John Mueller

★★★ Why does your cached page appear empty when Google has indexed your JavaScript content?

The cached page may reflect the raw HTML as seen by Googlebot. With JavaScript-based sites, if the JS doesn't execute properly outside its host, the cached page may appear empty even though the conten...

Oct 31, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does URL consistency in your sitemap really affect your indexing?

To improve your site's indexing, use consistent URLs in the sitemap file and ensure that redirects, canonicals, and internal links point to these consistent URLs. This will facilitate better utilizati...

Oct 31, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★ Should You Really Ignore Duplicate Content Like Google Suggests?

John Mueller indicated in a webmaster forum that the duplicate content issue should be reserved for "a rainy day, or when a new person joins the company or for the intern hired for the summer." Basica...

Oct 30, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How Does Google Really Index Hidden Content in Tabs with Mobile First?

John Mueller confirmed during a hangout that content inside a tab would indeed be taken into account, within the Mobile First index framework, with the same weight as content visible by default. Howev...

Oct 30, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★ Should You Use Search Console's "Change of Address" Tool for HTTPS Migrations?

When migrating a site from HTTP to HTTPS, it is necessary to set up 301 redirects from the old address to the new one. Oddly enough, in Search Console, the "Change of Address" function does not accoun...

Oct 23, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Disabling Right Click and Text Selection Really Impact SEO or Is It Just a Myth?

John Mueller indicated on Twitter that disabling right-click on a web page, as well as the ability to select text with the mouse, has no impact—positive or negative—on SEO, in addition to being comple...

Oct 23, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it true that Google indexes all website JavaScript?

Google is working to improve the rendering and indexing of JavaScript content, making it easier to move away from the Ajax crawling scheme....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really prioritize NO-NO over NO-NB for Norwegian hreflang?

For Norwegian, Google recommends NO, NO, but using NO, NB can work as long as it remains consistent across the site....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can bad backlinks really harm your website?

Google tries to ignore obvious unnatural links. Bad backlinks alone are not sufficient to penalize a site....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does Google actually adjust your rankings in real time?

Google's rankings are updated in real time to adapt to the 15% of new daily queries and personalization....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does mobile-first indexing really treat all types of mobile sites the same way?

For mobile-first indexing, content from mdot, dynamic, or responsive sites is treated the same, with a preference for a single URL....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does Google really rank a brand's social media pages in its search results?

Social media pages are treated like any other page. To make them appear in search results, use appropriate links and markup on your site....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do you really need to contact webmasters before disavowing toxic backlinks?

Disavowing is advised if you are concerned about spam links in the form of a disavow file. It does not require you to have contacted dubious sites....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is hidden content in tabs truly indexed in mobile-first?

For mobile-first indexing, tab content is indexed if it loads on page load, but not if it loads dynamically after a user action....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is loading speed truly a decisive SEO ranking factor?

Loading speed is considered for very slow sites, but normal speed is enough. Speed also indirectly affects user experience and conversions....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does precise anchor text really boost your SEO more than a generic anchor?

Using precise anchor text that describes the link is more beneficial than generic anchors like 'click here'....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you delete or noindex duplicate content flagged by Panda?

To address the duplicate content issues flagged by Panda, removing or noindexing these pages is treated equivalently; they will disappear from the index....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does brand popularity really affect Google ranking?

Brand popularity is not a direct ranking factor, but it can indirectly influence due to direct brand searches and recommendations....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How long does it really take for Google to reassess the quality of content?

No fixed period is defined for quality content signals to be updated by Google. It can take several months to be fully reprocessed....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are you making the most of Google’s cached versions and similar pages?

The 'Cached' option shows a cached version of the page by us, controllable via the noarchive meta tag. 'Similar' shows other pages identified as similar by our algorithms....

Oct 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available