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John Mueller

Search Advocate at Google
4908 statements Period : 2012 - 2026
John Mueller is one of Google's most active spokespeople on search engine optimization topics. As a Search Advocate, he regularly answers the SEO community's questions during Google Search Central sessions and on social media. His statements are a prime source of information for understanding how Google Search works and the best practices to follow.
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★★★ Should You Enter SEO Contests to Test Your Skills and Strategy?
John Mueller let loose on Twitter about SEO contests, which he doesn't seem particularly fond of: "SEO contests are rather useless. They never reflect real performance, they generate a ton of spam tha...
May 13, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Do links from spammy sites really hurt your SEO?
Links from spammy sites, which often include content related to popular sites, should not negatively affect SEO when they point to your site....
May 10, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is hidden content under tabs really considered for ranking?
Content hidden under tabs is taken into account for ranking but may not be shown in the snippet....
May 10, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is structured data really a ranking booster or just a gimmick for Google?
Structured data helps Google better understand your site's content, particularly with markup for FAQs and practical guides....
May 10, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is Google Cache a Reliable Indicator of Actual Indexing?
The Google cached page does not always reflect the current indexing of a page. Cache latencies may not affect ranking....
May 10, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you reduce your page size to boost your crawl budget?
The size of responses influences the time it takes for Google to retrieve pages, but reducing page size does not significantly increase the number of pages crawled by Google....
May 10, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Why does Google still limit the Indexing API to job postings?
The Indexing API is currently limited to job postings. Google is gathering feedback to potentially extend it to other areas....
May 10, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Are the speed reports in Search Console really reliable for optimizing your Core Web Vitals?
Google utilizes the Chrome User Experience Report to provide site speed data in Search Console, but the general availability of these features is still taking time to be deployed....
May 10, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does structured data truly enhance visibility in the SERPs?
Structured data allows for the provision of machine-readable information to Google, which can enhance the visibility of pages in rich results....
May 09, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ What are the secrets to optimize your images for actual indexing by Google?
To ensure that your images are indexed properly, make sure they are well integrated into the HTML with appropriate accompanying text and alt tags....
May 09, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Do How-to and Q&A markups really change the game in SEO?
Recent types like How-to and Q&A markups allow for the structuring of tutorials and Q&A pages....
May 09, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is Google Search truly evolving, and what does it mean for your SEO strategy?
Google Search is constantly evolving to meet the modern needs of users and publishers....
May 09, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ What should you know about recovering your rankings after a domain change?
A site move requiring a domain change involves 301 redirects and a notification to Google. If rankings do not recover, there may be technical questions or a domain history to consider....
May 03, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is Google really excluding your desktop images from rankings with mobile-first indexing?
If a site has switched to mobile-first indexing, Google will use the mobile version for indexing. Images must be correctly integrated into the mobile version to be indexed....
May 03, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Why does Google sometimes show one page and other times another from your site in the SERPs?
If pages from a site are close in ranking, Google might show one more than the other because it is not yet solidly established. It is advisable to continue working on ranking....
May 03, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does word count really influence the quality of content for Google?
The quality of content is not determined by the number of words or lines. Google evaluates quality based on many different factors....
May 03, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you redirect 404 errors to a specific page or allow an error page to show?
Redirecting 404 errors to a specific page or directly displaying a custom 404 page are two acceptable practices for Google....
May 03, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Subdomain or main domain: Where should you host your content to maximize your SEO traffic?
When moving content from a subdomain to the main domain, there may be an increase in traffic. However, this depends on how Google perceives the link between the content of the subdomain and the main d...
May 03, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you still fill in the priority and frequency in your XML sitemaps?
Google does not consider priorities or refresh frequencies in sitemaps. The last modified date is crucial....
May 03, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does the word count of an article really influence its ranking on Google?
Google does not count the number of words in a blog article. There is no minimum, maximum, or optimal word count required. What matters is providing useful information to the user....
May 03, 2019 ⚡ Analysis available
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