John Mueller

★★ Can Googlebot actually access your .htaccess file?

Googlebot generally cannot access the .htaccess file because servers are configured to block external access. However, Google sees the effects of this file since it controls how the server responds to...

Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really use domain authority to rank websites?

Google does not use a domain authority (domain authority) concept. It's a third-party metric developed by other companies, not by Google....

Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the meta description really impact your Google rankings?

The meta description is primarily used as a snippet in search results and is not used for ranking. However, a good snippet can make your page more attractive to users and increase clicks....

Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does hreflang really boost your ranking in a targeted country?

Having a local version of a page via hreflang does not make that page rank better. Google simply swaps the URL displayed in search results for the local version if it is indexed, but at the same ranki...

Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Modify Your URLs to Test Their SEO Impact?

John Mueller explained on Twitter that it was a very bad practice to modify the URLs of a website's pages several times in a row to perform SEO tests and then return to the initial URL....

Apr 25, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How Does Google Handle Backlinks After a 301 Domain Redirect?

John Mueller indicated during a webmaster hangout that if site A links to site B and A is redirected (via 301) to a new domain C, it is indeed the links coming from C that will be visible in the links...

Apr 25, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does an empty cache really mean your JavaScript site has indexing issues?

It's normal for the cache view of a JavaScript website to be empty or incomplete. This is not an indication of an indexing problem, but simply a technical restriction of browsers....

Apr 06, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really index your dynamic JavaScript content? What SEO experts don't tell you

In most cases, Google can render and properly index the content of JavaScript-based websites....

Apr 06, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really index what users see, or what's captured in the cache?

For indexing purposes, Google processes JavaScript separately and attempts to index what a user would see when visiting your website directly, regardless of what appears in the cache view....

Apr 06, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is your cached content being blocked by browser security policies, and how is Google affected?

Due to browser security, there are restrictions on how content can be accessed from a page. For example, if a page requires a JavaScript file from your server, browsers may block this request when it ...

Apr 06, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google Search Console really show you the JavaScript rendering that it indexes?

The rendered version of a JavaScript page is visible in Google Search Console's testing tools if you want to verify what Google actually indexes....

Apr 06, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google's cached view really store all your content?

Google Search sometimes keeps a copy of the HTML page retrieved from the server and displays it to users as a cached page. However, this is only the raw HTML page, without JavaScript rendering....

Apr 06, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is an empty Google cache for your JavaScript site actually a sign of indexation problems?

In practice, JavaScript-based websites often display an empty or incomplete page when viewed from Google's cache. This is normal and is not a sign of a problem....

Apr 06, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Really Remove Redirected URLs from Your XML Sitemap?

John Mueller explained on Twitter that when you redirect a URL, you can temporarily leave the original URL in the XML Sitemap (1 to 3 months), giving Google time to discover and process it. While this...

Apr 04, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Will Google's 'indexifembedded' tag revolutionize how you control content indexation?

Google has launched the 'indexifembedded' meta robots tag, which allows a page to specify whether its content should be indexed in certain specific situations. This tag covers infrequent use cases....

Mar 31, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really leverage Search Console with Data Studio to optimize your SEO tracking?

Google has launched a series of blog articles explaining how to use Search Console with Data Studio. This combination allows you to connect multiple data sources and create personalized dashboards....

Mar 31, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Search Console Insights make traditional Search Console obsolete for content creators?

Search Console Insights is specifically designed for creators who don't need all the functionality of Search Console or Analytics. If you're verified in Search Console, you automatically have access t...

Mar 31, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is Google really rewarding in-depth product reviews over surface-level content?

Google has launched an algorithmic update to better recognize and rank in-depth, authentic, and high-quality product reviews. This update is being deployed in English, with the goal of expanding to mo...

Mar 31, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is Google finally bridging the gap between SEO and development teams with a new video series?

Google has published a new video series called 'SEOs & Devs' aimed at bridging the gap between SEO professionals and developers by highlighting the intersection between these two professions....

Mar 31, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Page Experience on desktop really deserve your attention as a ranking factor?

The Page Experience ranking factor, which includes Core Web Vitals (speed, responsiveness, and stability), was previously used only on mobile. It has recently been deployed for desktop users as well. ...

Mar 31, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available