John Mueller

★★ Should you favor a subdomain or a subdirectory for hosting your AMP pages?

We do not have a strict preference for the URL structure of AMP pages. Use what works for you, whether it's a subdomain, a subdirectory, or a query parameter....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can mass DMCA takedowns really harm a site's ranking?

A large number of pages taken down for DMCA violations can cause problems for our quality algorithms in understanding the rest of the site's content....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How should you handle duplicate content when managing multiple distinct entities?

To avoid duplicate content, make sure each page has unique and relevant content, especially if they relate to distinct businesses. Otherwise, consider a single powerful page that consolidates all the ...

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you uncover hidden SEO problems in a domain using Google Search Console?

If you're wondering whether a domain has inherent problems, use Search Console. You can also check for current manual actions, but not for past issues without write access....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really index your robots.txt file in Google?

It is not necessary for the robots.txt file to be indexed in Google. Its role is to control the crawling of search engines rather than to be listed in search results....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why do review stars take so long to show up on Google?

For review stars to appear in search results, the structured data must be technically and logically correct, and the site must meet Google's quality thresholds....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Are link directories truly overlooked by Google?

Links from directories where you submit the content yourself are typically ignored by Google because they do not count as natural recommendations from the site....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do multiple social profiles really boost your SEO?

Creating additional social profiles for the same brand does not improve the ranking of the main site. Social profiles can be indexed if public, but they do not affect the relevance of search results f...

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are social signals really useless for Google ranking?

We do not use social signals as a ranking factor in search. Shares on social networks are not tracked by the nofollow URLs they typically contain....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does crawl rate really impact rankings on Google?

Crawl rate is not an indicator of ranking. Just ensure that your site can handle the volume of crawling without issues and that important content gets indexed on time....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ DMCA or disavow: Why does Google prefer one over the other to handle duplicate content and toxic backlinks?

Using the DMCA procedure is recommended for handling duplicate content, while the disavow should only be used if you think Google may not ignore problematic backlinks....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does Google Cache display your page differently from the actual rendering?

Differences between the Google cache rendering and the actual rendering of your page may occur due to access restrictions to CSS or JS files, but this will not affect Google's ability to index your co...

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you include keywords in your domain name to rank better?

Having keywords in the domain name does not guarantee better rankings. You need to work on SEO just like any other site to gain visibility....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How long does it take to recover after a complete manual action?

After the lifting of a manual action that has entirely removed a site from indexing, the recovery time depends on the full reindexing of the site which can take several weeks....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does Google really index your AMP pages when there's a noindex?

If a traditional page is set to noindex, Google will not follow the link to the AMP page and will not index it, unless the AMP is configured as canonical for itself....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are clickable images without an <a> tag really invisible to Google?

A link is defined as an HTML <a> tag with an href attribute. Images themselves are not considered links unless they are embedded within an <a> element. Nofollow tags only apply to real links....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does your server's IP address still impact your local SEO?

The server's IP address is no longer an important factor for geotargeting. Instead, use ccTLDs, Search Console settings, and the hreflang tag to indicate your location....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can scraping really devastate the SEO of a low-authority site?

High-quality sites are generally less affected by scraping as they possess greater authority. If your site is of low quality, it might be challenging to stand out from duplicated content....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the canonical tag really work if the pages are different?

For the canonical tag to be effective, the pages must have equivalent content. Use rel=next/prev for paginated series instead of enforced canonicals to the first page....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Where is the best place to host your AMP pages: subdomain, subdirectory, or parameter?

Google has no preference between subdomains, subdirectories, or query parameters for AMP pages. Choose the method that works best for your specific setup....

Jul 27, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available