redirect and a canonical tag to merge two sites?

To merge two sites, a 301 redirect is recommended if the goal is purely SEO-focused and about cleaning everything up. The canonical tag allows for keeping the old site active while concentrating SEO e...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can one website really dominate the entire first page of Google?

Google does not have a strict restriction on how many times a site can appear in search results. The same site can appear 5, 6, 7 times or more if it makes sense for users. The June 2019 update aimed ...

Nov 13, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it really necessary to write lengthy articles to rank your recipe pages?

Google does not count the number of words on a page. There's no need to fill your recipe pages with thousands of words or long stories to rank well. Short pages with precise content can rank very well...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you choose your tech stack based on SEO?

There is no single web technology that is better for SEO. HTML, JavaScript, AMP, WordPress, or other CMS all work well by default in Google search. The choice should be based on your specific needs, y...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it enough to use the right text in FAQ Schema markup, or do you need to copy the exact HTML?

For FAQ Schema, the visible text on the page must correspond to the text in the JSON markup, but the HTML may vary slightly. You can have affiliate links in the visible text and remove the A tags from...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ AVIF in Image SEO: Why Does Google Still Ignore This Format in Search Images?

AVIF is not listed in the public documentation for Image Search and is likely not supported at this time. Evergreen Googlebot can render these images for text-based web search, but not for Image Searc...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can Google truly spot all expired domains repurchased for their backlinks?

Google's systems attempt to understand how to manage expired domains repurchased for their backlinks. Google generally succeeds in identifying cases of abuse, although this is not always perfect. The ...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you redirect WordPress attachment pages to media files for better SEO?

Redirecting WordPress attachment pages to media files likely does not impact SEO significantly, as Google typically does not index these attachment pages in a visible way. Images are indexed from the ...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does BERT really make exact match keywords obsolete in SEO?

With BERT and the advancements in machine learning, the importance of having exact keywords on your pages is diminishing. It’s no longer necessary to include all variants (singular/plural, common miss...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do you really need to follow the H1-H6 hierarchy to rank on Google?

Google does not require a perfectly hierarchical heading structure. Having an H3 without a parent H2 or multiple H1s on a page is acceptable. There is no SEO advantage to having a clear structure, nor...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really standardize your URL structure for better rankings?

Google does not require a consistent URL structure on your site. Mixed structures (with and without subfolders) technically work. However, a clear structure helps better analyze performance in Search ...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can missing subfolders in a URL actually harm your pages' SEO?

It is not necessary for all subfolders of a URL to be functional. Google treats URLs as individual identifiers of content. If /play/movie exists but /play returns 404, this does not affect the indexin...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google sometimes ignore your 301 redirects and choose the old URL as canonical?

Even with 301 redirects in place for a long time, Google may choose the source URL over the target URL as the canonical URL. Google uses many factors (internal links, external links, sitemaps, annotat...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you align all canonicalization signals to influence Google's choice?

To influence the choice of the canonical URL by Google, all canonicalization factors must be aligned: internal links, sitemap files, hreflang annotations, and other cross-links must all point to the U...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How many EMDs can you buy without triggering a doorway page filter?

Buying multiple exact match domains (location + product) can be viewed as doorway pages by Google. For 10-15 domains, this is probably not a major issue. Beyond 100 or 1000 domains, the risk that Goog...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you prioritize a long hub page or multiple detailed pages for your SEO?

There is no definitive answer indicating that a long page is better than several short pages. The strategy depends on your objectives. Having fewer, stronger pages can be effective, but sometimes sepa...

Nov 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available