What does Google say about SEO? /
John Mueller is one of Google's most active spokespeople on search engine optimization topics. As a Search Advocate, he regularly answers the SEO community's questions during Google Search Central sessions and on social media. His statements are a prime source of information for understanding how Google Search works and the best practices to follow.
Quick SEO Quiz

Test your SEO knowledge in 5 questions

Less than a minute. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
★★★ Does Google really require FAQ Schema content to follow a strict presentation format?
To use FAQ Schema markup, questions and answers must be visible on the page. They can appear in different sections of the page (such as blog section headings), not necessarily in a traditional FAQ for...
May 08, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Are JavaScript Web Components really crawlable by Google's bots?
JavaScript-based Web Components can be processed by Google Search. It is recommended to test the rendering with Search Console's Inspect URL tool to verify that Google can properly extract important c...
May 08, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Does submitting your URLs via API really guarantee indexation without Google crawling them?
Even if URLs are submitted directly via APIs like the Indexing API or IndexNow, search engines must still crawl the pages to confirm that the content matches. This prevents mismatches between what is ...
May 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Does a crawlable site really guarantee better user navigation?
A site that's easily crawlable by search engines also allows users to navigate and discover deep content. If the site is crawlable, users can click and explore, which is the ultimate objective....
May 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Why does creating a sitemap expose more technical problems than it solves?
The sitemap creation process forces website owners to crawl their own site and understand the technical details of crawling: URL parameters, session identifiers, link structure. This exercise often re...
May 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you update lastmod when adding structured data to your pages?
Adding structured data to a page can be considered a significant change that justifies updating the lastmod date, even if the user sees no visual change. This can allow search engines to display diffe...
May 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really keep the 'priority' tag in your sitemaps?
Google does not use the 'priority' tag in sitemap files. This information is explicitly mentioned in Google's official documentation. Website owners tend to mark all their pages as priority, making th...
May 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you really choose your structured data based on the rich results you're targeting in the SERPs?
Instead of asking which structured data to use for a given site type, you must first identify which visual attributes you want to see in search results, then implement the appropriate structured data ...
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 Google really give its own platforms an unfair advantage in search results?
Content hosted on Blogger, Google Sites, or other Google platforms receives no special treatment in search results. It must be discovered, crawled, and indexed like any other content on the web....
Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ 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
★★ Should you really use Google's Indexing API for all your content?
The Indexing API is designed for very specific types of content. Using it for other content types doesn't really make sense, although it's not illegal or problematic....
Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Can poor machine translations really sabotage your international SEO strategy?
Using low-quality automatic translations that are indexed can lead Google's algorithms to treat these pages as poor quality and not classify them as good pages....
Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does Google penalize you for translating content between languages?
Translating a page from one language to another is not penalized. Google considers this as creating new content with new words and phrases, which can be crawled and indexed normally....
Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Can technical problems really trigger a ranking drop during a Core Update?
Technical problems are generally not triggers for Core Updates because they differ from quality issues. Some 404s or scattered broken links would not trigger quality algorithm interventions....
Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Can a technical bug during a Core Update really cause your site to crash in rankings?
The information used for Core Updates is collected over the long term. A technical problem that occurred just at the time of an update launch would not suddenly cause a drop. The effects observed resu...
Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Are JavaScript interstitials really safe for your SEO?
Displaying an interstitial via JavaScript or CSS on top of already-loaded content is acceptable to Google Search and is not considered cloaking, as long as the main content can be loaded normally....
Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is your content trapped behind buttons that Googlebot refuses to click?
Googlebot doesn't click on buttons during crawling. If an age verification interstitial blocks content loading and requires a click, this can block indexation and crawling....
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 Google really ignore your page titles when the language doesn't match your content?
If a page title is in German but the main content is in English, Google will struggle to determine what to display in search results and will completely ignore the titles you've provided....
Apr 29, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available
🔔

Get real-time analysis of the latest Google SEO declarations

Be the first to know every time a new official Google statement drops — with full expert analysis.

No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.