John Mueller

★★★ Is turning off geotargeting in Search Console a tactical mistake or a winning strategy?

Disabling geotargeting causes Google to try to automatically determine the target country, which can alter rankings based on server locations and user demand perception....

Mar 24, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are You Still Confusing Language and Region with Hreflang?

For effective geographic targeting with hreflang, ensure that languages and geographic versions match those declared. Generic versions should be clearly marked as such....

Mar 24, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really use rel=canonical pointing to the desktop for your separate mobile pages?

For separate mobile pages, use rel=canonical pointing to the desktop version to concentrate crawling and indexing on the desktop version, while displaying the mobile version to mobile users....

Mar 24, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why do URLs with session IDs take up to a year to disappear from the index?

URLs with a session ID parameter take time to disappear from the index after adding a rel=canonical because they are not frequently recrawled. This process can take up to a year....

Mar 24, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are links to your AMP pages truly counted towards your canonical version?

AMP pages use a rel=canonical pointing to the main page, so all signals and inbound links to the AMP URL are redirected to the canonical page....

Mar 24, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google sometimes overlook your canonical tags?

Google may ignore rel=canonical if the pages are clearly different or if the query specifically matches the content of the non-canonical version. Google shows the exact searched URL even if a redirect...

Mar 24, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you prevent login URLs from cluttering your sitelinks in Google?

To prevent login URLs from appearing as sitelinks, use the removal feature to influence their visibility. If that doesn't work, use 'noindex' to completely hide them. Changes take one to two months to...

Mar 24, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does RankBrain really handle unique queries in search results?

Google employs machine learning systems like RankBrain to manage new or rarely seen queries. The algorithm analyzes queries to provide relevant results even when no one has ever searched these terms b...

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are nofollow links really ignored by Google's PageRank?

Only followed links (dofollow) transmit PageRank. Nofollow links are ignored in the link graph....

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can A/B tests actually harm your website's ranking on Google?

Google does not apply manual penalties for A/B tests if Googlebot is treated like any regular user. New versions of content may affect rankings if they significantly differ from the original content....

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ What really happens when your site gets hacked?

Hacked sites are an increasing problem that Google takes seriously. Google aims to quickly detect these incidents and minimize their impact in search results for users....

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does negative SEO really threaten your site, or is Google handling it all by itself?

Google is generally capable of detecting and managing negative SEO attempts on its own. If you believe it is affecting your site, you can discuss it on the help forums or send examples to Google for v...

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do internal links from the homepage really boost a page's importance in Google's eyes?

To indicate that a page is important, it is advised to link to this page from strategic places on the site such as the homepage, and ensure that users also perceive its importance....

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Could a simple noindex tag really make your site vanish from Google results?

One of the most significant SEO errors is accidentally adding the 'noindex' tag to an entire site, which can affect both major sites and smaller ones. Always verify that noindex tags are properly conf...

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is altering content for new keywords enough to help you rank better?

Changing the content of a page to target new keywords does not mean that the page will be ranked better for those keywords immediately. If a product is no longer available, it is advisable to turn the...

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it really necessary to host your international sites locally for SEO?

Having a local address on the Contact page can make sense depending on the queries. However, it's not necessary to put a local address on every international site without a valid reason....

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google Search Console show positions that don't match actual traffic?

When your site appears in the universal results of a search results page, such as an image block, it counts as a ranking for your site in Google Search Console. This can explain the differences betwee...

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it true that Google really respects the canonical tag?

The rel=canonical tag is a signal for Google, indicating a preference for indexing a different URL. Google must first index and process the page to see the rel=canonical tag. There is a possibility th...

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really be concerned about the content on your 404 pages?

Google does not take into account the content of pages that respond with a 404 error. No matter the meta tags present on these pages, they are ignored. 404 pages will be removed from our index....

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really rely on robots.txt to deindex your pages?

Google recrawls the robots.txt file for most sites almost every day. This means that changes made to this file should be visible in a short timeframe. However, the robots.txt file does not guarantee t...

Mar 11, 2016 ⚡ Analysis available