What does Google say about SEO? /
John Mueller is one of Google's most active spokespeople on search engine optimization topics. As a Search Advocate, he regularly answers the SEO community's questions during Google Search Central sessions and on social media. His statements are a prime source of information for understanding how Google Search works and the best practices to follow.
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★★ 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
★★★ Why Do Google's SEO Spokespeople Systematically Decline Private Help Requests?
Martin Splitt explained during a podcast that SEO spokespeople like himself, Gary Illyes or John Mueller, never respond to private requests for help on a particular site in terms of SEO, as this is pr...
Sep 28, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does Google Cloud Hosting Really Boost Your SEO Performance?
John Mueller reminded us that hosting your site on Google Cloud servers offers no SEO advantage whatsoever. Additionally, he explained, in response to a study that seemed to suggest otherwise, that sh...
Sep 28, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does Optimizing the Text Around Your Links Really Boost Your SEO?
John Mueller explained during a Hangout that while Google takes into account the anchor of a link (the clickable text), it can also take into account the text before and after the link to refine its a...
Sep 28, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is server-side rendering truly free from any cloaking penalty risks?
Serving pre-rendered HTML to Googlebot and dynamic JavaScript content to users is not considered cloaking as long as the final content is identical. This is an acceptable method known as server-side r...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really favor noindex over canonical for e-commerce facets?
For e-commerce facets that are not important landing pages, it is better to use noindex rather than rel canonical. Canonical indicates that the pages are equivalent, whereas noindex clearly states not...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really index all paginated pages to avoid losing products?
Putting a noindex on paginated pages (starting from page 2) can prevent Google from discovering the products present on these pages and the following pages. It is recommended to allow the indexing of ...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How long does it really take to recover from an SEO hack?
After a hack has been completely cleaned and the sitemap resubmitted, it typically takes a few weeks for rankings to stabilize again. Google does not hold grudges against hacked sites if the issue is ...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is it true that Search Console only analyzes a portion of your site’s pages?
The aggregated reports in Search Console (mobile usability, structured data, speed) are based on a sample of site pages, not on all indexed pages. The size of this sample may decrease without indicati...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does Google really wipe the history of an expired domain when it's taken over?
When a new site is built on an expired domain, Google attempts to recognize this change and ignore the domain's past as much as possible. However, problems from the old site (like spam links) can pers...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really ditch AMP if your site is already fast?
If your original site is faster than the AMP version, and speed is your only reason for using AMP, then AMP is not necessary. In the future, fast non-AMP pages with good Core Web Vitals will also be e...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does the traffic generated by your backlinks really influence your Google rankings?
Google does not use referral traffic from links or the fact that users click on links in its ranking algorithms. PageRank focuses solely on the link itself, not on the traffic it generates....
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does mobile-friendliness actually impact desktop SEO?
Mobile compatibility is a factor specifically used for mobile search results, not for desktop results. If no one is searching for your site on mobile, the lack of mobile compatibility is not critical ...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Can a simple layout change really affect your SEO rankings?
Changing the layout and appearance of a website can affect search results, even if the main content and URLs remain the same. Elements such as titles, internal linking, and the context provided can in...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does anchor text really outweigh surrounding context for SEO?
The anchor text of a link is the main contextual element used by Google. The context of the page containing the link is secondary and less important than the anchor itself....
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Do naked URLs as anchors really kill the SEO context of your links?
Links with the URL as anchor text (naked URLs) are recognized by Google as normal links, but without useful context. The lack of a meaningful anchor loses the main contextual element of the link....
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is it true that Google penalizes syndicated content as duplicate content?
When the same article is published on multiple sites, Google recognizes it as duplicate content and tries to choose a version to display. It is not guaranteed that the version from the original site w...
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is guest posting for backlink acquisition truly risky?
Google does not recommend guest posting for the purpose of creating links. If done on a large scale, the webspam team may take algorithmic or manual actions as these are not natural links....
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should decorative images really be optimized for SEO?
If images are critical to your pages, find a way to display them in all cases. If they are purely decorative, their absence is not problematic for SEO....
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should we really serve low-resolution images for slow connections?
Instead of not displaying images to users with slow connections, it is recommended to use attributes like 'source set' to offer low-resolution versions of images rather than showing nothing at all....
Sep 25, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available
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