John Mueller

★★ Should you really separate sitemaps for pages and images?

A single sitemap file can contain both page URLs and images. There are limits on the number of URLs and file size, but how you divide sitemaps generally has no impact on crawling and indexing, except ...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Could a 304 Not Modified code actually prevent your pages from being indexed?

The 304 Not Modified code should only be returned for conditional requests (with If-Modified-Since). For normal requests, returning a 304 means that no content is available, which prevents indexing. F...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you tell a legitimate city page from a penalizable doorway page?

Creating pages targeting cities can be acceptable if they provide real unique value (special offers, local reviews, popular models by city). In contrast, massively generating pages with only auto-gene...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Are doorway pages still subject to manual penalties from Google?

Google once had a manual action for doorway pages, but this practice has likely shifted to automatic algorithmic processing. Many historical manual actions have transitioned to algorithmic detection o...

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 really abandon country variations in hreflang?

It is possible to simplify hreflang by grouping solely by language (e.g., all English speakers, all German speakers) without creating all country × language combinations. This reduces the number of UR...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do translated pages really count as duplicate content in Google's eyes?

Translated pages in different languages are regarded as completely separate and indexed independently. Google does not see them as duplicate content. They rank individually according to the search lan...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How can you measure Core Web Vitals when your site isn't in CrUX?

When a site does not appear in the Chrome User Experience Report, it is possible to use the Core Web Vitals JavaScript library to collect this data directly in Analytics. This approach allows you to o...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

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

Crawl statistics in Search Console include all crawled URLs (HTML, images, CSS, JS, server responses) and all requests passing through the Googlebot infrastructure, including checks for advertising an...

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

★★ 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

★★★ 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

★★★ 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

★★★ 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

★★★ Should you canonicalize all your country versions to a single URL?

If the webmaster canonicalizes all country versions (DE, AT, CH) to a single page (e.g., DE-DE), Google will follow this directive and only index this single page. This prevents the verification of hr...

Aug 04, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How does your site end up in the Chrome User Experience Report?

Inclusion of a site in the Chrome User Experience Report is automatic and based on a sample of Chrome traffic. No manual sign-up is required. Chrome automatically determines which sites should be incl...

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