John Mueller

★★ Do HTML5 <header> and <footer> tags really boost your SEO rankings?

In HTML5, you can use <header> and <footer> elements to semantically structure your page. Within these elements, you can have your own heading hierarchies. This allows for clean structure from a seman...

Mar 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really avoid product structured data on category pages?

According to Google's policies, you should not implement multiple product schemas on a product listing page. Product structured data must apply to the main element of the page. On a category page with...

Mar 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does the schema.org validator contradict Google's tools?

The schema.org validator validates all the theoretical vocabulary of schema.org, while Google tools (Rich Results Test, Search Console) only validate the types of structured data that have a visible e...

Mar 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the shift from 'Bad' to 'Medium' on Core Web Vitals really transform your Google rankings?

Google uses Core Web Vitals (not the 0-100 PageSpeed score) as a ranking factor, based on what real users actually experience. Google primarily focuses on the gap between 'reasonably OK' and 'very slo...

Mar 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why do your images never appear in Google Images despite solid SEO performance?

For an image to be indexed in Google Images, it must have a stable URL. If the URL changes with each crawl (for example with session IDs), Google will never be able to properly index these images beca...

Mar 05, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How Does Google Use URL Structure to Identify a Website's Geographic Targeting?

John Mueller explained during a webmaster hangout that Google could use country indicators in URLs to obtain information about the geographic target of pages on a site. But that these indicators (/fr/...

Feb 28, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Reverse Pagination Order to Improve Crawling of Fresh Content?

John Mueller indicated on YouTube that when displaying paginated content, it's better to place the most recent items at the beginning rather than at the end, because otherwise, the bot may not crawl t...

Feb 28, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is EAT Really a Ranking Factor in Google's Algorithm?

John Mueller indicated during the same hangout that EAT was primarily a concept used by Quality Raters to define the quality of a SERP. And that there was no "EAT score" as such entering directly into...

Feb 28, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Are Multi-Server CDNs Really Risk-Free for SEO?

Using servers in multiple different locations, as content delivery networks (CDNs) do, is an acceptable configuration for Google. Some hosting platforms may already be doing this automatically....

Feb 23, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really slow down crawling when you change hosting providers?

When you change hosting, Google's systems automatically slow down crawling as a precaution to avoid any issues. This slowdown is temporary: once the systems detect that increasing speed doesn't cause ...

Feb 23, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does hosting migration always slow down Google's crawl?

Crawl slowdown during a hosting change is independent of the type of change being made. Whether you switch to a local provider or relocate to another country, Google's behavior remains the same....

Feb 23, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does your server location really impact local search rankings?

The geographical location of your server is not used by Google for geo-targeting. To target users in a specific country, you must use either a country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) or the appropriate ...

Feb 23, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does your server's geographic location really slow down your website's loading speed?

Significant geographic distances of your server can affect the website's loading speed for users. Due to physics and computer networking, it takes more time to reach a distant server....

Feb 23, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can server geographic distance really hurt your Page Experience ranking?

If the speed slowdown caused by the geographic distance of the server is significant, it can influence the site's speed and Page Experience ranking factor....

Feb 23, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do Core Web Vitals Really Influence Your Pages' Indexing?

John Mueller explained during a webmaster hangout that having a good Core Web Vitals "score" (web performance, page loading time) didn't necessarily help a page get better indexed by the search engine...

Feb 21, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do EMD (Exact Match Domain) Names Still Provide an SEO Advantage in 2024?

John Mueller indicated on Reddit that domain names containing keywords (known by the acronym EMD for Exact Match Domain) did not provide any specific SEO bonus, even if this domain name is contained i...

Feb 21, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does E-A-T Really Impact Google Rankings, or Is It Just a Myth?

There is no direct E-A-T score. Google uses these criteria in the Quality Rater Guidelines, and Search Quality teams work to understand these aspects algorithmically, but it remains a fuzzy and indire...

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really redirect the old sitemap with a 301 or submit the new one directly instead?

A 301 redirect from the old sitemap to the new one is acceptable and causes no problems. However, it is recommended to also submit the new URL directly in Search Console or robots.txt....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is internal linking really the most critical factor for SEO success?

Internal linking is one of the most important elements of a website. It's an excellent way to signal to Google what you consider important. Temporary links from your homepage help with fast crawling a...

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is a 97% crawl refresh rate actually a positive sign for your website's health?

For an established site growing slowly, it's normal for 97% of crawl to be refresh and only 3% discovery. This is different for news sites or classifieds with lots of new content....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available