John Mueller

★★★ Is hreflang just a statement of intent or a critical lever for international SEO?

Google advises using the hreflang tag to indicate which versions of sites should be shown based on language or region, in order to manage international duplicate content....

Sep 25, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really use the canonical tag on all your page variations?

Google recommends using the canonical tag to consolidate pages containing slight variations, in order to focus link value on a single main page....

Sep 25, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does duplicate content really harm your SEO rankings?

Google does not impose penalties for duplicate content, except in cases where a site simply aggregates content from other sites without producing unique content....

Sep 25, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Could the relationship between desktop and mobile URLs be sabotaging your mobile visibility?

A mobile site structure must reflect a correct association between desktop and mobile URLs; otherwise, it can lead to inconsistencies in mobile search results....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are 301 redirects really enough to maintain the performance of evolving alternate URLs?

To ensure that changing alternate URLs remain effective, Google advises maintaining the stability of URL structures such as subdirectories and using 301 redirects....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really worry about a 410 error in Search Console?

Google flags a 410 crawl error because it indicates that the content could not be retrieved. This serves to inform potential webmasters so they can check if it was intentional....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do noindex pages really pass PageRank?

The 'noindex' tags allow Google not to index a page, but the links on that page can still pass PageRank, unless 'nofollow' is specifically used....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Canonical or 301: Which tag should you prioritize to consolidate your URLs?

Canonical tags indicate to Google the relationship between pages, but 301 redirects should be used for URL changes. Canonicals can be used to consolidate URLs with tracking parameters....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can you really clean the history of a domain penalized by Google?

A new domain property affected by a historical penalty from Google may take time to be reevaluated by the algorithms. It's not possible to submit a reconsideration request if there is no manual penalt...

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really prefer 301 redirects over canonicals when changing domains?

When changing domains, it's recommended to use 301 redirects rather than 'canonical' tags to indicate to Google that there is a significant move. This helps to process the change more quickly....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does Google really identify the dates of your articles?

Google attempts to accurately detect article dates, whether it's the publication date or the last modified date. If a date is misinterpreted despite correct structured data, provide examples to Google...

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google sometimes show the mobile version on desktop, and how can you prevent it?

If the mobile and desktop versions of a site are not properly linked, it is possible that Google displays the mobile version on a desktop, which is not ideal for the user. Use 'link rel="alternate"' a...

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How long does it really take for Google to stabilize its crawling after a HTTPS migration?

After migrating a site from HTTP to HTTPS, it is normal for Google's bot to take time to adjust its crawling, but it should stabilize within a few days....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is Duplicate Content in Business Directories Really Harmless for Your SEO?

Google considers identical business descriptions in directories as Duplicate Content, but this is not something to avoid at all costs. It does not directly harm your website....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really prioritize 301 redirects over canonicals when restructuring your URLs?

For changes in URL structure, 301 redirects are preferable because they transfer signals more effectively. Canonicals are better used for handling temporary URLs or those with tracking parameters....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does noindex really pass PageRank through dofollow links?

If a page is set to noindex but the links are dofollow, Google will follow the links and pass PageRank, even though the page itself is not indexed....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does blocking CSS and JavaScript stop Google from recognizing your site as mobile-friendly?

The "mobile-friendly" label is only assigned if Google can read all the necessary elements (CSS, JavaScript). Blocking these items could prevent Google from recognizing the mobile-friendliness....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does it take Google up to 24 hours to detect the lifting of a robots.txt block?

After temporary changes to the robots.txt file, it may take up to a day for Google to stop showing the block in Search Console, depending on when the URLs are recrawled....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really abandon canonicals in favor of 301s during a domain migration?

When migrating to a new domain, it is advisable to use 301 redirects immediately to indicate a clear change to Google. The canonical tag alone can send a less clear signal....

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Could Google show the wrong date for your articles in search results?

Google can choose to show the modification date of an article rather than its original publication date. If this choice is incorrect despite the schema.org markup, it's helpful to report examples to G...

Sep 24, 2015 ⚡ Analysis available