John Mueller

★★★ Should you really cross rel='canonical' and rel='alternate' between desktop and mobile versions?

For sites with a distinct mobile version, use the rel='canonical' tag on the mobile version pointing to the desktop version, and the rel='alternate' tag on the desktop version pointing to the mobile v...

Jan 27, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google officially reject noindex in robots.txt?

We do not officially support the use of the 'noindex' directive in the robots.txt file because people could accidentally remove their entire site from indexing....

Jan 27, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you tell if your site is really penalized by Google?

Google refers to manual penalties as 'manual actions'. If a domain is affected, these will appear in the manual actions section of Search Console. No manual penalty applies if nothing is indicated in ...

Jan 27, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can hidden CSS content still penalize your mobile-first website?

Regarding hidden content via CSS for different devices, it is important that the mobile version has relevant content visible by default, especially for mobile-first indexing....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you block the indexing of your internal search pages?

In general, Google recommends not making internal search results pages indexable, as they typically do not add much value....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does HTTPS really provide a measurable SEO advantage?

Switching to HTTPS can influence rankings due to a slight ranking advantage for secure sites. However, Google does not yet require a transition to HTTPS....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can Google really index client-side JavaScript sites?

Sites that are fully rendered in client-side JavaScript can be indexed by Google. However, indexing may fluctuate if Google considers these URLs unreliable....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is duplicate content across multiple subdomains really safe for your SEO?

There is generally no penalty for duplicate content across multiple subdomains. Google may choose to index only one subdomain among the others....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really fix mixed content warnings on your HTTPS pages?

For pages marked as insecure despite HTTPS, it is important to resolve this for users, even if it may not directly affect search results....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do non-canonical AMP pages really factor into your site's quality assessment?

AMP pages are used in the quality calculation of a site only if they are the canonical version of the pages. If they are not, only the canonical versions are taken into account....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Improve or Remove Weak Content After Panda?

For a site affected by Panda, it is advisable to improve existing content instead of removing it to maintain the overall quality of the site....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do interstitials really kill your Google ranking?

Google does not recommend the use of interstitials as they create a poor user experience. It is advised to follow best practice guidelines for users....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do penalties for intrusive interstitials affect the entire site or just individual pages?

Penalties for interstitials are applied as granularly as possible, often at the individual page level, not across the entire domain....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do penalties for intrusive interstitials really affect your keyword rankings?

The impact of interstitial penalties on targeted traffic should not be observable in terms of penalized keywords. The fluctuations observed are probably due to normal variations from Google updates....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ What size of banner does Google really accept to replace interstitials?

Google does not provide exact percentages for banners in place of interstitials but recommends drawing inspiration from standard application banners like those of Safari....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do mobile interstitial penalties really apply in real time on your site?

Penalties for interstitials on mobile are updated during the recrawl and reindexing of pages by Google, which is more or less in real time....

Jan 24, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Really Resubmit Already Indexed URLs in Search Console Regularly?

John Mueller indicated in a hangout that it's not necessary to resubmit via Search Console a URL that is already indexed by Google. Well, obviously... :). This was in response to a question from a web...

Jan 16, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do errors in my XML Sitemap actually penalize the indexing of my other pages?

John Mueller indicated on Twitter that the fact that certain URLs are erroneous or return errors when reading an XML Sitemap file does not affect the reading and processing of other URLs (as on Bing f...

Jan 16, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How Does Google Warn Webmasters About Mobile First Index Risks?

John Mueller indicated in a hangout that Google will send messages via Search Console to webmasters who own sites that could be impacted in one way or another (and especially negatively, for example f...

Jan 16, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Modify Your Canonical Tags When Switching to Mobile First Index?

As long as Mobile First indexing is being tested by Google, there is no reason to change the "canonical" tags if you have a dedicated mobile site whose pages point to their desktop equivalents. John M...

Jan 16, 2017 ⚡ Analysis available