John Mueller

★★ Does Google really slow down crawling after a hosting migration, and how long does it last?

When you change hosting or CDN providers, Google automatically reverts to a cautious crawl rate and then gradually increases it over several weeks until it reaches a safe level again....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really measure crawl speed and Core Web Vitals the same way — and why should you care?

Crawl speed measures only the time to fetch a URL from your server, not the rendering in the browser. This is different from Core Web Vitals, which include JavaScript, external resources, and complete...

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does your server speed actually control how often Google crawls your site?

Google balances crawl demand (site quality, frequency of changes) with server limitations (response time, server errors). Slow response time or frequent 5xx errors reduce crawl speed....

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

★★ 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

★★ Should you really worry about the referrer page shown in Google Search Console?

The referrer page in the URL inspection tool simply indicates where Google first found the URL. It's not a sign of quality and shouldn't be a concern, even if it's a random website....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really index every page on your website?

Google has no specific ratio regarding how many pages a site should have or how many should be indexed. Generally, fewer pages with more concentrated value perform better than many diluted pages....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Googlebot really index all your infinite scroll content?

Googlebot uses a very tall viewport during rendering and can partially trigger infinite scroll. This may load 2-3 pages but not everything. You need to test with the URL inspection tool to see what ge...

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you still use rel=next and rel=prev tags for pagination in 2024?

The old link rel='next' and rel='previous' tags for pagination have been deprecated and are no longer used by Google....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can you really control PDF indexing through HTTP headers?

It is possible to set a canonical tag on a PDF via HTTP headers. You can also use noindex in headers for PDF files....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does having the same content in both PDF and HTML formats hurt your SEO rankings through cannibalization?

A PDF and an HTML page with the same content are not considered duplicate content because they are different formats. However, they can appear together in search results and compete with each other....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do premium SSL certificates really impact Google rankings?

There is no difference between SSL certificate types for SEO. Free certificates are perfectly acceptable. Google only verifies whether the certificate is valid or not....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do user comments really improve your Google rankings?

User comments are useful because they describe the page in their own words. This provides more information about how to display the page in search results and helps the content be found through differ...

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do unlinked brand mentions really boost your SEO rankings?

Google does not attempt to identify where your brand is mentioned without a link. This is good for users, but you shouldn't assume there's an SEO factor based on these mentions....

Feb 18, 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

★★★ Does Google's Indexing API really work for all types of content?

The Indexing API only works for job postings and broadcast events. Using it for other content won't cause any negative issues, but it won't accomplish anything either....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do Google's product review criteria apply even if your site isn't classified as a review site?

Product review recommendations are relevant for all types of product reviews. If these best practices make sense for your content, apply them, regardless of whether Google considers your site a review...

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really concentrate your content on fewer pages to rank better?

Dividing one page into multiple pages means each part has to fight alone. Sometimes it's better to have fewer truly strong pages than many targeted pages. It's a strategic question....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really count every single visible link pointing to your site in Search Console?

Google Search Console accounts for all elements containing a link to your site: images in image packs, local ads, and 'People Also Ask' blocks that display a link to your website....

Feb 18, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you encourage 'sneaky' SEO experimentation to develop better expert-level skills?

SEOs who test 'sneaky' techniques to learn develop technical understanding that remains useful in a legitimate professional context. Once established in a real company, they can leverage these technic...

Feb 17, 2022 ⚡ Analysis available