John Mueller

★★★ Does AMP really boost your positions on Google?

Using AMP does not directly increase rankings on Google. AMP improves speed and user experience, which is beneficial, but it does not provide an immediate advantage in terms of ranking....

Apr 13, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the order of Hn tags really matter for Google?

The order of HTML title tags (h1, h2, h3) is not strictly important for Google. Title tags help understand the context of the content, but there is no need to follow a strict order....

Apr 13, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the Code-to-Text Ratio Really Impact Your SEO Rankings?

John Mueller explained during a hangout that there is no system in place within Google's algorithm to account for a "code-to-text ratio" when analyzing a page. Some websites generate far more HTML cod...

Apr 09, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do Structured Data Really Influence Rankings in Google?

John Mueller reminded on Twitter that integrating structured data tags could be a good thing for Google's understanding of a web page's content, since they explain and "label" a certain number of conc...

Apr 09, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★ Should You Really Consolidate All Your FAQs on a Single Page to Avoid Thin Content?

John Mueller hinted on Reddit that "splitting" a Q&A page on a site into multiple pages (one per question, instead of listing them all on a single page) carried the risk of displaying numerous pages e...

Apr 09, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How Do You Effectively Manage Sitemaps When Your Site Exceeds 50,000 URLs?

In his "SEO Snippets" video series, John Mueller has just published one about Sitemaps and the Sitemap Index system that allows you to create such files when a website has more than 50,000 URLs....

Apr 09, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do Brackets, Parentheses and Quotation Marks Really Impact Your Google Rankings?

A user asked on Twitter about characters like [brackets], (parentheses) and "quotation marks" and how they were taken into account by Google. Pete Meyers responded that they were all equivalent in ter...

Apr 09, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Could A/B tests harm your site's organic search ranking?

A/B tests are acceptable as long as the content remains equivalent during the testing. Variations in layout and color carry no risk, but significant content gaps between versions A and B can be proble...

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can SPAs really be properly indexed by Google?

Google is capable of rendering and indexing SPA-type applications. However, for large sites, pre-rendering static pages for search engines can speed up crawling and indexing....

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should structured data really be limited to the main topic of each page?

Structured data must be specific to the main topic of the page. Rating or evaluation tags should only be applied to elements that can be evaluated, such as products on a product page, not generally ac...

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does bounce rate really affect your Google rankings?

Google does not use bounce rate alone as a ranking signal, as pages can have short and relevant content that quickly satisfies users, which does not indicate low quality....

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are Innovative Features Enough to Compensate for Poor Content?

For a site to be considered original by the algorithms, it must provide enough unique and appealing content, even if it offers unique features or interactions. The goal is to be the best in its field....

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google view certain noindex URLs as errors in Search Console?

In Google Search Console, a noindex-marked URL is considered an error if it has been submitted for indexing. If it is discovered naturally during crawling, it is simply excluded....

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does Google still show the old domain after a year of 301 redirection?

After redirecting an old domain to a new one for over a year, if Google still displays the old domain, it may be because you explicitly searched for the old domain. This does not mean that the redirec...

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How can a small business define its SEO positioning?

Small businesses should be clear about what they offer and the terms they want to be found for. This goes beyond technical SEO and includes clarity on products, services, and location....

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really point all paginated pages to page 1 with a canonical tag?

The use of the canonical tag for paginating category pages depends on your indexing plan. If you want all pages to be indexed, each page should have its own canonical tag rather than pointing to the f...

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the noindex tag really trigger a warning in Google Search Console?

If you mistakenly implement a noindex tag, Google will alert you, as many people do this unintentionally. However, if it is intentional and aligns with your indexing strategy, it poses no issue....

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google refuse to switch some sites to mobile-first indexing?

Generally speaking, Google checks the content equivalence between a site's mobile and desktop versions before transitioning to mobile-first indexing. If significant differences exist, Google may not s...

Apr 06, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really index your client-side rendered content?

Google is continuously working to improve the indexing of sites using modern JavaScript frameworks. It is advisable to follow the best practices available and stay informed about updates provided by G...

Apr 05, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the mobile-first index really penalize hidden content on mobile?

With the mobile-first index, it's important that the mobile version displays the same information in an accessible and useful way, even if that includes specific styles for those devices, but make sur...

Apr 05, 2018 ⚡ Analysis available