What does Google say about SEO? /
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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🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
★★★ Should you block scripts for Googlebot to enhance perceived speed?
Avoid blocking scripts specifically for Googlebot, as this could prevent Google from rendering the page properly and checking its mobile compatibility. Blocking scripts to simulate an improvement in l...
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Does changing to a keyword-less domain harm your visibility on Google?
A domain change including a shift to a brand name without keywords should not significantly affect visibility unless there is a problematic history associated with it....
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why do the figures in Search Console never match Google Analytics?
The data from Google Search Console is accurate, but differences may exist with other tools due to distinct measurement methods, particularly for privacy reasons....
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How can you manage identical online stores across various domains without facing Google's penalties?
To avoid duplication issues or doorway pages, similar products across multiple sites must be canonicalized to one of the main sites to consolidate their relevance....
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Do you really need to duplicate all your structured data on the mobile version?
When a site is in m-dot version, all important content and structured data must be present on the mobile version because Google will only index this version during mobile-first indexing....
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Are mobile pop-ups really a Google penalty factor?
Google advises against interstitials that block the immediate display of the content that the user expects, especially for visitors coming from mobile search....
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Can AMP still enhance the performance of an already optimized mobile site?
AMP remains beneficial even for sites that are already optimized for mobile, as it enables specific functionalities like caching and fast page delivery via Google....
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really add both www and non-www versions to Google Search Console?
It is recommended to add both the www and non-www versions of a site in Google Search Console to access all data, although Google is considering simplifying this process....
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Can the no-index be a temporary fix for your pages?
Using the no index attribute is an appropriate method to temporarily exclude pages from the index while correcting their content and subsequently revalidating it for inclusion in the results....
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does mobile loading speed really impact SEO while desktop is overlooked?
Page loading speed is an important ranking factor only for mobile searches and not for desktop searches. The speed metrics used by Google come from various measurements, including those seen in Chrome...
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you stop blocking JavaScript scripts for Googlebot?
Google recommends avoiding the blocking of scripts solely for Google, as this can prevent the correct rendering of the page, with consequences for mobile compatibility analysis and overall SEO....
Jun 01, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is it true that your iFrames and external resources aren't displaying correctly in the SERPs?
Google Bot prioritizes crawling HTML pages over resources like JavaScript or iFrames. The slow update rate for these external resources can create delays in their updated rendering in indexing....
May 31, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Could A/B Testing Hurt Your Website's SEO?
A/B tests that show different versions of the same content are generally acceptable as long as they maintain semantic consistency. This should not lead to radically different results for the user....
May 31, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Do translated ads on your multilingual pages really harm your SEO?
Each language version of a page should ideally display only relevant ads in the same language. This helps Google better understand the main language of each section....
May 31, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Can Google Tag Manager really index URLs blocked by robots.txt?
Google Bot can continue to index URLs generated by scripts, even if they are blocked by robots.txt. Using parameters after a question mark can help manage their indexing....
May 31, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How does Googlebot really interpret pages during an A/B test?
Googlebot does not support cookies and will generally always see the same version of a page during an A/B test unless a site enforces cookies for page rendering....
May 31, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you optimize the metadata of PDF files for SEO?
PDF files do not benefit from keyword tags for ranking in Google. Instead, Google tries to generate a title and description based on the content and links pointing to the file....
May 31, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why do new pages experience ranking fluctuations before settling down?
New pages may experience fluctuations in search results until Google better understands their relevance. This is due to the initial lack of signals, with their rankings stabilizing as Google accumulat...
May 31, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Do internal and affiliate links really harm your SEO?
Google has no issue with sites that contain many internal links and monetization links. The focus is rather on the quality of the page content....
May 31, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does loading speed really boost your Google ranking?
Google uses loading speed as a ranking factor, but only to ensure that a page is not excessively slow. As long as a page loads at a reasonably fast speed, the impact on ranking is minimal....
May 31, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available
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