John Mueller

★★ Does robots.txt really block indexing in Google?

Google can still suggest URLs in search results even if they are blocked by robots.txt, mainly if they are important for users, as illustrated by the AdWords login page....

Sep 26, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does Google's removal of self-assessment stars change the game for rich snippets?

Rating stars for organizations evaluating their own sites no longer appear in search results. This policy applies regardless of the method used to integrate these evaluations....

Sep 26, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it true that your images are all indexable without a robots.txt file?

The absence of robots.txt files means Google can crawl images. An image redirection can lead to restrictions if the redirected destination is blocked....

Sep 26, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can the Quality Rater Guidelines actually improve the rankings of medical sites?

Medical sites can benefit from consulting Google's Quality Rater Guidelines to align their content with quality expectations, although these raters do not directly affect rankings....

Sep 26, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are Google’s new meta tags really giving you control over your search previews?

Google has announced new meta tags that allow publishers to define the amount of preview content shown in search results. These tags cover the number of characters, the size of image previews, and the...

Sep 26, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can meta tags really control how snippets appear in Google News?

European news publishers can control the display of text and image snippets in France with meta tags, particularly as a result of European legislative changes....

Sep 26, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really include the modification date in your XML sitemap?

Indicating a modification date for each URL in sitemap files allows Google to better understand when to re-scan content. Using a generic date for all URLs is less effective....

Sep 26, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Googlebot really adjust its crawl rate during a server migration?

During a server migration, Googlebot automatically adjusts the crawl frequency to avoid overwhelming the new server. This process occurs automatically: Googlebot initially reduces its crawl speed and ...

Sep 24, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can a server migration really be invisible to Google?

During a server migration where everything remains identical (URLs, content, CMS), Google sees this as an event with no major consequences for SEO. The main requirement is to ensure that everything re...

Sep 24, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why are robots.txt and noindex not enough to safeguard your staging servers?

To prevent Google from indexing staging servers, it is advisable to use server authentication rather than relying solely on a robots.txt file or a noindex meta tag, which can be forgotten during produ...

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it true that mobile-first indexing applies to every site without exception?

Google is steadily transitioning sites to 'mobile-first indexing', with the goal of migrating all sites in the long run....

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you host your images on a CDN subdomain to optimize their indexing?

It is acceptable to use CDNs like Amazon S3 to host images used in sitemaps, but it is advised to employ a subdomain for more flexible URL management in case of a CDN change....

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really avoid double bylines to keep Google happy?

Having two bylines on a page does not trouble Google. However, it is advisable to add schema.org markup in only one place to avoid complications....

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you effectively remove hacked pages from Google search results?

To remove hacked pages from search results, it is advisable to ensure they return a 404 code and to use the URL removal tool when these pages are still visible to users....

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does JavaScript still hinder Google's crawling without server-side rendering?

Fully JavaScript sites must ensure they use distinct URLs and standard links. Google is getting better at crawling these sites, but compatibility should be ensured for proper indexing....

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do GDPR banners really block Googlebot from indexing your content?

Googlebot does not click on interstitials, so if content is hidden behind a cookie consent acceptance, it will not be indexed. It is advisable to show the banners without blocking the HTML content....

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Splitting or merging a site: why doesn’t Google transfer SEO value like it does with a simple move?

When a site is split into several new sites or several sites are combined, Google must reevaluate the whole, which is different from a simple domain transfer where redirects can effectively transfer a...

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does Google actually determine the position displayed in the Search Console?

In the Search Console, Google takes into account the visible first position in real-time for search result rankings, counting the best ranking among the page’s appearances, including those from rich s...

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do schema subtypes really affect how rich snippets are displayed?

The schema types used for rich snippets affect their display. The listed parent types often include subtypes such as 'hotel' under 'organization'....

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you still use nofollow to filter facet navigation crawl?

Nofollow tags continue to be used to indicate to search engines that certain pages or links are less important to crawl, especially for internal links in facet navigation....

Sep 20, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available