John Mueller

★★★ Why do some pages take months to be reindexed after changes?

Google does not guarantee any specific timeframe for crawling and indexing. It can take minutes, hours, days, or months depending on the website and modified pages. A critical page that is updated fre...

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

★★★ How does Google reassess a site's overall quality when the top pages remain well-ranked?

When the top queries continue to be well-ranked but there is an overall decline, it suggests that algorithms are reassessing the general quality of the site downwards. Highly relevant pages continue t...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it true that CLS isn't a ranking factor yet—should you still optimize it?

The CLS metric itself would not be the cause of a traffic drop because Google is not yet using Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor. An indirect impact through user experience would take time to manife...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can a minor redesign really trigger a Page Layout penalty?

A minor redesign would not trigger a reevaluation of the layout (page layout). If a video with an ad is at the top of the page, Google should recognize it as a video landing page rather than assuming ...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you show the same number of products on mobile and desktop for mobile-first indexing?

On e-commerce category pages, if the desktop version displays 50 products and the mobile version only 10, this can pose a problem for mobile-first indexing. Google addressed this point in its latest b...

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

★★★ Is it true that mobile-first indexing completely overlooks your site's desktop version?

When a site is switched to mobile-first indexing, Google uses only the mobile version for indexing and ranking, no matter where the traffic comes from (desktop or mobile). If the site is primarily des...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you stop optimizing for impressions and clicks in SEO?

One should not blindly concentrate on impressions, clicks, and rankings, but rather position their site according to their business objectives and provide value to users. The goal is to align the site...

Oct 15, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why do your Search Console data only tell part of the story?

To analyze changes in the Search Console performance report, you need to dig deeper to find specific examples: identify pages or queries that have changed in ranking, impressions, or clicks. This help...

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

★★ 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

★★★ 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

★★ 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 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

★★ 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

★★★ Should you really migrate to domain properties in Search Console?

Google recommends using domain properties in Search Console whenever possible. A domain property provides insights for all variations of a domain, making it easier to get a comprehensive view of a web...

Sep 29, 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