John Mueller

★★★ Is it really necessary to list every keyword variation for Google to understand your content?

Google tries to understand synonyms, equivalents, acronyms, and singular/plural forms to determine if a page is relevant for different versions of a keyword. It is not necessary to include every varia...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Are backlinks really less important than we think for ranking on Google?

Google uses links as a factor in certain algorithms but also many other elements. Links are probably not the most critical element. Having more backlinks does not guarantee a better ranking if other a...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do Links Without Anchor Text Really Hold Value for SEO?

There is definitely value in a link without anchor text (naked URL), but Google loses a bit of context. Links without anchors still allow for crawling and determining the importance of pages, but with...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do URL fragments really disrupt the indexing of JavaScript sites?

On JavaScript sites, if content is only loaded when the fragment is present, Google will likely not be able to index that content because fragments are removed during indexing. Only a very small numbe...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does structured breadcrumb really enhance your SEO ranking?

The structured data for breadcrumbs does not change anything for SEO or ranking. It merely allows search results to display differently as a rich result. The homepage and final page in the schema are ...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does the mobile-first indexing verification delay cause temporary discrepancies in Google’s index?

There is always a delay in verifying the similarity between desktop and mobile versions because Google cannot verify everything simultaneously. For sites with rapidly changing content (like classified...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do words in the URL really still have a true impact on Google rankings?

Google uses some signals from the words in the URL, but it's very, very weak. If Google can analyze the page content, it can essentially ignore the words in the URL. Having a word in a different langu...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are URLs with # really invisible for Google SEO?

Fragment identifiers (URLs with #) are completely ignored for indexing. Google treats them as links to the same page. They do not affect rankings or featured snippets. Google may sometimes use them to...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it really necessary to be 'significantly better' to climb the SERPs?

If several sites are very similar in quality and relevance, the ranking team will change nothing. To improve its ranking, a site must be made clearly the most relevant for targeted queries so that Goo...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does domain age and the choice of CMS really influence Google rankings?

Website age is not a factor: Google does not favor either old or new sites systemically. The CMS used (WordPress, Wix, Blogger, etc.) does not matter: Google looks at the generated HTML pages. All mod...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Copy the Architecture and Menu of Major Sites Like Amazon to Succeed in SEO?

A user explained on Twitter to John Mueller that he was considering implementing the same 3-level menu on his site as Amazon's and asked if it was a good idea. The Googler's response: "Unless you are ...

Oct 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do You Really Need to Resubmit Your XML Sitemap After Every Indexing Request in Search Console?

John Mueller explained that if you request indexing in Search Console via the URL inspection tool, this has no impact on your site's XML Sitemap file and this file will not be reconsidered / read as a...

Oct 05, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really implement all the new types of structured data supported by Google?

Google has added support for new types of structured data in the rich results test, including Article, Review, and EmployerAggregateRating. Details for all types of structured data are available in th...

Sep 29, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How can you leverage the new news filter in Search Console to boost your performance?

A new filter for news has been added to the Search Console performance report. This filter allows users to gain insights into the performance of news content in the Google Search News tab....

Sep 29, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do the default sitemaps in WordPress Core really change the game for SEO?

Sitemaps are now part of the WordPress core. This means that any site using WordPress can submit a default sitemap file. Sitemaps are widely supported by search engines and help in crawling and indexi...

Sep 29, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How can you enable large image previews in Google Discover without using AMP?

For pages displayed in Google Discover, it is possible to enable large image previews to make them stand out. This can be done either through AMP pages or by using the max-image-preview attribute in t...

Sep 29, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Search Console Insights: Has Google finally unified Analytics and Search Console for SEOs?

Search Console Insights is a new beta tool that combines data from Google Analytics and Search Console in an easy-to-understand format for content creators. Its goal is to assist website owners in enh...

Sep 29, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do you really need to master Python to be a successful SEO?

While it's not necessary to know Python to be a good SEO, this programming language can be useful for various SEO and web tasks. Generally, understanding any programming language helps in comprehendin...

Sep 29, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How is Google Images leveraging licensed image markup?

Google has launched support for licensed images in Google Images. This allows image providers to provide more information about image licenses directly in search results. This can be done at the image...

Sep 29, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why did Google delay the final switch to mobile-first indexing, and what are the real risks for you?

The final date for mobile-first indexing has been postponed to late March 2021, given the circumstances. This gives the remaining sites more time to make the necessary changes....

Sep 29, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available