John Mueller

★★★ Should You Really Balance Your Follow/Nofollow Link Ratio to Look Natural to Google?

When a user told him that it was good practice for a website to have a well-balanced "link profile" between Follow and Nofollow links to "look natural," John Mueller was explicit: "That's wrong"......

Aug 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the Order of Hn Tags Really Impact Google Rankings?

John Mueller has repeated for the 7,854th time that the order of Hn tags has no impact on Google's algorithm: you can put H5 before H1 or whatever you want in any order, it will work......

Aug 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can Negative Reviews Actually Tank Your Google Rankings?

John Mueller seemed to indicate during a hangout that if a site (the example of Decor My Eyes from 10 years ago was cited) received a very large number of negative reviews, this could influence its ra...

Aug 10, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why is your Search Console crawl budget skyrocketing for no apparent reason?

The number of URLs crawled per day in Search Console includes all Googlebot requests: HTML, images, CSS, JavaScript, server responses, and also checks for landing pages for Google Ads and Shopping. Th...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why is Search Console showing the wrong URL for Hreflang and Canonical?

When Google groups similar hreflang pages by selecting a unique canonical, it still displays the correct localized version in search results (e.g., Swiss URL for Switzerland). Search Console shows dat...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you focus on optimizing your site speed for Googlebot or your actual users?

Optimizing speed solely for Googlebot (by removing trackers/pixels) does not add value for ranking because Google uses Chrome User Experience Report data based on what real users see. Speed should be ...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can you create local pages by city without risking penalties for doorway pages?

Creating city-specific landing pages can be acceptable if each page offers true unique value (special offers, local reviews, popular models in that city). Avoid: generic auto-generated content about t...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really limit the crawl rate in Search Console?

Limiting the crawl rate in Search Console reduces the total number of requests but does not proportionally impact crawling for web search. Google can continue to crawl all necessary pages for search a...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is the 304 Not Modified code really a trap for your indexing?

The HTTP 304 code should only be returned in response to a conditional request (If-Modified-Since). Returning a 304 on a normal request is like not returning any content, thus preventing indexing. For...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Has Google's manual action for doorway pages disappeared in favor of algorithmic solutions?

Google once had (or may still have) a manual action for doorway pages, but many manual actions have evolved into algorithmic treatments over time. It is unclear whether the manual action for doorway p...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does splitting your sitemaps truly impact crawling and indexing?

The splitting of sitemaps (separate URLs, separate images, or everything in a single file) generally has no impact on crawling and indexing, provided that size and URL count limits are respected. Reas...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google ignore your canonical tags, and how can you enforce separate indexing for your regional URLs?

When Google selects a canonical different from the one declared by the webmaster (e.g., /en-se instead of /en-za), it’s usually because the content is identical or very similar. Google merges the URLs...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google Cache Really Influence the Ranking of Your Pages?

The display or non-display of a page in Google Cache is neither a sign of quality nor a ranking indicator. It’s simply a side effect of internal systems. To test what Googlebot sees, you should use th...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How does my site get included in the Chrome User Experience Report without signing up?

Inclusion of a site in the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) is automatic, based on a sample of Chrome traffic. There is no manual registration required. Sites can also collect their own Core Web V...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do Facebook comments really impact your site's SEO and EAT?

It is recommended to check if Google can index Facebook comments (check the rendering). If they are not indexable, they likely have no effect on SEO or EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthine...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Search Console display a different canonical than what appears in the SERP for your hreflang pages?

When Google groups hreflang pages with similar content, it chooses a unique canonical but displays the appropriate local version in search results. Search Console will show all data on the canonical (...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you serve a streamlined version of your pages to Googlebot to improve crawl efficiency?

Serving a faster page to Googlebot (without trackers or pixels) is not considered cloaking and is similar to server-side prerendering. However, this practice is discouraged because it introduces unnec...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can local signals help you prevent canonicalization between your multi-country pages?

To prevent Google from grouping similar multi-country pages, it is essential to include clear local signals: different displayed currencies (not just in a dropdown menu), local addresses, local phone ...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does Google really differentiate between two sites in the same language but targeting different countries?

For Google to treat pages separately by country (same language), clear local signals are needed: different currencies, local phone numbers, local physical addresses. These elements allow algorithms to...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Hreflang and geo-targeting: Can Google really ignore your international signals?

Hreflang and geo-targeting are signals of preference, not absolute restrictions. Google may show a page /en-se (Sweden) to users in India or the United States if the algorithms decide it’s the best ve...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available