John Mueller

★★★ Do redirects from subdomains to external sites really hurt your SEO?

Using redirects on subdomains to send visitors to external pages is acceptable from an SEO perspective, especially if this setup aids marketing efforts. There is no penalty associated with this type o...

Apr 04, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do redirects really cause a loss of PageRank or not?

During a redirect, Google keeps track of the starting point and final destination of a link, without significant loss of 'link power'. A redirect does not negatively alter the value of the link....

Apr 04, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can Store Locator Pop-ups Harm Your Mobile SEO Rankings?

Be careful if you use a pop-up on your mobile site that allows users to choose the nearest store upon arriving on the site (store locator). John Mueller said on Twitter that this type of pop-up could ...

Apr 03, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★ Do You Really Need Backlinks for Google to Crawl Your Pages?

John Mueller indicated on Twitter that if a page had no backlinks, Googlebot would not crawl it. This is obviously false since a URL can be identified by the search engine via the XML Sitemap or be su...

Apr 03, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Could a manual action on structured data really harm your organic ranking?

A manual action regarding structured data only affects the display of rich results and does not impact the overall ranking of the website....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can product reviews really affect a site's overall ranking?

Product reviews contribute to the quality of a page and can influence how Google perceives the overall quality of the content....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do image links really matter for SEO without anchor text?

Links through images are analyzed by Google, but the context is lacking if no text is associated. Using alt attributes can compensate for this lack of context....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is the mobile-first index really forcing drastic changes to your website?

Google is testing mobile-first indexing with the goal of ensuring that website owners do not have to worry about the transition. The focus is on analyzing potential implications and adjustments withou...

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really optimize your website for voice search?

Currently, Google has not announced any specific markup for voice search, although certain formats like question-answer markup may prove helpful....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why do HTTPS migrations break your canonicalization?

Issues can arise in recognizing canonical URLs during HTTP to HTTPS migrations due to Google's algorithms. Proper implementation of redirects and internal links remains crucial....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can mistakes in Schema.org markup really hurt your site?

Schema.org markup errors do not lead to site demotion, although Google may ignore incorrect markups....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should internal links be bidirectional to be effective for SEO?

It is not necessary for internal links to be bidirectional to be beneficial. The choice between one way or two depends on the site's architecture and navigation logic....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is mobile speed really going to make a difference in search results?

Mobile page speed will be incorporated into the mobile-first algorithm. This reflects the importance of user experience on mobile, where users’ patience is often more limited than on desktop....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does Google really evaluate the ranking of your site?

Google uses a wide range of diverse signals to determine site positioning, and it is often difficult to isolate a single factor determining a site's ranking....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google prioritize deploying new features in the United States?

Some Google features may first be launched in English or in the United States, before gradually appearing in other regions, depending on algorithm developments....

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why aren't your featured snippets showing up in every country?

Featured snippets can vary from one region to another and from one language to another based on Google's algorithms. This is due to automatic adjustments in snippet positioning according to the result...

Mar 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do 404 Errors Really Hurt Your Website's SEO Rankings?

John Mueller once again explained on Twitter that 404 errors returned by a website are not considered a low-quality criterion by Google and that there is no penalty that could affect a source of infor...

Mar 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why Does Google Refuse to Build a Low-Quality Page Detection Tool in Search Console?

A user asked John Mueller whether Google was currently working on a tool that could be integrated into Search Console and would provide insights into which pages on a site might be considered low-qual...

Mar 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Avoid Linking to Wikipedia to Prevent Google Penalties?

John Mueller indicated - in response to a question from a user on Twitter - that linking to the Wikipedia encyclopedia does not result in a penalty from Google. One sometimes wonders where such questi...

Mar 20, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you properly handle 503 errors during maintenance without losing your SEO rankings?

John Mueller provided some advice on Google's Webmaster Blog if you temporarily close your site for maintenance operations: block the payment system (for example via the robots.txt file), warn visitor...

Mar 13, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available