John Mueller

★★★ Should we completely forget about keyword density in SEO?

Google recommends writing naturally without worrying about keyword density. Our system is designed to understand content without specific requirements regarding keyword frequency....

Nov 28, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why might Google refuse to recognize your AMP pages if they lack content?

An AMP page must reflect the content of the corresponding mobile or desktop page. If the AMP content is significantly less rich, it might not be processed as AMP by Google....

Nov 28, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are JavaScript menus hidden by default really crawled by Google?

Google can consider navigation links in a JavaScript menu as long as the content is present in the page's HTML, even if it is hidden by default....

Nov 28, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you still use the disavow file when Google is already ignoring your toxic links?

The disavow file can be used to ensure that certain links are not taken into account. However, if a manual action for unnatural links is in place, these links are already ignored by our anti-spam team...

Nov 28, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really restrict the length of meta descriptions?

Google has never restricted the length of meta description tags. Sometimes, we use more of the meta description content, sometimes less, depending on what is most relevant for the user....

Nov 28, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do 404 and soft 404 pages really harm your SEO?

Properly configured 404 error pages are ignored by Googlebot regarding their content. Empty pages, treated as soft 404s, do not necessarily need unique content and can stay generic without being penal...

Nov 28, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why can a website redesign cause your ranking to drop even if the URLs stay the same?

During a website relaunch, even if you use the same URLs, it is essential to maintain the quality and quantity of content, as well as strong internal links. Changes can lead to a reevaluation by Googl...

Nov 28, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do you really need to increase your site's crawl frequency to improve your ranking?

Adjusting the settings for Googlebot to increase the crawl of your site does not necessarily lead to better rankings. Crawling is tied to your server's technical capacity and our evaluation of the sit...

Nov 28, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do You Really Need Perfect Keyword-Optimized URLs to Rank Well on Google?

John Mueller indicated on Twitter that a URL doesn't need to perfectly "match" the page content in its wording. For example, a page offering tomato soup recipes can have the URL tomates-leg-soup1.html...

Nov 27, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can You Really Rank on Google Without Any Link Building?

A user asked John Mueller the following question on Twitter: can a website rank on Google without implementing a "link building" strategy? John's answer was, of course: "yes" 🙂...

Nov 27, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Really Disavow Nofollow Links Pointing to Your Site?

A user asked John Mueller on Twitter the following question: should you disavow a URL that links to your site with nofollow? John Mueller responded that nofollow links transmit no signals, so disavowi...

Nov 21, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Are Single-Information Contents Doomed to Disappear from SERPs?

Content that can be summarized to a single piece of information, such as a date, risks being displayed directly without users needing to visit the originating site....

Nov 14, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really redirect ALL URLs during a site migration?

When a site migrates or its URL structure changes, it is essential to implement redirects for all URLs and images to maintain SEO....

Nov 14, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really convert your entire site to AMP to rank on mobile?

You can design your entire site using AMP, which could benefit mobile user experience. Google displays AMP versions in mobile results if they exist....

Nov 14, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you let go of keyword-rich domain names in favor of your brand?

For long-term websites, it is preferable to use your name or brand as the domain name instead of a collection of keywords, as this allows for better long-term association....

Nov 14, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Are links in forums really risk-free for your SEO?

Natural links in forums are not harmful. However, if you artificially create discussions to incorporate links, it could be viewed negatively....

Nov 14, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can Google Translate really be used to create indexable multilingual content?

Google Translate should not be used to automatically generate indexable pages as it is considered low-quality automatically generated content....

Nov 14, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do H1-H6 tags really influence Google rankings?

Title tags (e.g., H1, H2) help Google understand the structure and hierarchy of a page's content, which can potentially impact ranking....

Nov 14, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is Google really treating mobile and desktop the same way?

Google currently treats mobile and desktop sites similarly with regard to speed and crawling. This could change in the future with the mobile-first index....

Nov 14, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it a problem when JavaScript filters URLs?

Using JavaScript to filter URL parameters is not cloaking, but it makes debugging difficult. It is advisable to use standard faceted navigation techniques to avoid errors....

Nov 14, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available