John Mueller

★★★ Does Hidden Text Really Penalize Your Organic Search Rankings?

John Mueller explained on Reddit that "another site is not going to rank better than yours because it has hidden text." Conversely, he also clarified that "simply having hidden text on a page will not...

Jan 27, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do .gov or .edu Domain Extensions Give You an SEO Advantage?

John Mueller has once again reiterated that having a website with a ".gov" extension is not an SEO bonus. A .gov site will not rank better, all things being equal, than a .com site or any other extens...

Jan 27, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are Reciprocal Links Really Penalized by Google?

John Mueller explained on Twitter that reciprocal links (A links to B which links back to A) are not necessarily bad, but if they are part of a system designed to manipulate the algorithm (link scheme...

Jan 27, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you effectively optimize your images for SEO?

John Mueller shared some advice on the #AskGoogleWebmasters YouTube channel regarding image optimization. In short: use explicit file names, properly fill in the ALT attribute, provide a caption, offe...

Jan 27, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do links really point to your canonical URLs instead of your actual pages?

Google sees links as existing between canonical pages. All link signals are combined and associated with the canonical page on both sides....

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are automatic translations really penalized by Google?

Google does not consider translations as duplicate content. However, automatic translations without manual review are classified as auto-generated content, which may affect the perceived quality of th...

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Will using Google Translate to translate your site harm your SEO?

Pages automatically translated with Google Translate are considered automatically generated content if there is no manual review....

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can fake visits truly harm your organic rankings?

Sending fake traffic from a competitor to a website does not harm SEO or search rankings....

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it really necessary to redirect HTTP to HTTPS, or is the preferred domain enough?

Using the preferred domain is sufficient when a website has similar content on HTTP and HTTPS. However, 301 redirects are recommended to ensure that only the correct versions are indexed....

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really replace underscores with dashes in your URLs?

There is no need to change all URLs containing underscores into dashes. The positive effect is minimal compared to the work required and the risks of site re-indexation....

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really prefer banners over automatic redirects for geographic targeting?

Using a banner is a good way to guide users to the correct language or regional version of the site without automatically redirecting them, which also aids in indexing....

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why do indexing numbers vary between Search Console and mobile reports?

It is normal for total indexing reports and mobile usability reports to show differences, as the latter focuses on a specific part of the total indexed....

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really worry if your archives are accessible only after 10 clicks?

It’s not a problem if old news is accessible after many clicks from the homepage because important pages are often recrawled....

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can HTML comments really harm your site's SEO?

HTML comments do not affect SEO except in extreme cases of excess comments slowing down page load times....

Jan 24, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really implement hreflang on all translated pages of your site?

When several search elements on a site remain the same despite translations, hreflang is appropriate but not always necessary to distinguish language versions....

Jan 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are JavaScript redirects really treated like standard redirects by Google?

JavaScript redirects are treated like standard redirects but may be slower to process. They are suitable if configured properly....

Jan 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can controversial titles actually harm your site's SEO?

Using titles with controversial terms can lead to unexpected appearances in queries but does not affect the overall value or relevance of the site....

Jan 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can SEO changes really guarantee a measurable increase in traffic?

SEO improvements do not guarantee precise traffic increases. Analyzing historical data from Search Console can help estimate the potential impact....

Jan 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really remove the 'follow' meta directive from your pages?

Google disregards the 'content=follow' meta directive as it is the default value. Removing or keeping this directive has no impact on SEO....

Jan 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can redirects really be indexed in just a few days?

Redirects can be taken into account within a few days if all SEO signals are aligned. This depends on the frequency of page recrawls....

Jan 22, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available