John Mueller

★★ Does Google always show your images in search results?

Google tries to display an image for certain pages in search results while maintaining a reasonable balance in the number of images shown. The same page may have an image for certain queries but not f...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does Google choose a canonical URL in the wrong language for your multilingual content?

If Google selects a canonical page in a different language (e.g., Portuguese chosen instead of Japanese), when the pages are indeed in distinct languages, the issue likely stems from poor server confi...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How does Google decide which images to display in search results?

Google attempts to display an image for certain pages but must maintain balance in the results. For some queries, images are shown for certain pages and not for others. To facilitate the selection of ...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do penalties on outbound links really impact your site's ranking?

When a manual action concerns unnatural outbound links, Google simply devalues those outbound links. This does not affect the ranking of the site itself in search results. If a significant drop in tra...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why are your FAQ rich snippets disappearing despite technically valid markup?

If FAQ rich snippets suddenly disappear while the structured data is technically valid, it generally indicates a reassessment of the overall quality of the site by Google's algorithms, not a technical...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does the mobile-friendly test produce conflicting results on the same page?

The mobile-friendly test can yield varying results (partially loaded, not mobile-friendly, mobile-friendly with missing resources) for the same page tested at different times. This happens because Goo...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it really necessary to wait for indexing before redirecting a URL in 301?

There is no need to get a new URL indexed by Google before implementing a 301 redirect to it. Google will recognize the new URL and automatically focus on it after the redirect is set up. Prior indexi...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are H1 and H2 tags really important for Google ranking?

Headings (H1, H2, etc.) help Google understand the content of a page better, but they are not the only ranking factor. A page can rank for keywords present only in H2 and not in H1. The level of the t...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does submitting multiple Google reconsideration requests really speed up the review of your site?

Submitting multiple reconsideration requests for the same site does not speed up the processing. When Google receives a new request while an earlier one is pending, the team first processes the oldest...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really ignore non-essential URL parameters on your site?

Google's systems can automatically recognize sites generating many parameterized URLs pointing to very similar content (filters, categories). Google identifies non-essential parameters and focuses on ...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do soft 404s really trigger deindexing without a penalty?

A soft 404 is not considered a bad practice or a penalty. It is simply the signal that Google interprets to understand that these pages should be removed from the index. The objective is achieved: Goo...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you modify the lastmod date in the sitemap after simply correcting a meta title or description?

Updating the lastmod date in the sitemap after correcting missing titles and meta descriptions is exactly what you should do. Adding a title or description constitutes a page modification, just like a...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Googlebot really ignore your multilingual site's accept-language header?

Googlebot almost never crawls with a defined accept-language header, or sometimes uses 'en' (English). If a site serves different content based on the user's accept-language header, Google will only s...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really be worried about a 503 error on your site for a few hours?

A 503 error (service temporarily unavailable) for a short period (20 minutes to a few hours) does not lead to any penalties or downgrading. Google sees the 503 as a normal and temporary signal, keeps ...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is Google really tolerant of hreflang errors that mismatch language and content?

If a Japanese page (e.g., /jp) declares in its hreflang x-default or hreflang that it is in English while the content is in Japanese, this creates an inconsistency. Although this needs to be corrected...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why is Google showing fewer FAQs in rich results now?

Google is showing fewer rich FAQ results than before because nearly all websites have added this markup. Google cannot display FAQs for every result and must balance which queries and pages justify th...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★ Why should WebPageTest be your go-to tool for web performance diagnostics?

The webpagetest.org tool provides a neutral waterfall chart (independent of your computer or connection) that analyzes loading times and the loading order of resources. It allows testing on different ...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really automatically ignore irrelevant URL parameters?

Google's systems automatically detect URL structures with parameters generating many similar URLs (filters, colors, sizes). They identify unimportant parameters and ignore them to concentrate on canon...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why do your rich snippets vanish even when your markup is technically correct?

When rich snippets suddenly disappear without any changes to Google's technical requirements, it is generally due to an algorithmic reevaluation of the overall quality of the site. If the markup is te...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really modify the lastmod of the sitemap to speed up recrawling after fixing missing tags?

After correcting pages missing title and meta description tags, the recommended method to speed up recrawling is to update the 'lastmod' date in the XML sitemap. This is not gaming: these pages have g...

Aug 11, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available