John Mueller

★★ How does Google actually identify soft 404s?

Soft 404s are identified based on the content detected on pages: mentions of errors, noindex tags, or empty pages. The reports are used to improve the algorithm in future updates, not for immediate ma...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does deferred JavaScript really have no impact on SEO?

Deferring the loading of non-critical JavaScript until the first user interaction does not affect SEO, provided that the main content remains visible for indexing. Googlebot does not interact with the...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How long does it really take for Core Web Vitals to impact your rankings?

The Core Web Vitals data used for ranking has about a 28-day delay. Therefore, any significant speed improvement takes about a month to affect search results. Visible changes earlier are not related t...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does Google leverage URL parameters to determine the canonical version?

The URL parameters tool in Search Console helps Google choose the correct canonical URL and avoid indexing parameter variations. It slows down the crawling of the affected URLs without completely bloc...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How do internal links truly influence your SEO strategy?

Internal links distribute SEO value throughout the site and signal to Google the relative importance of pages. Linking a page from the homepage indicates that it is important or new, which speeds up c...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How Does a Link from the Homepage Speed Up Reindexing?

When a product is back in stock, adding a link from the homepage accelerates detection by Google. Pages linked from the homepage are deemed more important and crawled faster. This complements the use ...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ What causes your FAQ rich results to vanish after a redesign?

If FAQ rich results are no longer appearing after a redesign, use a site: query to check if they display. If they do, it indicates a perceived quality issue of the site. If they don't, it's a technica...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really aim for a server response time under 200 ms for SEO?

Google recommends a maximum server response time (HTTP response time) of 200 milliseconds. A time of 2 seconds is considered very high and restricts daily crawling capacity. Only HTTP requests to the ...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the importance of the author change depending on the type of content?

Indicating an expert and reliable author (E-A-T) is important for YMYL sites (health, finance). For other types of content (theater news, SEO), the author's identity is less critical. Avoid generic na...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should You Keep URLs Indexable for Temporarily Out of Stock Products?

For products that are temporarily out of stock, it is best to keep the URL indexable and indicate unavailability through structured data. Google regularly refreshes the page to detect when it is back ...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why are Technical SEO and Quality Content Inextricably Linked?

Technical SEO and content quality are equally important. Both need to be good together. Quality isn't just about the text, but the entire site: layout, design, images, speed. One cannot compensate for...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does using data-src really enhance your lazy loading images?

Google recognizes lazy loading images even when they use data-src instead of src, as long as the final render properly displays the image element. To ensure indexing, it's recommended to use structure...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why doesn't the visual quality of images impact traditional SEO?

Google does not assess the visual quality of images (beautiful image vs. gray square) for ranking in traditional web search. Images are analyzed solely for Google Images. In web search, their visual c...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are Core Web Vitals really a universal ranking factor for every site?

Google does not adjust the weight of the Core Web Vitals factor based on the type of website. Whether it’s an online gaming site or a text-based site, the weight remains the same. What can vary is the...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you rely on a single trust score for SEO?

Google does not have a single trust score or metric to evaluate a site. Trust is not measured with a fixed number and does not solely depend on inbound links. Improving content quality helps, but ther...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does Google determine your daily crawl rate and what does it mean for your SEO?

The crawl rate is re-evaluated daily by Google. It depends on two factors: crawl demand (which remains stable over time) and server capacity (assessed each day). 5XX errors, server speed, and access i...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do App Store reviews really impact your web SEO?

Reviews published on Google Play Store or the App Store are not taken into account for the SEO of websites. Google does not have a concept of an overall quality score for sites. These reviews can only...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is Infinite Scrolling Changing Our SEO Strategy for Good?

With infinite scrolling tested on Google, results are loaded in groups of 10. Each loaded group generates impressions, as if the user were clicking on the next page. This increases impressions for pag...

Oct 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Are URLs really the cornerstone of SEO?

URLs are the foundation of all websites. Understanding how they function is essential for managing a site and its SEO....

Oct 12, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does it really matter whether you use absolute or relative URLs for SEO?

Google treats absolute URLs and relative URLs exactly the same way. There is no difference for SEO between these two approaches; both lead to the same outcome for search engines....

Oct 12, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available